Thank you, Madam Chair.
I too would like to acknowledge the unceded territory of the Algonquin Anishinabe peoples on which we find ourselves.
I want to acknowledge the courage of the victims and survivors who have broken the silence.
The Coaching Association of Canada was called as a witness on December 1, 2022, to the Standing Committee on the Status of Women. CAC's witness statement and submitted brief are available. Our position remains that an inquiry is needed. As Minister St-Onge confirmed, it is a matter of when and how.
An inquiry will only be successful if it is built on the collaboration of all partners in the sport system as well as those who contribute and partner in sport. An example is our work with the Canadian Centre for Child Protection. They guide us with their expertise. We need insight and understanding from each jurisdiction—the provinces, the territories, the federal government, the national sport federations, and the provincial and territorial sport federations. How can we better address the governance issues across the system? How can we better identify leading practices and fast-track improvement across the country?
Permit me to share the interdependence of CAC in coach training education across the country.
The mandate of the Coaching Association of Canada is to provide an ethical framework for the development of coaches and sport practitioners and to implement and promote a developmental program in association with all levels of government—federal, provincial and territorial governments—national, provincial and territorial sport organizations, and clubs. This covers the entire sport system.
Sport and recreation are critical to Canada's post-COVID recovery. The research is clear. Evidence has shown that between 40% and 48% of children and adolescents experienced mental health issues during the pandemic. Those who did not have access to sport and recreation were worse. We are really trying to urgently address this issue with the support of the Public Health Agency of Canada by improving mental health literacy in our coaches, our participants and our athletes.
The good news is that sport is on the rise. The most recent Canadian Tire “Jumpstart State of Sport Report” points out that while 70% of parents agree that organized sports offer great experiences for their children, 44% say they cannot afford registration. Additionally, 81% of sport organizations surveyed said that the cost to run youth programming has risen.
The message is simple: Sport is important, but everybody is struggling under the weight of costs. This exposes a threat to safe sport as well-intentioned individuals and organizations cut corners to offer sport. The experiences and dynamics in grassroots sport must be included as part of the inquiry so that we can acknowledge and proactively address the challenges facing our athletes as they progress through their journey—and our coaches as well.
Finally, our priority at CAC is to continue to focus on prevention in partnership with Sport Canada, the Public Health Agency of Canada and Status of Women Canada and to find ways to address safe sport by currently working to standardize screening processes and enhance training for coaches in an athlete-centred, holistic development approach.
Thank you, Madam Chair.