Thank you very much for this opportunity.
My purpose today is to urge you to affirm the important reforms that have recently been introduced, the Universal Code of Conduct to Address and Prevent Maltreatment in Sport and the Office of the Sport Integrity Commissioner, and see that they are effectively implemented and sustained.
I speak as someone who has been directly involved in the policy debates in Canadian sport for more than 60 years as an athlete, researcher, athletic director and chair of federal, Ontario and Commonwealth policy advisory bodies. From that perspective, I've seen more progress towards safe sport in the last four years than at any other time. I fear that unless the UCCMS and OSIC are systematically and resolutely implemented, they will lose support and be quickly forgotten, as earlier reform proposals were forgotten.
I remind you that as an outgrowth of the progressive ideas set in motion by protests, headlines and hearings associated with the Dubin commission more than 30 years ago, Sport Canada enacted a strong policy to address sexual harassment, only to let it slide into oblivion. At the same time, Canada took a much more inclusive, athlete-centred approach to governance through the Canadian sport council, only to let it fade and die in the cutbacks of the 1990s. Progress can be reversed.
As Gretchen said, the UCCMS was initiated by athletes. It is evidence-based and has the support of a broad coalition of national sports leaders. It is one of the most comprehensive of such codes in the world, and a huge Canadian achievement, but it's barely known. To realize broad cultural change, the UCCMS must be effectively rolled out and communicated so that the prohibitions and empowering values it asserts are understood and embraced at every level, from the professional leagues and the Olympic sector to university, college and school sport to the sandlot. We need a massive pan-Canadian campaign in English, French and indigenous languages, with active workshops, athlete leaders, public service announcements, media discussion and full FPT endorsement. It must become as well known a characteristic of the Canadian sports system as anti-doping, fair play and the pursuit of excellence. It should be a basis for hiring, evaluation and promotion.
In terms of OSIC, the federal government must ensure that all sports bodies sign on. As I understand it, the PT sports ministers have agreed to sign on, as Nova Scotia has now done, or create their own aligned structures, as in Quebec. We must hold all 13 PT governments to such commitments.
Making an effective new organization with care and attention to both trauma-informed procedures and natural justice will take time. I should point out that getting the Sport Dispute Resolution Centre of Canada up and running 20-odd years ago took four years of careful work. It has also taken time to establish sexual harassment policies and procedures in such public institutions as universities. Let's give OSIC our understanding while asking it to communicate widely, involve athletes in its decisions and test its various procedures before a full release to ensure confidence and credibility.
In addition, athlete representatives must be embedded in all decision-making bodies with parity, voice and vote. The Red Deer declaration, developed from recommendations of a broadly representative group with wide consultation, must be fully implemented. Canada must create and enforce a code of conduct for governance the way Australia, the European Union and the U.K. did a decade ago.