FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
VANCOUVER SEXUAL VIOLENCE ORGANIZATIONS ANNOUNCE EVENT IN LIGHT OF EDMONTON OILERS SIGNING ALEX FORMENTON FOLLOWING SEXUAL ASSAULT TRIAL
VANCOUVER, BC – Good Night Out Vancouver and Salal Sexual Violence Centre announce event with award-winning Canadian investigative journalist and sportswriter Rick Westhead and author of We Breed Lions: Confronting Canada’s Troubled Hockey Culture as the Vancouver Canucks prepare to take on the Edmonton Oilers. The event will be held on October 22, 2026 at UBC Robson Square. Westhead’s reporting at publications such as The Sports Network and CTV exposed systemic failures within Canadian Hockey and sparked a national reckoning about abuse, power, and accountability in sport.
On September 9th, 2026 the Edmonton Oilers controversially signed Alex Formenton, one of the world junior players accused in The Hockey Canada sexual assault trial, to a USD$850,000 contract. The Hockey Canada trial, and Formenton’s signing has sparked national conversations online and in community organizations about the history of cultural sexual violence in sport, and how institutions often fail to protect and advocate for survivors. Since the announcement of his signing, over 70,000 Oilers fans have signed a petition calling for the reversal of this decision.
Sexual violence organizations like Good Night Out Vancouver and Salal Sexual Violence Support Centre have seen an outpouring of survivors seeking support during the trial and after the verdict. Public trials and the subsequent decisions by institutions have real life impacts on survivors who are processing their own experiences of harm.
We know education can change minds and behaviours. Westhead will be joined by award-winning prevention educator Stacey Forrester and Salal Sexual Violence Support Centre’s Victim Services Medical Support worker, Carly Norton for a moderated discussion by journalist and Salal Communications Coordinator Jeevan Sangha. The event will feature investigative storytelling, survivor-centered perspectives, prevention education and interactive discussion with participants. Tickets are $30.00, with group discounts and subsidized spots available. Tickets are on sale now.
Representatives from hosting organizations Good Night Out Vancouver and Salal Sexual Violence Support Centre are available for interview upon request.
About the Organizations
Good Night Out is a BC-based non profit society committed to building capacity to prevent and respond to sexual harassment and sexual assault in all sectors, with a focus on hospitality, music, arts, and nightlife. We do this through education, outreach, and advocacy.
Salal Sexual Violence Support Centre is an intersectional feminist, anti-oppressive, and decolonizing sexual violence support centre, operating on the stolen and unceded Coast Salish Territories of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh peoples. Salal offers wraparound support services for survivors of sexual violence aged 14 and up, and shifts society with outreach and education.
Media Contacts
Dalya Israel, Executive Director, Salal Sexual Violence Support Centre
604-790-7795
media@salalsvsc.ca
Jeevan Sangha, Communications & Engagement Coordinator
media@salalsvsc.ca
Stacey Forrester, Prevention Educator, Good Night Out Vancouver
education@goodnightoutvancouver.com