Canadian Heritage Committee on April 17th, 2023

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

I call this meeting to order.

Welcome to meeting number 74 of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage. I would like to acknowledge that this meeting is taking place on the unceded traditional territory of the Algonquin Anishinabe people.

Today's meeting is being run under a hybrid format, in keeping with the order of the House of Commons that was adopted on June 23, 2022.

I also want to give you a couple of housekeeping notes. Again, I want to welcome everybody and say that, while public health authorities and the Board of Internal Economy no longer require that you wear a mask when you are in the room, masks and respirators are still excellent tools to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and other respiratory diseases and their use is encouraged.

I want to take this opportunity to tell all participants that they are not allowed to take screenshots or photos of their screens during this meeting. The proceedings will be made available on the public website, so you can get anything you want there.

Pursuant to Standing Order 108(2) and the motion adopted by the committee on Tuesday, September 20, 2022, this committee is meeting to continue its study on safe sport in Canada.

I have just a couple of things to say. For those of you appearing virtually, at the bottom of your screen there's a little round globe. When you press it, it will give you English or French, or the original, as you need. Also, remember to mute yourself when you're not speaking. All questions and comments should be addressed through the chair, so please don't speak unless I call your name. Thank you very much.

We will begin.

Today, we again have our study of safe sport in Canada. Our witnesses are Kate Bahen, managing director, Charity Intelligence Canada; from the Coaching Association of Canada, Ms. Lorraine Lafrenière, CEO, who is in the room; and, from the Sport Information Resource Centre, Debra Gassewitz, president and chief executive officer.

I want to welcome you and thank you for taking the time to come and bear witness to us about some of the questions you're going to get.

I shall begin. Every person appearing here as part of a group or as an individual has five minutes to speak. I will give you a 30-second shout-out, and I mean shout-out. I'll say “30 seconds”, so ignore me and just remember that it means you have only 30 seconds left and then I'll have to cut you off.

Thank you very much.

I will begin with Ms. Bahen for five minutes, please.

[Kate Bahen, Managing Director, Charity Intelligence Canada]

Thank you so much, Madam Chair.

I wanted to quickly say “thank you so much” to the committee for its conduct. We've all watched, and it has been so refreshing to see a really thorough investigation of what happened at Hockey Canada.

My name is Kate Bahen. I'm the managing director at Charity Intelligence. Charity Intelligence researches Canadian charities, and we post research reports on our website so that Canadians can be informed about their giving.

I have not analyzed, reviewed or rated Hockey Canada. My work on this file was purely to help journalists walk through and understand the audited financial statements. I've been invited to report to you on the financial transparency of Canada's sports organizations—the RCAAAs—and charities.

The RCAAAs are amateur athletic associations. They're a small subset of Canada’s registered charities. They can issue donation receipts, yet this small group of 138 amateur athletic charities is not required to complete an annual return, called the T3010. Every other Canadian charity must complete this annual return. The T3010 discloses basic information about a charity, including staff, compensation, programs and finances. This loophole must be closed. RCAAAs must file an annual T3010, just like every other registered charity in Canada.

There is another area where financial transparency can be improved. Last May, when the news about the Hockey Canada legal settlement broke, Canadians had many questions. We were unable to answer these questions. Hockey Canada was not financially transparent. Its books were closed and its finances were not publicly available.

The information is available if one goes to the bother, cost and delay of filing an access to information request. Mark Blumberg filed this request, but the pages he received were incomplete. It took three months—until August 2022—for us to receive Hockey Canada's complete audited financial statements. Hockey Canada became financially transparent in December 2022, when it posted the PDFs of its audited financial statements.

The lack of financial transparency among Canadian charities is far more common than Canadians expect. In 2007, when we asked charities for audited financial statements, 28% refused. In 2022, 13% refused. This lack of financial transparency is out of step with the public’s expectations, as 92% of Canadians say that charities should be financially transparent. Whether it's 2007 or 2023, Canadians are always shocked to learn that charities are not required to be financially transparent.

Should Canadian charities have the right to refuse to be financially transparent? This option is only available in Canada. In the U.S., the U.K. and Australia, financial transparency is regulated. In those countries, the audited financial statements are posted on the charity regulator’s website and are easily available with just a click. It's time Canada got in step and did the same.

While aligned with what Canadians want, there could be strong opposition from the minority of charities that fiercely keep their books closed. These charities include some of Canada’s largest charities, which receive hundreds of millions of dollars in annual donations. We track $750 million in annual donations going to what we call these “dark pool” or “black hole” charities.

Thomas Cromwell found this attitude at Hockey Canada. I quote from his report, in which he said:

Hockey Canada expressed that some other changes were just not well suited for their organization, such as making the financial statements…available to the public. Although Hockey Canada has achieved considerable financial success over the years, Hockey Canada is concerned that being seen as an organization with “deep pockets” could create some negative implications.

