Evidence of meeting #38 for Canadian Heritage in the 44th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was players.
A video is available from Parliament.
6:45 p.m.
NDP
Peter Julian NDP New Westminster—Burnaby, BC
Does this mean there is a sort of national registry for all sports associations?
6:45 p.m.
Liberal
Pascale St-Onge Liberal Brome—Missisquoi, QC
Complaints reported to Sport Canada have been compiled since 2018.
6:45 p.m.
NDP
Peter Julian NDP New Westminster—Burnaby, BC
How many complaints have been recorded in this registry since 2018?
6:45 p.m.
Liberal
Pascale St-Onge Liberal Brome—Missisquoi, QC
All told, 45 complaints have been brought to the attention of Sport Canada since 2018 for all of Canada's sports organizations.
6:45 p.m.
NDP
Peter Julian NDP New Westminster—Burnaby, BC
What's the nature of these complaints?
Are they as serious as the gang rape allegation?
6:45 p.m.
Liberal
Pascale St-Onge Liberal Brome—Missisquoi, QC
I don't have any details about these complaints. They might be cases of psychological harassment, some form of abuse in an organization, or something more like what Hockey Canada reported on June 26, 2018.
6:45 p.m.
NDP
Peter Julian NDP New Westminster—Burnaby, BC
Do you know how many of these 45 cases were criminal in nature?
6:45 p.m.
Liberal
Pascale St-Onge Liberal Brome—Missisquoi, QC
No, I don't have that information today. The deputy minister may be able to answer the question.
6:45 p.m.
Deputy Minister, Department of Canadian Heritage
Mr. Chair, we can provide that information, which is in the database containing our records.
6:45 p.m.
NDP
Peter Julian NDP New Westminster—Burnaby, BC
Thank you very much.
We'd be very grateful, because we need an overview of the situation, which is a matter of concern to Canadians. It's not just this horrible incident, but also the possibility of others. The fact that Hockey Canada was unable to answer or provide information is also worrisome.
For the contribution agreements, are all sports associations funded by the federal government required to adopt a code of conduct?
Should such a code be mandatory?
When there is an investigation, like the one launched in the horrible Hockey Canada incident, do the contribution agreements make the participation of players, trainers and everyone involved compulsory?
6:45 p.m.
Liberal
Pascale St-Onge Liberal Brome—Missisquoi, QC
The contribution agreements require that sports organizations adopt a policy on harassment, assault and abuse in their sport, in other words, a sport safety policy. The organizations must also adopt an independent mechanism for receiving and dealing with complaints. For the time being, the contribution agreements are limited to that.
The athletes also told us that when they availed themselves of the independent mechanisms offered by the sports organizations themselves, they had the impression that they were not independent enough. They didn't always trust them.
That's why my predecessors and I established the Office of the Sport Integrity Commissioner, which is independent from the sports organizations and will be able to receive complaints from athletes and deal with them transparently, professionally and independently.
Given that I, as the minister, have only the contributions agreements for dealing with the sports organizations, I am going to make it mandatory over the coming months for them to adhere to this independent mechanism to give athletes a place they can turn to when they encounter problems in their sport.
6:50 p.m.
NDP
Peter Julian NDP New Westminster—Burnaby, BC
Will federal government funds be withheld from the sports organizations that do not adhere to this mechanism?
6:50 p.m.
Liberal
Pascale St-Onge Liberal Brome—Missisquoi, QC
Withholding funding from organizations until they comply with the contribution agreements could be sanctioned.
6:50 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Hedy Fry
Thank you very much, Peter. That's the end of the round.
We're going into the second round. Because of time limits—we have to be out of here at a particular time, a hard stop—I'm going to shift the second round to three minutes for the Conservatives, three minutes for the Liberals, and one and a half and one and a half for the Bloc and the NDP. I'm sorry, but that's it. We're going to get kicked out of here if we don't do this.
Beginning this round is Kevin Waugh for three minutes.
6:50 p.m.
Conservative
6:50 p.m.
Conservative
Richard Martel Conservative Chicoutimi—Le Fjord, QC
Thank you, Madam Chair.
Minister, I'd like to get back to what I said earlier.
In 2018, the then minister of sports had mentioned that organizations were required to report allegations of assault or harassment or be subject to having their funding requests denied. Earlier, you told me that Hockey Canada had received its funding because the incident had been reported to the police.
Is that right?
Why should just reporting the case to the police mean that the funding is granted anyway? There are, after all, serious allegations involved.
In 2018, the sports minister mentioned cutting off funding immediately. I think that would be most appropriate.
6:50 p.m.
Liberal
Pascale St-Onge Liberal Brome—Missisquoi, QC
The obligation for the sports organizations is to report complaints to Sport Canada and explain what action they have taken.
I'll read you the Hockey Canada statement, in English, which was sent on June 26, 2018.
“On June 19, Hockey Canada held a golf and gala for their national junior men's hockey team. Alleged sexual assault happened after the golf portion of the event. Involves member of the national junior team. Hockey Canada reported the incident to London police. Hockey Canada has contracted outside counsel. Hockey Canada has asked counsel to involve a third-party company. The victim has attended a rape crisis centre. Hockey Canada has offered counselling to the victim.”
The Hockey Canada organization therefore complied with the established requirements. It then of course left follow‑up action to the police.
6:50 p.m.
Conservative
Richard Martel Conservative Chicoutimi—Le Fjord, QC
The Hockey Canada representatives mentioned earlier that there were two other cases. I'd like to know whether you are aware of these.
6:50 p.m.
Conservative
Richard Martel Conservative Chicoutimi—Le Fjord, QC
Do you believe that Hockey Canada is treated in the same way as other amateur sports organizations?
Is the funding granted equitable in comparison to the funds received by other amateur sports organizations, where athletes start their training at the age of 12 or 13 and work as hard as, if not harder than, hockey players?
6:55 p.m.
Liberal
Pascale St-Onge Liberal Brome—Missisquoi, QC
Canadian sports organizations are required to sign contribution agreements that are more or less the same. Hockey, it must be admitted, is a very popular sport in Canada. A portion of the funding is based on the number of participants in the sport. The system is based on standards to which all sports organizations are subject. The requirements are the same for all sports organizations.
6:55 p.m.
Conservative
Richard Martel Conservative Chicoutimi—Le Fjord, QC
I've often heard it said that the other sports are not promoted as much as hockey, and that hockey is always in the forefront. This penalizes athletes in other sports, who need as much recognition as hockey players. These athletes, after all, put in the same effort, and sometimes even more effort, than hockey players, and are subject to extremely strict discipline.
Are you envisaging any changes in this area in future?
