Canadian Heritage Committee on June 1st, 2023

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

I call this meeting to order.

Good afternoon, everyone. Welcome to meeting No. 84 of the 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 taking place in a hybrid format, pursuant to the House order of Thursday, June 23, 2022.

Now, while public health authorities no longer mandate masks, I'm going to ask you to think about the fact that COVID is not gone, and nor are other respiratory viruses. Wear a mask in a closed room if you feel you need to protect yourself and others.

At the bottom of your screen, for those of you who are virtual, you will see a little globe. If you press that globe, it will give you English or French so that you can get translation. I also want to take this opportunity to remind you not to take shots of the screen or to take any pictures of this meeting. It will be on the website, and you'll be able to see it there.

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

Just so you know, keep your mikes on mute. Only unmute when the chair asks you to speak or recognizes you. All questions and everything should go through the chair. Those are just a couple of little House rules for those of you who have not done this before.

Let's begin our study on safe sport in Canada. We have two sets of witnesses. Representing the Canadian Fencing Federation, we have Yann Bernard, president; John French, vice-president, by video conference; and David Howes, executive director, by video conference. For the second group, representing the Canadian Olympic Committee, we have David Shoemaker, chief executive officer and secretary-general.

Welcome, witnesses. You will have five minutes to present. You can have as many speakers as you want, but you still have only five minutes to do your presentation.

I will begin with Yann Bernard.

You have five minutes, please, Mr. Bernard.

[Yann Bernard, President, Canadian Fencing Federation]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Members of the committee, my name is Yann Bernard. I have been president of the Canadian Fencing Federation since 2020 and a member of its board of directors since 2018. I am also vice-president of the Pan American Fencing Confederation and vice-president of the Alliance francophone d'escrime. I am accompanied, via videoconference, by John French, vice-president of our federation, and David Howes, our executive director.

I started fencing in 1984 at the age of 12 and have been Canadian champion and vice-champion on several occasions. I was selected as a member of the junior national team several times and have represented Canada internationally at the senior level. On numerous occasions, I have also acted as an athlete representative within the federation, on the Canadian Olympic Committee and at AthletesCAN.

Fencing has always been a part of my life, bringing me joy, sadness, personal success and lasting friendships. It has also helped me through what I consider some of the hardest times an individual has to endure.

I am a lawyer by profession and, for the past 30 years, have essentially practised in the fields of education and amateur sport as a legal adviser, barrister and solicitor for private colleges and school boards. I specialize in labour law, particularly disciplinary and human rights and freedoms cases. I have also worked for many stakeholders in the world of amateur sport, particularly athletes, sport federations, the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport and the World Anti-Doping Agency. Lastly, the Canadian Olympic Committee honoured me by appointing me to the Canadian team's ombudsman at two Pan American Games and three Olympic Games, in Vancouver, London and Sochi.

Protecting the rights of students, athletes and the people they associate with has thus been a central feature of my professional life. That's all by way of introduction.

I want to thank you for the opportunity you have given us to participate, to the best of our ability, in the important work you are doing for amateur sport. To begin with, I would simply and humbly say that the impression that emerges from the sometimes disturbing testimony that I have heard, and from current discussions in the world of sport, is that a review of the situation of amateur sport is necessary in order to build or rebuild adequate trust among the various stakeholders.

The ambient negativity and suspicion that currently prevail are untenable, and the truth must be restored. As to whether this review will have to be conducted by the courts, an expert panel or another structure, that will obviously be up to you to decide. However, it seems clear to me that it will have to focus on much broader matters than the current situation regarding safety in sport because all of these matters are related. The interpersonal relations issues and problems that follow therefrom, particularly misconduct and other, even worse behaviour, cannot be isolated from other fundamental issues such as financial resources, the availability and attractability of morally sound and competent human resources, competition culture and society's general expectations of young athletes and those around them.

We have long known that there is no point in addressing bad behaviour and crime in society without considering all contextual information regarding the economy, culture and education. Why then would matters be different for amateur sport? I therefore believe that the issues you are addressing here are crucially important but that this is only part of the equation and that we will resolve nothing in the long term unless the best possible individuals examine the situation as a whole and have the ability to get to the bottom of things.

Thank you. Before answering your questions, more specifically on the situation of fencing, I want to let my colleague John French say a few words that, I think, accurately reflect our federation's position.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

Go ahead, Mr. French.

[John French, Vice-President, Canadian Fencing Federation]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

I apologize in advance to the committee and to my colleagues who are here with me today—

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

I'm sorry. I couldn't hear you very well.

Thank you. You finished with one minute and 20 seconds left. There you go. Very well done.

[Yann Bernard]

Mr. French is going to finish.

[The Clerk of the Committee, Ms. Geneviève Desjardins]

I believe he has part of the statement, but his microphone doesn't appear to have been selected.

[Yann Bernard]

I've spoken, Madam Chair. I'm asking Mr. French to finish our introduction.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

I'm sorry. That's what I thought you said, but I'm looking for Mr. French and—

[An hon. member]

We can't hear him. That's the problem.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

Mr. French, can you say something so that we can see whether we can hear you?

[John French]

Hello. Can you hear me?

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

There you go.

[John French]

I apologize in advance to the committee and to my colleagues who are here with me today, but I am going to deviate from my prepared written statement and speak from my heart.

Earlier today, Marina Gantsevich, the wife of one of our national coaches, mother of a high-performance director and my dearest friend, passed away far too soon after suffering a sudden aneurysm. She was taken off life support less than an hour ago. While I'm not directly involved in the sport, anyone who knows the Gantsevich family will understand that Marina was the rock on which their lifelong commitment to sport was built and a foundation for the countless people who benefited from their work, my family and me included. She will be sorely missed.