For example, [financial transparency] could have an effect on their bargaining power with respect to the settlement of lawsuits, and this could also influence the amount of money that sponsors would be willing to offer in the future. This is not to mention the fact that the media could use [the] information to depict a negative image of the organization.

Hockey Canada's attitude is common among the non-transparent minority of charities. These charities see their activities as nobody else's business.

I ask for your committee, for your leadership, to make Canadian charities financially transparent.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

Thank you very much, Ms. Bahen.

Now I will go to the Coaching Association of Canada and Ms. Lorraine Lafrenière.

Ms. Lafrenière, you have five minutes, please. Thank you.

[Lorraine Lafrenière, Chief Executive Officer, Coaching Association of Canada]

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.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

Thank you very much, Ms. Lafrenière.

Now I go to our last witness, which is the Sport Information Resource Centre and Ms. Gassewitz.

You have five minutes, please.

[Debra Gassewitz, President and Chief Executive Officer, Sport Information Resource Centre]

Thank you, Madam Chair and the heritage standing committee on safe sport, for inviting me to speak today on behalf of the Sport Information Resource Centre, also referred to as SIRC.

To the survivors in sport who have come forward and shared their experiences and for those who have not, my heart goes out to each and every one of you, as no one should have to go through the abuses and harms you have suffered. As a parent, as a volunteer and today as someone working in sport, I firmly believe that we need to do whatever we can to ensure that no one—especially children—is maltreated or harmed in any way.

My reason for coming here today is that I believe we can make a difference. Why? Because I'm watching behaviours change. SIRC is Canada's leader and most-trusted partner in advancing sport through knowledge and evidence. Our role is to help answer questions, facilitate conversations and share knowledge with the sport sector. We're not an advocacy group. We are a resource centre known for our neutrality and for our desire to help find credible information and to listen and learn.

For example, 10 years ago, concussions were not well known in the public conversation. Athletes, coaches, officials, parents and sport media all seemed to embrace the “tough it out and shake it off” mentality. In 2016, the government, led by Governor General David Johnston, decided that “We Can Do Better”. The FPT ministers made it a priority to increase concussion awareness, learn how to manage and prevent concussions in sport, and collect the data to continue learning. Today, all national sport organizations have mandatory concussion policies. The provinces have implemented concussion protocols. Ontario has Rowan's Law Day, and the FPT ministers endorsed the fourth week of September to be Concussion Awareness Week every year.

Maltreatment in sport is a serious problem, as evidenced by the revelations of horrendous harms experienced by athletes. We recognize that safe sport is a priority for Canadians, as it was highlighted in 14 of the 24 Canadian sport policy consultations last year. However, we are also witnessing behaviour change as it relates to safe sport. From the Red Deer declaration endorsed by the FPT ministers in 2019 to the creation and mandatory adoption of the UCCMS and OSIC by national sport organizations, change is happening.

In an effort to be proactive, NSOs, PSOs and universities are now creating dedicated staffing positions to help focus on safe sport. SIRC hosts Canada's national sport job board, and this past year we've noticed an emergence of postings for sport safety coordinators, sport safety officers, safe sport managers and directors of safe sport, as well as managers of HR and equity, diversity and inclusion, and recently one for an EDI and anti-racism coordinator.

We have observed an increase in education and awareness surrounding safe sport: the CAC and Respect in Sport online modules, the sport research conference with an inclusion and diversity panel, the Ontario Soccer Summit with a safe sport panel, SIRCuit articles highlighting recent research. Sports are collaborating and offering training in ways that are relevant to their members, their staff and their boards.

We also are seeing an increase in safe sport and safeguarding-related research. The findings of our recent literature review of over 30 studies echoes what we heard from the more than 5,000 Canadians who participated in the Canadian sport policy renewal process in 2022. Programming needs to be more than developmentally and technically sound. It needs to promote equity, diversity and inclusion. Calls for mandatory safe sport, anti-racism and cultural awareness training for everyone in sport—participants, parents, coaches, officials, administrators and leaders—were loud and clear.

While safe sport environments are necessary for everyone in sport, athletes and officials were identified as the people most often experiencing abuse and harassment. In particular, the issue of abuse of officials is under-recognized and contributes to a larger problem of official availability, and we can't run sports without officials. As mentioned in a campaign currently run by several PSOs in Manitoba and Ontario, “No Ref, No Game”.

The Canadian sport policy consultations indicated a clear desire to see Canada as an international leader in safe sport, so what can government do? We need to start by listening to Canadians, especially our survivors. We need to collaborate and make safe sport a government priority, and we need to fund and encourage sustainable programming that promotes safe sport at all levels of sport.

