Exclusive: CFL VP Matt Maychak on the league's progress towards a domestic violence policy

Following the release of video of Ray Rice striking his fiancée and his subsequent release by the NFL's Baltimore Ravens in September, the CFL took the extraordinary and perhaps unprecedented step of issuing a statement from commissioner Mark Cohon that Rice would not be permitted to play for a CFL team. However, that action was done under the commissioner's powers and not a league domestic violence policy, because the CFL doesn't currently have one (apart from a more general bylaw that lets the commissioner punish any player or executive who "brings the league into disrepute"). In the wake of the Rice case, Gary Lawless of The Winnipeg Free Pressmade the case on Sept. 17 that the CFL should develop a domestic violence policy, and the league told him about some preliminary efforts along those lines. Little had been heard on that front until this week, though, when Steve Eder wrote a New York Times piece about accusations and charges of domestic violence against two former NFLers who are now in the CFL, Robert Sands and Brandon Underwood.

In the wake of that, and with other CFLers in the playoffs who have histories of domestic violence, CFL vice-president (communications and broadcast) Matt Maychak spoke to 55-Yard Line Tuesday about the league's efforts to develop a domestic violence policy, which he's taking the lead on. (Maychak also had some comments on why the Rice case was different and what the league's policies for signing players currently are; find those here.) To start with, Maychak said he's already been consulting with several organizations that work on domestic violence cases, and he's planning to present multiple potential plans for a domestic violence policy to the CFL board of governors this offseason.

"We hope to take options before next season to our board," Maychak said. "I'm the point person doing that in consultation with these organizations."

Maychak said the league's starting point for organizations to consult was groups its teams already work with. That includes the Ending Violence Association of B.C. (which has partnered with the B.C. Lions on the "Be More Than A Bystander" campaign for several years), the Alberta Council of Women's Shelters (which partnered with the Calgary Stampeders and Edmonton Eskimos this September) and the White Ribbon Campaign (which partnered with the Toronto Argonauts in May), as well as at least one national group. They've also had conversations with the office of the federal Minister of Labour/Minister of Status of Women, Dr. Kellie Leitch. Maychak said talks so far have been about figuring out what sort of elements those organizations would suggest for a policy, what sorts of policies they've helped other businesses develop and so on.

"We're going through a process right now of consulting the leading organizations in Canada," Maychak said. "We've been consulting leaders in the field, talking with the minister's office. ...I'm compiling information and reaching out to these groups."

Maychak said the idea from the league's standpoint is to be open and receptive to ideas, rather than coming in with a preordained plan of what they want to do.

"To be honest, I don't know where we'll wind up," he said. "We want to bring options to our board and have something in place for next year."

Maychak said it's incredibly important from the league's standpoint that their eventual policy is informed by experts in the field, not just league officials and team governors.

"The last thing that we want is to have 10 guys in a boardroom who are unfamiliar with this," he said.

He said one discussion is about implementing a more thorough policy that covers prevention, counselling, education, and behaviour in the workplace, not just discipline.

"It could be more than just punishment," he said. "We've talked about 'What are you doing in terms of counselling and prevention?'...Mandatory training could be discussed."

Maychak said more comprehensive solutions do come with a substantial price tag, though.

"You could do a full program, but I don't know what that would cost and how we would fund it," he said.

Maychak said no decisions on the scope of the policy and any new programs have been made at this time, though, as for now, it's just him having just preliminary conversations with these groups and getting their feedback. He plans to present several different options to the board, and to run some those options by outside groups for feedback before doing so.

"What I'm trying to do is put together an information packet and say 'This is what the groups we've been working with have done in other workplaces,'" he said.

He said it's important to recognize the nuances and complexities of the issue, too, and the particular issues that apply to a professional football league that don't to other businesses. He said all that is part of why the CFL is taking a while to come up with a policy.

"It's very layered when you talk about this," Maychak said. "There's a HR component, a football component, a legal component. ...We want to do this with consideration rather than with a knee-jerk reaction."

Maychak said the league wants to learn what these outside organizations recommend and what other businesses do before coming up with their own policy.

"We've got way more learning to do than answers at this point," he said. "We're off to a good start, but it's just a start."

Something else that does make this challenging is that CFL commissioner Mark Cohon has announced he's stepping down in the spring, and the league hasn't named a replacement yet. The new commissioner may well want to weigh in on a big issue like a domestic violence policy.

"What makes it awkward is I don't know who the new commissioner will be," Maychak said.

Maychak said the CFL feels a responsibility to address domestic violence in a substantial way, though, not just as a business but as a prominent Canadian sports league.

"We're trying to grapple with it not just as an employer, but as a prominent institution in this country," he said. "We're all trying to, across society, understand this issue and the right response to it."

Maychak said the league is making progress towards a policy, but there isn't an obvious answer or a one-size-fits-all solution that's appeared yet.

"I don't know what the real answer is, I just know that the questions are more complicated than what we currently deal with," he said. "I don't know where this will end up. That's in the hands of our board and our new commissioner. I hope to bring forward proposals before next season. Then it's up to them."

Note: The CFL Players' Association may also have a role to play in the eventual policy. When asked about a potential league domestic violence policy in September, CFLPA president Scott Flory declined to comment. A request for comment Tuesday went unanswered. 

See also Maychak's comments on why Rice's case was different, and our piece on the players in the playoffs who have faced charges of domestic violence.