The CFL has severed ties with the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport, TSN 1290 Winnipeg's Gary Lawless of The Winnipeg Free Press has learned.

In a letter written by CFL commissioner Jeffrey Orridge to the league's board of governors, the reasons for the cancellation of the relationship are outlined, citing a "breach of trust."

"The Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport, our partner in this mission by contract, has retained a lab as its agent to provide testing services," Orridge wrote. "This lab is led by Christiane Ayotte and, in recent days, Ms. Ayotte has repeatedly and unfairly attacked the CFL in the media. Today, we notified CCES and Ayotte that they are in clear breach of the confidentiality provisions of our agreement, and we have, therefore, terminated that agreement."

The CCES is the only testing agency in Canada that has been accredited by the World Anti-Doping Agency and one of only three in North America. Last week, Ayotte expressed her disappointment in what she considered lax testing standards by the CFL and said that the organization would discontinue testing CFL samples.

“We have had several positive findings and no athlete was ever suspended,” Ayotte said to The Winnipeg Sun on June 5. “Which for me was unbearable. I could not continue without jeopardizing our reputation.”

Ayotte also asserted that the league simply does not test often enough. Her comments come in light of five CIS athletes testing positive at the CFL Combine in Toronto in late March.

“We are always open to improving our policies, and have already had some discussions with the CFLPA on the issue of how our policy is applied to CIS players attending our Combine,” CFL chief operating officer Michael Copeland said in a statement.

Ayotte believes that the relaxed testing standards encourage doping.

“Why do you think there is a culture of doping in football in our country?" Ayotte told The Sun. "It is because what is the pressure on the CFL and on university football if the media are absolutely not paying attention to this issue? For me it's absolutely not a core value of the Canadian population. You don't cheat to get where you want to be.”

As it stands, a player is forced to attend counseling and receive mandaory further testing upon a positive drug test. A second positive test results in a three-game suspension, while a third positive means a one-year ban. If a player tests positive for a banned substance for a fourth time, he receives a lifetime suspension.