Thank you very much, Madam Chair.
Thank you to the witnesses. We appreciate their presence here today and their testimonies.
The fact is that our national sports organizations have been in crisis for a year now. As my colleague Mr. Lemire said, we are seeing a growing number of revelations that are causing tremendous harm to public trust in the national sport system. In addition to the cases of sexual abuse and sexual violence there is also the whole issue of financial transparency.
You all mentioned being in favour of a public inquiry. It is important. I think that is a recommendation that some people around the table will promote when the time comes to produce our report. It is essential.
On the topic of financial transparency, it is also a matter of protecting the victims and not requiring them to sign agreements that muzzle them. That is also something we need to discuss.
I want to ask each witness these questions around financial transparency that we have seen, notably with Hockey Canada and Canada Soccer. They have stunned Canadians from coast to coast to coast.
Many sports organizations continue to use non-disclosure agreements to muzzle victims from speaking out if they so choose. An NDA should not be constructed in such a way that victims are unable to speak out if they so choose. We benefit, in this climate of crisis we have with national sports organizations, from victims telling us their stories if they so choose.
My question to all three organizations is, what should the federal government be doing to ensure financial transparency? We cannot have, as we've seen from testimony here at the committee, secret funds—funds that are hidden and not available either to members of the organization or to the public—or agreements that are signed, where it is not clear there's been transparency, even though, ultimately, it has cost the organization a lot.
Secondly, should the federal government be insisting that victims should be free to speak out if they so choose? Should the government ensure that any national sports organization does not impose an NDA on victims that does not allow them to speak out if they so choose?
I'll ask all three organizations those two questions.