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Track Kirsty

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Crucial Fact

  • Her favourite word is welcome.

Liberal MP for Etobicoke North (Ontario)

Won her last election, in 2021, with 60% of the vote.

Statements in the House

Questions Passed as Orders for Returns March 18th, 2024

With regard to international charters, conferences, consensus statements, declarations, policy, and national reports regarding sport and abuse, discrimination, and harassment: (a) following the UNESCO International Charter of Physical Education and Sport in 1978, and with respect to the statement that “sport practiced by all must be protected against any abuse”, what, if any, (i) actions were taken against abuse in sport, (ii) new requirements were adopted as a result of the Charter with respect to “appropriate qualifications”, “training”, and “further training” for each of those in administration, coaching, teaching, and volunteering, and on which dates between 1978 and 1988; (b) following the UNESCO International Charter of Physical Education and Sport in 1978, and with respect to the statement that “it is crucial that the fight against doping should win the support of national and international authorities”, what, if any, actions did Canada take, and on which dates between 1978 and 1988; (c) following the 1990 release of the Commission of Inquiry into the Use of Drugs and Banned Practices Intended to Increase Athletic Performance and with respect to the recommendation “that individuals and organizations in receipt of government funding meet the ethical standards as well as the performance standards required for funding”, what actions, if any, did Canada take in response to the recommendation for individuals and organizations, and on which dates; (d) following the 1990 release of the Commission of Inquiry into the Use of Drugs and Banned Practices Intended to Increase Athletic Performance, and with respect to the recommendation “that those involved in the health, care, and training of athletes are qualified to be so ethically as well as technically”, what actions, if any, did Canada take regarding ethical qualifications for all those involved in the health, care, and training of athletes, and on which dates; (e) following the 1990 release of the Commission of Inquiry into the Use of Drugs and Banned Practices Intended to Increase Athletic Performance, and with respect to the recommendation that “the measure of success of government funding be linked not to medal count, but to the degree to which it has met the social, educational, and national goals of government for sport”, what actions, if any, did Canada take to (i) disentangle medal count from funding, (ii) tie medal count to funding, and on which dates; (f) following the International Olympic Committee’s adoption of a Consensus Statement on Sexual Harassment and Abuse in Sport in 2007, what actions, if any, has Canada undertaken with respect to (i) developing “policies and procedures for the prevention of sexual harassment and abuse”, (ii) monitoring “the implementation of these policies and procedures”, (iii) evaluating “the impact of these policies in identifying and reducing sexual harassment and abuse”, (iv) developing “an education and training program on sexual harassment and abuse in their sport(s)”, (v) fostering “strong partnerships with parents in the prevention of sexual harassment and abuse”, (vi) promoting and supporting scientific research on these issues, and on which dates; (g) did any representatives of Canada attend the 5th International Conference of Ministers and Senior Officials Responsible for Physical Education and Sport in 2013, and, if so, what were the names of positions of all those who attended; (h) following the 2013 Declaration of Berlin, what actions, if any, has Canada taken with respect to Article 1.4 of the Declaration “recognizing that an inclusive environment free of violence, sexual harassment, racism and other forms of discrimination is fundamental to quality physical education and sport”, and on which dates; (i) following the revised International Charter of Physical Education, Physical Activity and Sport in 2015, what actions, if any, has Canada taken with respect to (i) “safety and management of risk”, (ii) Article 10.1 which states that, “All forms of physical education, physical activity and sport must be protected from abuse”, (iii) any identified harms, (iv) “bullying”, (v) “deprivation of education”, (vi) “discrimination”, (vii) “excessive training of children”, (viii) “homophobia”, (ix) “racism”, (x) “sexual exploitation”, (xi) “violence”, (xii) “potential risks, especially for children, of dangerous or inappropriate training methods and competition, and psychological pressures of any kind”, and on which dates were these actions taken; (j) following the issue of the Policy on Non-Accidental Violence and Abuse in Sport of the International Paralympic Committee in 2016, what actions, if any, were taken by Canada with respect to violations of human rights, including, but not limited to, (i) “bullying and emotional abuse”, (ii) “child exploitation”, (iii) “hazing”, (iv) “neglect”, (v) “physical abuse”, (vi) “sexual abuse and assault”, and on which dates; (k) did Canada attend the Sixth International Conference of Ministers and Senior Officials Responsible for Physical Education and Sport in 2017, and, if so, what were the positions of all those who attended; and (l) following the Kazan Action Plan, what actions, if any, did Canada undertake with respect to (i) “protecting the integrity of sport”, (ii) “III.1 Safeguard athletes, spectators, workers and other groups involved”, (iii) “III.2 Protect children, youth and other vulnerable groups”, and on which dates?

