Canadian Heritage committee  I've seen nothing change, besides them advertising that they're giving a lot to the scholarship fund. But here I sit with my scholarship gone.

Canadian Heritage committee  You have to use it in a year, but what if someone wants to go travel? There are other things to life than hockey. You've done hockey your whole life and now you're forced to go back to school. You need longer on that, or you need.... I don't think it should ever expire. You've earned that.

Canadian Heritage committee  He hit the nail on the head.

Canadian Heritage committee  Absolutely not. Everywhere you go it's going to be different. Honestly, for the billets, the people who take us, that's pretty much volunteer work. They don't get paid nearly what you think. We could probably find those numbers somehow. They don't get paid much. Within that payment is the food the billets provide for us.

Canadian Heritage committee  At the end of the day you see people who are supposedly working and they all live almost in a commune and stuff like that. That's not a question I can really fully answer in terms of the direction of the league. I'm sure it wouldn't be too hard to find housing for the boys and all that and to consider giving them a livable wage so they could live off it.

Canadian Heritage committee  Yes, but how do they get away with making so much money off of volunteers? That's what I'm asking.

Canadian Heritage committee  I think, with the CHL, it is pretty difficult, because, as well as teams all over provinces, you also have teams in the States. It's tough, but you need a general thing on how to.... That's why, with a third party, you are essentially looking out for all the organizations, including the teams in the States.

Canadian Heritage committee  Yes. I would definitely say there should be a union, but also within that union you need a group of ex-players, because they know what they're talking about. You see countless people in unions who have never played the sport. They know nothing about the game. They don't know where you've been.

Canadian Heritage committee  For me...?

Canadian Heritage committee  I didn't need a non-disclosure.

Canadian Heritage committee  If you look at just his whole school thing, he had to quit school because they didn't even check in with the teachers. Thomas here had his injury. With a third party, he could have said, “Hey, what's going on?” He could have given them a call and said, “Can you make sure my school is covered and everything?”

Canadian Heritage committee  Truthfully for me, I haven't seen much change at all. At the end of the day, what is it? They're still making the same amount. There are the same problems, a.k.a. the sexual abuse problems, going on and all sorts of stuff. That was happening in my dad's time. You would think they would have learned from the whole instance in Moose Jaw way back in the day.

Canadian Heritage committee  Making sure I have enough money to fill up my car and buy a couple of snacks here and there would help, but at the end of the day, the financial situation hasn't changed since the 1980s, let alone anything else in the league, including the hazing. All of that still goes on.

Canadian Heritage committee  Yes, for sure. I was down in the States, and my paycheque was about $75 a week. I had a car, and everyone knows that gas is expensive. At the end of the day I had to take a loan out from my parents, and then that summer, when I was supposed to be training and all that, I had to pay off the loan and then pay for my training.

Canadian Heritage committee  Thank you, Madam Chair. I am Lukas Walter from Langley, B.C., a former WHL and QMJHL player. I played three years in the CHL in both Canada and the U.S.A. I come here today from B.C. to address the committee on the very important issue of Canadian hockey players' rights. I wish to share my story with this body to provide you with information that will help make hockey fairer and safer for players in the future.