Canadian Heritage Committee on April 27th, 2023

[Rachael Thomas, Conservative, Lethbridge, AB]

You were president of BC Soccer, you were sitting on the Canada Soccer board and you were aware of the allegations brought against Mr. Birarda. You knew why he was let go from Canada Soccer, yet, in your role as president of BC Soccer, you did not feel it was your responsibility to report to the region, the league or the federation that there was this individual out there who may be looking for a coaching job and to perhaps not hire him. That thought never crossed your mind.

I'll remind you that your first role is to make sure the sport remains safe, productive and well, which means that your players need to be cared for. In your role as president of BC Soccer, you never thought that it was perhaps your responsibility to convey the information you knew with regard to Mr. Birarda.

[Steven Reed]

I did not have all the details with regard to the allegations against Mr. Birarda, and I did not believe I had the authority to deal with the matter. It was dealt with by Canada Soccer and by the Vancouver Whitecaps and an independent ombudsperson at the time.

To your question, I did not believe I had the authority to go beyond that.

[Rachael Thomas, Conservative, Lethbridge, AB]

You were president of BC Soccer and on the Canada Soccer board. What did you need in order to have the authority? What were you missing?

[Steven Reed]

I believe I would have taken legal counsel to find out whether I was in a position to be able to report on a matter that was dealt with independently by two other bodies.

[Rachael Thomas, Conservative, Lethbridge, AB]

Why didn't you do that? Did you not care about the players and about the implications this could have for these girls in U14 soccer?

[Steven Reed]

Well, yes, but I didn't know at the time that he was coaching a U14 team.

[Rachael Thomas, Conservative, Lethbridge, AB]

Yes—

[Steven Reed]

I didn't know that he was coaching within our system.

[Rachael Thomas, Conservative, Lethbridge, AB]

But you did know that he was let go from Canada Soccer because of these serious allegations brought against him. You were president of BC Soccer. You did decide to turn a blind eye to this and you did decide to mute yourself. You did decide that. You're saying right now that you could have sought legal counsel in order to know what you could have said to the federation. You chose not to seek that legal counsel and instead remained silent.

Why did you choose to remain silent?

[Steven Reed]

I did not choose to remain silent. It was an issue that had been dealt with by other parties. The matter was communicated by them to us, and they viewed it as being within their authority and bailiwick to deal with.

[Rachael Thomas, Conservative, Lethbridge, AB]

I'm curious.... It is now several years later, and we know a plethora of girls and young women have been sexually assaulted—

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

You have 30 seconds.

[Rachael Thomas, Conservative, Lethbridge, AB]

—by Mr. Birarda. We know this likely could have been prevented had you used your voice.

What would you say to those victims now?

[Steven Reed]

I would apologize profusely if that were the case—if any abuses occurred as a result of that. I want to ensure that everybody understands I'm absolutely appalled by what went on.

I feel as though, since that time, the soccer community has changed drastically. We've made significant changes so those types of abuses will never happen again. It's something we shouldn't and can't see in our sport, or in any other sport across the country. I feel very strongly that—

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

Mr. Reed, I need you to wrap up your answer, please.

[Steven Reed]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

All right.

Next, it's the Liberals. It will be Ms. Hepfner.

Lisa, you have five minutes.

[Lisa Hepfner, Liberal, Hamilton Mountain, ON]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

I'll continue on the same pathway as my colleague Mrs. Thomas.

Sir, I think what we've established, so far this afternoon, is that you felt no moral onus to make sure other young athletes weren't at risk of abuse, given the abuse you were already aware of after Bob Birarda left your purview. You seem to be telling us now that all the problems are fixed and this will never happen again.

If a team were to find out that players were being abused in a soccer situation, what would happen now? How can parents and athletes feel safe, given the changes you've made as of today?

[Steven Reed]

Well, the safe sport roster deals with a number of different factors. The coaching licensing program is much more robust, and there's—

[Lisa Hepfner, Liberal, Hamilton Mountain, ON]

If a coach was accused of abuse, left the system and went to another province, would there be a flag beside his name?

[Steven Reed]

Yes.

[Lisa Hepfner, Liberal, Hamilton Mountain, ON]

Would another organization know that he faced allegations somewhere else, even if those allegations hadn't even been proven in court?

[Steven Reed]

The coach and club licensing program requires that all the coaches within that are certified. They do criminal record checks. They have to sign off on the code of conduct and ethics—

[Lisa Hepfner, Liberal, Hamilton Mountain, ON]

Do you think Bob Birarda would have signed off on a code of ethics?

[Steven Reed]

I can't comment on what Bob Birarda might or might not have done.