Thank you for listening. We want to help.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

Thank you very much, Ms. Gassewitz.

Now I'm going to go to the part of the meeting that is a question-and-answer period. The first round is going to be six minutes. Six minutes means questions and answers, so please, everyone, try to be as concise as you can.

We will begin with the Conservatives.

Mrs. Thomas, you have six minutes.

[Rachael Thomas, Conservative, Lethbridge, AB]

That's perfect. Thank you.

To all the witnesses, I want to thank you for taking the time to be with us here today.

My first question is for Ms. Gassewitz.

Ms. Gassewitz, I'm curious about whether you've ever received government funding.

[Debra Gassewitz]

Yes, we do.

[Rachael Thomas, Conservative, Lethbridge, AB]

What does that look like?

[Debra Gassewitz]

We get funding from Sport Canada for a lot of programs. We also recently received funding from Health Canada on the air quality health index. There was some provincial funding helping us make job postings more accessible.

It's different types of government funding.

[Rachael Thomas, Conservative, Lethbridge, AB]

Ms. Gassewitz, what is the funding that comes from Sport Canada used for?

[Debra Gassewitz]

We use it for several different projects.

Some is for that core funding for communications, allowing the sport sector across the board to share their announcements, what's going on and what jobs are available. There's that central vehicle. It's also used to share educational programs, resources and new learnings. There's a quarterly newsletter that shares a lot of research that is synthesized and shared out with the sector. There's daily news that goes out. There's social media that goes out.

We also have funding for dedicated programs, such as for concussion. We obviously try to encourage host venues that bring people from across the country together digitally, so that all 13 provinces and territories can hear about it. We also have research conferences and different projects where we're trying to get help to get the message across.

[Rachael Thomas, Conservative, Lethbridge, AB]

Thank you.

I have the same question for you, Ms. Lafrenière.

[Lorraine Lafrenière]

Yes, we receive government funding from Sport Canada.

We, as an organization, are mandated by the federal-provincial-territorial governments. The ministers responsible for sport endorse our mandate in coaching and education to train coaches from communities to high performance across 66 sports in every province and territory. Annually, we receive $4 million in base funding from Sport Canada. We use that for coach education and training, and for building curriculum in our safe sport programs across the board.

[Rachael Thomas, Conservative, Lethbridge, AB]

What are the accountability mechanisms put in place, in terms of how that funding is used?

[Lorraine Lafrenière]

The accountability mechanism is an annual report to the Government of Canada on our performance. We publish an annual report posting where we've had our successes and failures. We report to our board of directors as well.

[Rachael Thomas, Conservative, Lethbridge, AB]

Thank you.

Also to you, Ms. Gassewitz, what are the accountability mechanisms put in place between you and Sport Canada?

[Debra Gassewitz]

Absolutely. We have to provide reports regularly on every one of the different programs. There's the regular reporting that goes in. We have our annual report. When we're doing the special projects, we're accounting and working with Sport Canada throughout the process, as well, to make sure it is completely transparent.

There are several different ways of making sure there's continued accountability.

[Rachael Thomas, Conservative, Lethbridge, AB]

Thank you.

I'm going to give the mike over to Mr. Kevin Waugh.

[Kevin Waugh, Conservative, Saskatoon—Grasswood, SK]

Thank you.

I'll continue with Ms. Lafrenière.

Your NCCP training and workshops.... I've taken one. They're good. The background checks by your organization in Canada, that is the biggest thing.

Can you talk about the background checks? We've seen a number of coaches, over the years, slip through. Perhaps talk about the background checks, as we're all looking for volunteers to become coaches.

[Lorraine Lafrenière]

It's not uniform across the country, which is a challenge. In different jurisdictions, there are costs associated with it, which is why I brought that point forward earlier about the costs of running safe sport and quality sport delivery.

We support the Canadian Olympic Committee, the Canadian Paralympic Committee and Commonwealth Games Canada in doing the screening of coaches who go to the Olympic, Paralympic, Pan Am and Commonwealth games.

That partnership exists, but currently national sport federations adopt their own approaches to screening coaches, which is one element of prevention that sets the appropriate stage for safety.

[Kevin Waugh, Conservative, Saskatoon—Grasswood, SK]

That has to change in this country. How do we change it?

[Lorraine Lafrenière]

We're currently trying to work with Sport Canada to access funding, so we can build a model for screening across national sport federations. We hope, with our partnership with the provincial and territorial governments—because of our mandate—that we're able to support uniform implementation of screening across the country that is understood at the door of the clubhouse.

[Kevin Waugh, Conservative, Saskatoon—Grasswood, SK]

That's the problem in this country. You have provincial bodies and then you have the lower end of it, let's say the starting sports that really don't adhere to many of the provincial programs because they're just starting out, like soccer, gymnastics and others.

Comment on that.