Questions Passed as Orders for Returns March 18th, 2024

With regard to the Red Deer Declaration signed in 2019: (a) how many federal, provincial and territorial sport ministerial meetings have been held, and, for each meeting, what were the details, including (i) the date, (ii) the agenda, (iii) whether safety and integrity in sport were on the agenda, (iv) what specifically was discussed regarding safety in sport; (b) how many federal, provincial and territorial sport ministerial conference calls have been held, and, for each, what were the details, including (i) the date, (ii) the agenda, (iii) whether safety and integrity in sport were on the agenda, (iv) what specifically was discussed regarding safety in sport in each of the conference calls; (c) what intergovernmental goals have been developed to address abuse, discrimination and harassment in sport in the areas of (i) awareness, (ii) policy, (iii) prevention, (iv) reporting, (v) management, (vi) monitoring; (d) what intergovernmental actions have been taken in the areas of (i) awareness, (ii) policy, (iii) prevention, (iv) reporting, (v) management, (vi) monitoring; (e) what progress has been made on mechanisms to report and monitor incidents of abuse, discrimination, and harassment (i) federally, (ii) by each province and territory; and (f) what outcomes have been achieved as a result of signing the declaration?

Questions Passed as Orders for Returns March 18th, 2024

With regard to the Canadian sport helpline and the abuse-free sport helpline: (a) in what month and year was the service first launched; (b) what are the details of the program’s financing, including (i) the cost to administer the program annually, (ii) whether there have been any changes to the finances since its inception, (iii) the dates of any such changes; (c) what is the size of the current team that leads the program, and what are the details of the team that leads the program including the name of all positions of the current team; (d) how many days a week is the service available, and (i) what are the specific times when the service is available for each day, (ii) how many operators are available during these times, (iii) what training do each of the operators have; (e) how is the existence of the service communicated to athletes, and who is responsible for doing so; (f) broken down annually and by sport, while protecting privacy of all callers, how many calls have been logged yearly since 2019; (g) broken down annually and by sport, while protecting the privacy of all callers, how many calls provided advice on (i) a complaints process, (ii) how to seek help from the Office of the Sport Integrity Commissioner, (iii) how to seek help from a national sport organization, (iv) how to seek help from a provincial or territorial sport organization, (v) how to seek help from a lawyer, (vi) how to seek help from the police, (vii) on any other matter, including the full range of issues that athletes, parents, witnesses, and any callers were concerned about; and (h) who has oversight of data from the helpline, and, while protecting privacy of all callers, what analysis, if any, has been undertaken on the data and (i) on what timescales, (ii) have any such analyses been used to inform further action to protect athletes and young people, and, if so, what are the details of each instance?

