Team Einarson announces departure of lead Briane Harris, who joins Team Cameron

Team Canada skip Kerri Einarson, from left to right, third Val Sweeting, second Shannon Birchard and lead Briane Harris pose with their gold medals and the trophy after defeating Manitoba in the final at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts in Kamloops, B.C., on Sunday, February 26, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

Four-time national women’s curling champion Briane Harris is changing teams and switching positions.

Harris’s seven-year run as Team Einarson lead has ended and she has moved on to join Kate Cameron’s team at third. Both rinks confirmed the changes Monday via posts on social media.

“When Team Einarson parted ways with Briane, we were quick to pick her up knowing that her plethora of expertise, knowledge and experience will take us that extra mile,” the Winnipeg-based Team Cameron said in a statement.

Harris was provisionally suspended for almost a year due to an anti-doping rule violation in early 2024. The ban was lifted by the Court of Arbitration for Sport in mid-January but she never rejoined Team Einarson.

“This past year has brought its challenges, and while we did our best to navigate the circumstances, sometimes difficult situations can shift the direction of a team,” Team Einarson said in a statement. “As we move forward, we want to take a moment to thank Briane for her time with us.

“We appreciate the effort and dedication she has shown along the way. While Briane and Team Einarson have decided to part ways, we truly wish her all the best in her next chapter.”

Harris tested positive for trace amounts of the prohibited substance Ligandrol last year.

The Winnipeg native received the results from an out-of-competition doping control test on the eve of the 2024 Canadian women’s championship and hasn’t played a competitive game since.

Harris claimed she was unknowingly exposed to the banned substance through bodily contact. The CAS found she bore “no fault or negligence” for the violation.

In 2020, Harris won the first of four straight Scotties Tournament of Hearts titles with skip Kerri Einarson, vice Val Sweeting and second Shannon Birchard. Krysten Karwacki filled in at lead on the Gimli, Man.-based team while Harris was unavailable and Karlee Burgess came on as a mid-season replacement for the injured Birchard.

Questions about Harris’s future with the team began to swirl after her reinstatement when the team was noncommittal about future lineup plans.

Those questions continued when Lauren Lenentine was brought on as a fifth at the Scotties last month. The team reached the final before falling to Rachel Homan.

Einarson and team coach Reid Carruthers were not available for interviews Monday. A message left with Harris was not immediately returned.

Birchard declined further comment beyond the team statement, but said in a text message that “the team will be providing further updates in the coming weeks.”

Team Cameron parted ways with second Brianna Cullen last week. With Harris on board at third, Taylor McDonald will move to second and Mackenzie Elias will remain at lead.

Ligandrol is banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency for its anabolic, muscle-building effects.

In the CAS decision, Harris argued she did not know nor suspect that her husband had been consuming Ligandrol or that intimate contact represented a risk of contamination with prohibited substances.

Under the provisional suspension, she was banned from competition and training and couldn’t interact with her teammates and coach.

Harris has since filed a complaint against the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport with the World Anti-Doping Agency, two sources with knowledge of the situation said earlier this month.

The complaint was sent to the Montreal-based agency on Feb. 7, claiming nonconformity with the WADA Code by the CCES, according to a 10-page document that has been seen by The Canadian Press.

The CCES is an independent organization responsible for administering Canada’s anti-doping program. The sources spoke on the condition of anonymity because the complaint has not been made public.

The complaint to WADA was a result of developments in the days after Harris received her out-of-competition test results last year, the document said.

Her lawyers, Emir Crowne and Amanda Fowler, informed the CCES and World Curling on Feb. 19, 2024 of what they claimed was an alarming confidentiality breach, the document said, stemming from posts made two days earlier on the social media website Reddit.

In a curling thread on the online forum, a user claimed to know details of the Harris case and posted them citing “a friend that works for the CCES” as the source of the information, according to the complaint.

The posts, which Harris’s lawyers claimed were seemingly accurate and contemporaneous, were deleted three days after they went online, the complaint said.

The Ottawa-based CCES, citing results of an internal investigation, said it did not believe anyone from the centre had shared the information publicly, according to the complaint.

Harris has asked that the matter be investigated thoroughly and independently, the complaint said, and that she be apprised of the findings of any investigation.

Her lawyers claimed that the CCES investigating and exonerating itself is why WADA oversees its signatories, the complaint said. Messages left with the CCES were not returned and a WADA spokesman declined comment.

A GoFundMe online fundraiser to help Harris cover legal fees raised over $20,000. The page is no longer accepting donations.

Einarson’s rink, currently ranked fourth in the world, is scheduled to return at the April 8-13 AMJ Players' Championship in Toronto. Cameron’s team, the world No. 23, is not in the field at the Grand Slam of Curling season finale.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 24, 2025.

Gregory Strong, The Canadian Press