MONTREAL — The Canadian Olympic Committee says it is expanding its investigations to examine any complaints that are brought to its attention with regard to the conduct of its president, Marcel Aubut.
The committee said in a statement Friday it is looking for an independent third party to lead the process and that it is encouraging anyone who has concerns to contact the organization.
Aubut temporarily stepped aside as president of the committee and chairman of the Canadian Olympic Foundation late Wednesday after a sexual harassment allegation came to light.
The COC has already appointed Francois Rolland, a former chief justice of the Quebec Superior Court, to investigate that complaint. The allegations have not been proven and a COC spokesman says that probe will continue.
Since then, more complaints against Aubut have surfaced in the media from two other women, including one who worked closely with him at a Montreal law firm.
"The Canadian Olympic Committee finds the allegations that have appeared recently in the media extremely disturbing," the COC statement said.
"As such, we are expanding our investigations to fully examine any complaints, formal or otherwise, that are brought to our attention."
The statement ended by saying: "We are committed to taking any actions required following Mr. Rolland's findings or any other findings."
In his own release Wednesday night after the initial complaint, Aubut described the allegations as a "remark he allegedly made to a colleague" and that he'd offered his "unconditional support" to those investigating the matter. He has not made further public comments.
Jean-Alexandre D'Etcheverry of National, the public relations firm hired to communicate with the media on Aubut's behalf, said Aubut had nothing new to say following news of the expanded COC probes.
The COC statement Friday came the same day that Montreal La Presse reported that the organization sent Aubut a letter in June 2011 telling him to change his ways.
"You must abstain from touching people, kissing them, making comments that are out of place...and making allusions of a sexual nature," the newspaper quoted the letter as saying. It said the letter was signed by Jean R. Dupre, the organization's CEO at the time.
La Presse said the letter, dated June 13, 2011, states that Dupre met Aubut on June 3, 2011, to discuss an incident that allegedly took place in Moncton, N.B.
"As reported to us, the incident led to allegations that you made out-of-place comments along the lines of the person becoming 'your girlfriend' and 'coming to work for you."'
The newspaper reported that the letter also includes a reference to alleged inappropriate touching and a kiss on the lips.
"As we have not received a formal complaint from the person involved and as you have assured us, Marcel, that this kind of behaviour will stop immediately, no official complaint will be filed this time," it quoted the letter as saying.
La Presse reported Dupre also ordered Aubut to stop touching people, refrain from kissing people, other than on the cheek, and to stop making sexually charged comments to men and women alike.
Calls to Dupre on Friday were not returned. He is now CEO of the Orchestre Metropolitain.
On Thursday, Montreal lawyer Amelia Salehabadi-Fouques gave several interviews about her interactions with Aubut, while TVA broadcast an interview with a woman the television network said worked closely with him.
Salehabadi-Fouques, who specializes in sports law and has been a member of the board of the Canadian Soccer Association since 2013, says she was the victim of harassment by Aubut on three occasions, beginning when she met him four years ago.
Her unproven claims include an allegation of a forced kiss during their first meeting and allegations of sexually charged comments on their next two encounters.
Salehabadi-Fouques told Montreal radio station 98.5 FM she hasn't decided whether she'll file any sort of formal complaint.
In the TVA interview, which aired later Thursday, a woman alleged that several sexual harassment incidents involving Aubut occurred in 2011 when he was working at a law firm in Montreal.
The woman was not named but the network said she worked with him.
The woman alleged he would put his hands around her waist and that they would go progressively lower each time. She also said he would put his hands on her shoulders and then touch her breasts.
Aubut, 67, has been a member of the COC since 2000 and formally took over the presidency in April 2010.
He previously served as chief executive officer of the NHL's Quebec Nordiques until the team moved to Colorado in 1995.
He notably helped retired NHL hockey players Anton, Marian and Peter Stastny defect from communist Czechoslovakia to Canada in 1980 to play for the Nordiques.
He was inducted into the Order of Canada as a member in 1986 and was promoted to officer in 1993. In 2006, he was made an officer of the National Order of Quebec.
Aubut was inducted into Canada's Sports Hall of Fame in 1999.
He continues to practise law and is a partner, lawyer and vice-chairman of the board of directors at BCF, a Montreal-based law firm.
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