Questions Passed as Orders for Returns March 18th, 2024

With regard to athlete abuse, discrimination, and harassment in sport in Canada: (a) what are all the groups of athletes under federal jurisdiction; (b) are athletes who are carded under the Athlete Assistance Program considered protected under federal jurisdiction; (c) how many athletes are currently carded, broken down by sport; (d) how many athletes have been carded, broken down by sport since any form of carding began; (e) has the government ever undertaken a large-scale survey of athletes under its jurisdiction or protection, while protecting their privacy, on athlete abuse, discrimination, and harassment; (f) has the government ever taken such a survey of current carded athletes, while protecting their privacy; (g) has the government ever undertaken such a survey of past carded athletes, while protecting their privacy; (h) if the answer to (e), (f) or (g) is affirmative, what are the details of the survey, including (i) the dates, (ii) the questions, (iii) the results, (iv) any changes to protecting athlete health, safety, and wellbeing as a result; (i) does each national sport organization (NSO) have a formal policy to address (i) abuse, (ii) discrimination, (iii) harassment; (j) which NSOs do not have a policy; (k) how often does Sport Canada review such policies as in (i)(i) to (i)(iii), and has any policy ever been required to be strengthened, and, if so, how and when; (l) does each NSO have an independent third party to address abuse, discrimination, and harassment; (m) which NSOs do not have an independent third party; (n) what are the minimum requirements for a third party; (o) what oversight, if any, does Sport Canada provide; (p) broken down by NSO, for each one, is annual mandatory training on (i) abuse, (ii) discrimination, (iii) harassment, taking place; (q) broken down by NSO, for each one, how does Sport Canada track what annual training is taking place; (r) broken down by NSO, for each one, how many athletes, coaches, trainers, medical personnel, judges or referees, parents, and volunteers have gone through such training, broken down by year since April 2020; (s) how many incidents of abuse, discrimination, and harassment, broken down by sport, have been reported to Sport Canada, broken down by year since June 2018; (t) of the incidents in (s), how many of them (i) involved a team, (ii) involved a coach or trainer, (iii) involved medical personnel, (iv) involved a judge or referee, (v) involved another athlete, (vi) involved anyone else in a position of power, (vii) were considered sufficiently serious to withhold funding; (u) in the context of withholding funding, how is “sufficiently serious” defined; (v) how many cases were transferred to the Office of the Sport Integrity Commissioner (OSIC); (w) what is the current backlog of cases broken down by sport at the OSIC; (x) how many cases at the OSIC have been effectively resolved; (y) what is, in detail, the current reporting mechanism for reporting an incident of abuse, discrimination or harassment to the appropriate channels at the federal level, and what are all the appropriate channels; (z) since June 2018, broken down by sport, how many coaches, trainers, medical personnel, judges or referees, or any other person in a position of power have been (i) suspended, (ii) removed from the sport system, (iii) referred to the police; (aa) what mechanisms have been put in place to ensure that anyone (i) suspended, (ii) removed, (iii) criminally convicted, cannot work, volunteer or cross jurisdictions to work or volunteer with athletes or children in Canada and internationally; (bb) what work, if any, has been undertaken on any form of registry of offenders to protect athletes and children, and what were the steps taken; (cc) since 2018, how much funding has the government invested in safe sport, and, for each, what were the dates and investments; (dd) how much funding has each NSO invested in safe sport, and what areas of safe sport has each NSO invested in; (ee) are U Sports athletes protected under federal jurisdiction; (ff) what governments have jurisdiction over U Sports; (gg) who has jurisdiction if an athlete is both a university athlete and a carded athlete; (hh) are Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association athletes protected under federal jurisdiction; (ii) what governments have jurisdiction over Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association; and (jj) who has jurisdiction if an athlete is both a college athlete and a carded athlete?

Questions Passed as Orders for Returns December 12th, 2023

With regard to the Dimensions program: (a) what is the size of the current team that leads the program; (b) what are the details of the team that leads the program, including (i) the name of all the positions of the current team, (ii) whether any positions have been cut since its inception, (iii) the dates for any positions that were cut; (c) what are the details of the program’s financing, including (i) the cost to administer the program annually, (ii) whether there have been any financial cuts to the program since its inception, (iii) the dates of any cuts, if any; (d) what are all of the accomplishments of the program since its inception; (e) what third-party international organizations have recognized the program since its inception; and (f) what are the details of any external reviews of the program, including (i) the start date of the review, (ii) the end date of the review, (iii) who led the review, (iv) the structure of the review, (v) who specifically was consulted in the review, including, but not limited to, the Chief Science Advisor, granting councils, research networks, research organizations, and all researchers or experts?

