Canadian Heritage Committee on June 1st, 2023

[David Shoemaker]

It's difficult for me to speak with knowledge of facts from the time when I wasn't in this role or wasn't with the Canadian Olympic Committee, but let me say this. As it related to the situation with Marcel Aubut when he was president of the Canadian Olympic Committee, an independent investigation was conducted that led to widespread recommendations that the COC entertained, all of which were accepted and implemented.

The Canadian Olympic Committee is now a shining example, I believe, of how governance can be done and should be done across Canadian sport. To a certain extent, it should give confidence to us, as a committee, that those national sports organizations and other organizations within our system can achieve the kind of change we need to see.

[Sébastien Lemire, Bloc, Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC]

The review of the professional experience of the heads of the sports federations made us realize that the vast majority of them had been on the Canadian Olympic Committee at one time or another in their careers. How do you explain this bridge between the Canadian Olympic Committee and the sports federations, and could you provide us with a list of the candidates responsible for hiring the heads of the sports federations? Furthermore, can we establish a link between the Canadian Olympic Committee and the sports federations, or is there ultimately a conflict of interest among those organizations?

[David Shoemaker]

The link is that we're associated in sport and that athletes and coaches from the national sports organizations who achieve the highest level are ultimately invited to participate at the Olympic Games. That's why you see some overlap.

The reality is that the Canadian Olympic Committee has no oversight over any of the national sports organizations, which is why we focused on investing in enhancements, sharing best practices, offering services and hoping that the national sports organizations take us up on them.

[Sébastien Lemire, Bloc, Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC]

When the representative of the Own the Podium program appeared, we learned that the high performance advisers are key witnesses of the athletes' environment and training. Why do you think they're inclined to resolve problem situations amicably or informally rather than formally or through a truly independent mechanism that would be satisfactory for the victims?

[David Shoemaker]

I'm sorry. I have done very well, so far, understanding all of your questions. I'm not sure I understand that one. I apologize.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

I think we're out of time, Sébastien. You can come back again in the second round.

Now, for the NDP, we have Peter Julian.

Peter, I singled you out because you were making a face at me when I said, “Be focused.”

[Peter Julian, NDP, New Westminster—Burnaby, BC]

I never make a face at you. I gaze at you in admiration, Madam Chair.

Thanks to the witnesses for being here today. We have questions, and we're very grateful that they are here to answer them.

Mr. Bernard, as you know, we've heard some quite impactful testimony concerning actions and events that have occurred at the Canadian Fencing Federation.

I'm going to read some of the concerns that one of the newspapers made public.

This is from CTV on March 23, 2023.

More than 50 current and former Canadian fencers have joined a growing call for a Canadian judicial inquiry on maltreatment in sport, saying the fear of retribution has kept them silent for nearly 20 years on fencing's toxic culture and abusive practices.

The article cites the group:

“Over the past 20 years, we have experienced various forms of emotional, physical and sexual abuse and misconduct.”

It goes on:

Many are still feeling the psychological and physical impact, including depression, anxiety, eating disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder and suicide attempts, the fencers said in the letter [to the minister].

At that time, on March 23, there had been no response from the federation. What steps did you take from the moment that letter was sent to the minister?

[Yann Bernard]

First of all, that hit us hard. I'd never seen anything like it. I've been involved in fencing for 40 years, and I wouldn't have suspected what you just read. When I learned that, my first reaction was to take it at face value and accept that the letter had been written in good faith. So it had to be accepted as true until proven otherwise.

The first thing we did was to write to all our members and ask them to file complaints if they had witnessed a situation of that kind and to tell them we were listening and that there was no reason to fear reprisals, since they would be impossible under the current management team. We encouraged people to use the complaint mechanism and reminded them that it was independent and anonymous. There was no mechanism 20 years ago, and people might not have trusted the mechanism 10 years ago. Today, however, we have a mechanism, and it produces results. That's the first step that we took.

We took several others, but the second most important one is the following. Since we're short of time, I'll go directly to what happened after Emily Mason appeared before you. We invited her to the next meeting of our board of directors.

We reached out to her because, to that point, we hadn't been able to put a name to even one of the 50 persons concerned, since their group was anonymous. Our athlete representative had tried to contact the group but hadn't received a reply. We also tried to contact them but didn't get a response either. When we saw Ms. Mason here, we were able to put a name and face on the group. So we invited her to an in camera meeting of our board of directors, and she accepted our invitation. She didn't want to provide any more information beyond what she had given your committee, saying that she was waiting for my testimony today to see if she or her organization would cooperate with us as part of the working group to get a clearer understanding of the situation.

[Peter Julian, NDP, New Westminster—Burnaby, BC]

How many responses did you receive to the letter you sent to all your members?

[Yann Bernard]

None.

[Peter Julian, NDP, New Westminster—Burnaby, BC]

No one answered.

[Yann Bernard]

No. In addition, when our athlete representative convened a meeting of all the athletes, no one reported any problems.

[Peter Julian, NDP, New Westminster—Burnaby, BC]

Thank you.

Mr. Shoemaker, you mentioned a list of sanctions against a currently active coach.

When one of the federations that is part of the Canadian Olympic Committee puts a coach, a trainer or an athlete on a sanctions list, is that something that the Canadian Olympic Committee is aware of?

[David Shoemaker]

I'm not aware of a sanctions list. It's one of the things that I believe are absolutely necessary to come from the committee's work here. There needs to be a national safe sport registry.

[Peter Julian, NDP, New Westminster—Burnaby, BC]

At this point, whenever one of the federations sanctions somebody, it's not information that is passed on to the Canadian Olympic Committee.

[David Shoemaker]

It's not necessarily. It could well be that it's the case, and I think that's part of the gap we've identified in this work.

[Peter Julian, NDP, New Westminster—Burnaby, BC]

Okay.

I wanted to ask you what the budget of the Canadian Olympic Committee is.

[David Shoemaker]

Roughly speaking, the operating budget is $50 million per year.

[Peter Julian, NDP, New Westminster—Burnaby, BC]

Okay.

How much of that is devoted to safe sport? As you mentioned, there is some reaching out for best practices, but we're in a crisis—I think you acknowledged that in your opening statement—and the Canadian Olympic Committee is one of the most powerful sports organizations in the country. How much of your budget is devoted to providing those supports for those federations that may not have any resources at all?

[David Shoemaker]

In cash alone it's been $50 million in safe sport-related activities over the last eight years, and then we could add a whole host of value in kind that we get from our partners. We partner with consultancies, law firms, mental health resources, Deloitte, Queen's University Smith School of Business, Fasken, LifeWorks and so on. Those partners provide a whole host of services that we often channel through a program we call “Game Plan”, which is a world-leading athlete support and athlete transition service.

[Peter Julian, NDP, New Westminster—Burnaby, BC]

Do you support a public inquiry?

[David Shoemaker]

I do.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

Thank you, Peter.

Now we go to the second round, which is a five-minute round.

I'll begin with Richard Martel for the Conservatives.

You have five minutes, please, Richard.

[Richard Martel, Conservative, Chicoutimi—Le Fjord, QC]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thanks to the witnesses for being with us today.

Mr. Bernard, do you think that a federation that promotes safe sport should ensure that none of its members or staff has a dark past involving abuse allegations, for example.

[Yann Bernard]

Yes.