I would like to request that our discussion today recognize this and be conducted with the appropriate respect and consideration.

I would also like to humbly suggest that it's possible to have difficult but necessary conversations in a respectful and collegial manner, and that it is seriously wished to further the clear need to improve our sport system for all who work, volunteer and participate in it. It is possible to do so in a manner that is just, open, follows due process, is respectful of different perspectives and, most of all, is done with kindness.

I would also like to request that the privacy of the Gantsevich family be respected at this very difficult time.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

Thank you very much, Mr. French. Our condolences to you on the loss of your very close friend.

Now we're going to go to the second witness, Mr. David Shoemaker from the Canadian Olympic Committee.

You have five minutes, Mr. Shoemaker.

[David Shoemaker, Chief Executive Officer and Secretary General, Canadian Olympic Committee]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

I'll give you a shout when you have 30 seconds left.

[David Shoemaker]

That sounds good. Hopefully, I'll be done before then.

Madam Chair and distinguished members of the committee, I want to thank you for the important work this committee is doing and for the opportunity to speak to you today.

I also want to thank all those who have shown courage by speaking out to share what they have experienced. Although their stories are disturbing, they have shed a powerful light on the major changes that are necessary at all levels of sport in Canada.

The Canadian Olympic Committee is a non-governmental, non-profit corporation with a dual responsibility under the Olympic Charter to prepare and bring team Canada to the Olympic Games and to promote positive change based on the Olympic values and through a variety of programs. We are 99% funded by the private sector, and we invest tens of millions of dollars a year in Canadian sport.

As the second-largest funder of national sport in Canada, we are in many ways the federal government's partner in sport, and we depend on a healthy Canadian sport system in order to have success both at games and at home as we leverage sport for positive change.

Though I deeply believe that sport, when done right, is an incredible force for good, like you and many of the witnesses who have appeared here, I and my colleagues at the COC believe that an unsafe sport system is an unacceptable sport system.

During my four years working at the COC, I have seen two overarching issues that I believe are germane to this committee. One was the lack of a unified, centralized and independent complaint mechanism based on a universally agreed upon code of conduct. The second is a lack of alignment in the Canadian sport system, from the club level to provincial and national sport organizations.

With the completion of the universal code of conduct to prevent and address maltreatment in sport, which we call the UCCMS; the formation of Abuse-Free Sport and the Office of the Sport Integrity Commissioner, known as OSIC; and the recent announcements on governance reform, I believe the system has made important strides in addressing the first issue. For us at the COC, this complements more than eight years and $50 million of athlete-informed investment into athlete well-being, good governance, safe sport and inclusion.

I don't want to give the impression that I think our work as a system is done. I think that an inquiry that hears survivors and is trauma-informed should happen, and I'm glad Minister St-Onge has committed to one. I believe we also need a registry of people who have violated the UCCMS, to ensure that they can't simply move sports or jurisdictions.

I hope that when the remit of the inquiry is announced, part of it will be to examine the lack of alignment in Canadian sport. Based on my experience as a sport administrator, and as a parent of three children, I expect it will be found that there are hundreds of thousands of incredible volunteers, tens of thousands of amazing coaches and administrators, and millions of happy, healthy and safe participants, but also that there are gaps and that more alignment is needed to ensure that the tools we have in place at the national level are also available to participants at the club, provincial and territorial levels.

I don't think this change will be easy. I believe deeply that an under-resourced system is a safe sport risk, and it's going to require a high degree of co-operation between the federal and provincial and territorial governments. I will reiterate that change is happening. It has been too slow for the witnesses who shared their tragic stories before this committee. All of us in sport, especially those of us in leadership positions, bear responsibility for that. We have to ensure that, going forward, it doesn't happen again.

I have been fortunate to spend nearly my entire career working in sport around the world, and though I have highlighted two major issues that I believe deserve this committee's full attention, in my four years at the COC, I have also seen the incredible impact sport has had on Canadian society. I believe the athletes who are proudly representing Canada on the world stage and inspiring Canadians every day deserve a gold medal system to support them every step of the way.

[David Shoemaker]

I am prepared to answer your questions in the language of your choice. However, given the sensitive nature of the subject of safe sport, I will be more comfortable answering you in English. Thank you for your understanding.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

Thank you very much, Mr. Shoemaker.

Now we go to the question and answer section of the meeting. The first round is a six-minute round. It means that everyone has six minutes in which to ask you a question and within which you must answer. I'd like everybody to be as crisp and as focused as possible, and I'm looking at Peter Julian here.

We will begin with the Conservatives, and Martin Shields.

Martin, start, please.

[Martin Shields, Conservative, Bow River, AB]

Thank you, Madam Chair. I appreciate the comment for Mr. Julian.

Thank you to the witnesses for being here today.

Part of the motion we passed included Mr. Brian Ward, the CFF safe sport representative. Is there a reason Mr. Ward is not here today?

[Yann Bernard]

That's a good question. Mr. Ward is actually our independent third party. Under Sport Canada's rules, we are required to have a third party that is completely independent of our federation.

[Martin Shields, Conservative, Bow River, AB]

I understand that.

[Yann Bernard]

Yes.

When we received your invitation, I obviously forwarded it to him. I know he has had discussions with the committee and that he was told that he didn't have to appear here since he wasn't part of the organization. That's all I know.

[Martin Shields, Conservative, Bow River, AB]

That's absolutely not right. He volunteered to appear. We know that, so who told him not to come?