Questions on the Order Paper September 18th, 2023

With regard to national sport organizations (NSOs) with contribution agreements with Sport Canada (SC), and that have or had non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) with employees and coaches: (a) is SC monitoring which NSOs have NDAs with employees and coaches; (b) for each NSO, what are the details of each NDA, broken down by the year or years in place; and (c) for each NSO in (a), has the agreement ever been used, and, if so, when, and for what purpose?

Questions on the Order Paper June 8th, 2023

With regard to national sport organizations (NSOs) with contribution agreements with Sport Canada (SC), and that have or had non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) with athletes: (a) is SC monitoring which NSOs have NDAs with athletes; (b) for each NSO, what are the details of each NDA, broken down by the year or years in place; and (c) for each NSO in (a), has the agreement ever been used, and, if so, when, and for what purpose?

Sports December 7th, 2022

Mr. Speaker, safe sport should always be the primary goal of every sport, ahead of winning games, tournaments or medals, because athletes only get one childhood. Athletes should look forward to practice, going to the gym and being on the field or on the rink. They should look forward to being physically fit, being trained by coaches committed to developing good athletes and good people, having fun around other athletes and sharing the love of sport with family and friends.

For decades, sport has had a dirty hidden secret of abuse, harassment and sexual assault, despite victims and families courageously coming forward to the media and the stakeholders in the sport system. Four years ago, our government started to build a safe sport system in our country. We have many miles to go, and to get there we need a national public inquiry. Athletes are waiting. We cannot afford to fail our children.

Committees of the House October 24th, 2022

Mr. Speaker, I am honoured to present, in both official languages, the second report of the Standing Committee on Science and Research in relation to the motion adopted on Tuesday, February 1, 2022, regarding top talent, research and innovation.

Pursuant to Standing Order 109, the committee requests that the government table a comprehensive response to this report.

I would like to thank all members and witnesses who participated in this study.

Pandemic Day Act October 17th, 2022

Madam Speaker, I rise today to speak to Bill C-209, which was introduced by Senator Marie-Françoise Mégie and which seeks to designate March 11 as pandemic observance day to commemorate the efforts Canadians have made and continue to make to get through the COVID-19 pandemic.

I want to take this opportunity, first, to thank the senator for developing this bill and, next, to thank my colleague for Vancouver Centre for presenting the bill in the House of Commons. I would also like to thank her for her decades of service as a former minister, member of Parliament, physician and someone who knows first-hand how important it is to save lives.

A national day of observance matters. It would commemorate the people who lost their lives during the pandemic and the significant impacts we have all felt because of COVID-19. All of our lives, the lives of everyone around the world, were forever changed by the emergence of COVID-19.

Today, we mourn the tragic loss of more than 45,000 Canadians: grandparents, parents, heroes, siblings, friends and loved ones. They mattered to so many. Each of these losses cascaded through families and communities, leaving many more thousands bereaved. Because of restrictions around traditional mourning customs and rituals, heart-wrenchingly, many families were unable to even say goodbye. We did not get to be by our family member's side to hold their hands and to comfort them in their last hours. Instead, some of us said goodbye over Zoom with little or no funeral afterward. Today, COVID-19 has infected over four million Canadians.

The pandemic has had an immeasurable impact on how we work, learn, connect with family and friends and live our daily lives. All Canadians have experienced sacrifice and loss over the past years. Seniors were isolated from the ones they love. Our children missed birthday parties, friends and sports. For far too many, the virus meant the loss of their jobs or the closure of their businesses.

