Content advisory: This article includes graphic details of alleged sexual assault

LONDON, ONT. – E.M., the complainant in the sexual assault trial of five former members of Canada’s 2018 world junior hockey team, testified Wednesday morning that when she filed a personal injury lawsuit in 2022 against Hockey Canada and eight unnamed players, her understanding was that the players would not be publicly identified.

After E.M. finished being cross-examined by five defence lawyers over seven days, Crown attorney Meaghan Cunningham had the opportunity to re-examine her and clarify points she made during cross-examination.

Several of the defence lawyers suggested that E.M. had been careless and irresponsibly made false allegations against several former members of Canada’s 2018 world junior hockey team in connection with an alleged sexual assault in a London hotel after a Hockey Canada event in the city in June of 2018.

Cunningham asked E.M., whose identity is protected by a publication ban, about her understanding of whether the players would be identified in the $3.55 million lawsuit she filed in April 2022.

“My understanding was that they wouldn’t be identified at all and that was the reason for going with the John Doe names,” E.M. testified.

“Does the statement of claim say anything about which of these specific acts each John Doe did?” Cunningham asked.

“No...it doesn’t say who did what,” E.M. testified.

“Does the statement of claim say that eight different people touched you in a sexual manner?” Cunningham asked.

“No, it doesn’t say that,” E.M. testified.

E.M., who is now 27, also testified that when she provided Hockey Canada in 2022 with the names of the eight players connected to her alleged sexual assault, she did not believe that information would be made public. (Carter Hart’s lawyer, Megan Savard, previously referred to E.M.’s statement as a “public document.”)

“I thought it was going to just Hockey........

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