Our health care workers have been heroic for almost three years now, initially putting the interests of their neighbours, communities and country ahead of their own. While many of us could work from home, health care and other essential workers could not. The farmers who ensured that we had food on the table, the truck drivers who made sure that food got from the farm to the grocery stores, the grocery store workers who kept the shelves stocked, the teachers and child care workers who comforted our children, and the women and men in uniform who helped care for our most vulnerable, they worked long hours so that we could get the services and care we needed. They were the everyday heroes who we cheered on and hung signs in our windows for. We witnessed Canadians at their very best. We came together, remained strong and lent a hand to neighbours and organizations whenever possible.

It is important that we commemorate the pandemic to remember how our world changed forever and how, once again, human resilience is succeeding. This bill would create the opportunity to come together each year to honour the memory of those we lost, to recognize everyone who was impacted by COVID-19 and to pay tribute to all those who continue to work hard and make incredible sacrifices in our fight against the virus, because the pandemic is not over.

We need to be prepared to use the tools we have. The flu vaccine and COVID-19 vaccine help prevent people from getting seriously ill, prevent further delays in scheduled hospital care and support worn-out health care workers. Internationally, we need to close the booster gap. In low-income countries, only 35% of health care workers and 31% of older populations are fully vaccinated and boosted. We must be prepared for the next time, because there will be a next time. History is clear on this.

More than six distinct influenza pandemics and epidemics have struck in just over a century. Ebola viruses have struck over 25 times in the past five decades, and we have seen the impacts of SARS, MERS and COVID-19. Internationally, governments and private funders poured billions of dollars into building preparedness. Plans were tested and evaluated, and still COVID-19 demonstrated that the world was not sufficiently prepared.

This is the time we should all be asking why this broke down and what must change. We should also be studying the lessons learned to date from COVID-19: our state of preparedness prior to the pandemic; the impacts of COVID-19 on Canadians, business, industry, the economy and public services; the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on some communities; and what actions and investments are being made to be better prepared for the next pandemic.

We should also pay attention to antimicrobial resistance, a global crisis that threatens a century of progress in health and achievement of the sustainable development goals. Because the drivers of antimicrobial resistance lie in humans, animals, plants, food and the environment, a sustained one-health response is essential. There is no time to wait.

We should learn what we always learn during a pandemic, namely, that science, research and public health matter, and not just when we are in crisis. They are fundamental building blocks of our country, which require attention, nurturing and and support, and they cannot be neglected. We need enhanced competitive investment in science and research to keep the best and brightest in Canada.

We cannot afford to forget because we have forgotten before. In 1918-19, influenza swept the world and killed more than 50 million people, more than the number that died in all of the fighting in the First World War. Many victims were healthy young people in the prime of life. There was a shortage of medical personnel. There were no effective treatments. There were no flu vaccines, antiviral drugs, antibiotics or mechanical ventilation.

To slow the spread of the disease, governments implemented quarantine, placarded homes, closed public places and regulated and enforced mask wearing. Individual citizens closed their doors to the outside world and communicated via letter. In Canada, between 30,000 and 50,000 people died. In Montreal, the demand for transporting the dead was so great that trolley cars had to be converted into hearses that could carry 10 coffins at a time. Whole families disintegrated and young adults left behind children who were forced into orphanages. Losses to businesses were staggering. Merchants lost their livelihoods because staff were absent with flu and customers were too ill to shop. Restaurants and theatres all lost heavily.

It was one of history's deadliest pandemics, but people did not want to talk about their experience during the pandemic. Because they were reluctant to talk or write about the pandemic, future generations were not always aware of it. Historian Alfred Crosby called it the “forgotten pandemic”. People wanted to forget difficult times, move on with their lives and think about a happier future.

This time is different. There are innumerable memorial projects and memorials under way around the globe. Here in Canada, there is an obituary project to pay tribute to everyone who has died of COVID-19 and every Canadian who died of the disease abroad. It is called “They Were Loved”. That is why this bill matters: because they were loved.