Evidence of meeting #84 for Canadian Heritage in the 44th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was athletes.
A recording is available from Parliament.
4:20 p.m.
Conservative
Richard Martel Conservative Chicoutimi—Le Fjord, QC
And yet I see that Igor Gantsevich appears as the high performance director on your federation's organization chart. Is that possible?
4:20 p.m.
President, Canadian Fencing Federation
Yes, he's our high performance director, on a part-time basis because we don't have enough money to afford a full-time director. Mr. French was talking about him earlier, and he has just lost his mother.
4:20 p.m.
Conservative
Richard Martel Conservative Chicoutimi—Le Fjord, QC
However, hasn't he previously been the subject of certain allegations?
4:20 p.m.
President, Canadian Fencing Federation
His name has been mentioned before you.
4:20 p.m.
Conservative
Richard Martel Conservative Chicoutimi—Le Fjord, QC
Last December we heard at a committee meeting that complaints had been filed against him.
4:20 p.m.
President, Canadian Fencing Federation
Emily Mason mentioned his name at a committee meeting. However, the problem I have is that no allegation was made in her testimony. She said she wasn't there to discuss the matter, but she used the word "abuse".
I admit I would prefer to see a fact or two associated with any allegation made to our independent third party so he can recommend, for example, that, based on the alleged facts, the federation finds it appropriate to take certain interim measures. That could be done.
4:20 p.m.
Conservative
Richard Martel Conservative Chicoutimi—Le Fjord, QC
Mr. Bernard, on your website, you have a "Safe Sport" section and a "Sanctions" subsection. When you click on "Sanctions", you see a list of names. There's one person on that list right now. Is that correct?
4:20 p.m.
Conservative
Richard Martel Conservative Chicoutimi—Le Fjord, QC
Was that registry in effect before Minister St-Onge made it mandatory as part of his reform a few weeks ago?
4:20 p.m.
President, Canadian Fencing Federation
Yes, it started with the case your colleague discussed earlier. That was the first time we did it.
4:20 p.m.
Conservative
Richard Martel Conservative Chicoutimi—Le Fjord, QC
Posting this kind of list seems vague. What are your reasons for posting a name to that page? Is it because there has been a complaint or potentially unacceptable behaviour? How do you determine whether someone should be put on that list?
4:20 p.m.
President, Canadian Fencing Federation
There has to be something that merits it. In other words, a complaint has to have been filed, an investigation has to have been conducted in response to that complaint and the investigation has to have revealed enough facts for the complaint to be considered valid. Then it's up to the independent third party to decide whether it should be made public because that may not be the case.
4:25 p.m.
Conservative
Richard Martel Conservative Chicoutimi—Le Fjord, QC
Is the coach then informed? It may be that the coach isn't informed and that everything is done without the coach knowing.
4:25 p.m.
Conservative
Richard Martel Conservative Chicoutimi—Le Fjord, QC
If allegations of unacceptable behaviour or psychological abuse are made against the coach, is the coach advised of the fact? The coach may be unaware of certain accusations because, in many cases, he or she strives for absolute performance.
4:25 p.m.
President, Canadian Fencing Federation
Absolutely.
What typically happens is that the investigator does nothing before getting the coach's version. So that's when the coach is informed.
In the past, we may have taken preventive action if we felt that the nature of the problem called for mediation or dialogue between the parties. That would happen in less serious cases. We take no risks if the athlete has the slightest chance of being harmed.
4:25 p.m.
Conservative
Richard Martel Conservative Chicoutimi—Le Fjord, QC
Mr. Shoemaker, on December 1 last, the Canadian Olympic Committee adopted the Universal Code of Conduct to Prevent and Address Maltreatment in Sport, which is part of the Abuse-Free Sport system. I have a concern about this reform and that of Minister St-Onge. How will we go about verifying it? You mentioned resources earlier. How will we be able to implement, verify, measure and observe these elements in order to begin taking action?
4:25 p.m.
Chief Executive Officer and Secretary General, Canadian Olympic Committee
The most important way to verify is to continue to listen to athletes' voices. Athletes' voices got us to that place, including those within our board, making it known that they needed a place independent of sport where athletes across this country could go to make complaints of abuse and maltreatment free from fear of retribution, and that's in place. Now that it's in place....
You're right; as one of the first signatories and adoptees of the Office of the Sport Integrity Commissioner, we need to verify and listen to athletes to make sure that it's meeting those needs and, in fact, that athletes' voices and complaints are being made and investigated, and that they'll be properly adjudicated.
4:25 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Hedy Fry
Thank you, Mr. Shoemaker.
I think we are over the time at the moment.
We're going to go to the Liberals with Chris Bittle.
Chris, you have five minutes, please.
June 1st, 2023 / 4:25 p.m.
Liberal
Chris Bittle Liberal St. Catharines, ON
Thank you so much, Madam Chair.
I would like to address the opening comments from Mr. French.
It reminded me of Andrea Skinner's comments when she was here, when they came to the committee blaming us more than their own organization. It's truly shocking that when there are allegations before us like this, where children's lives have been impacted to the point that it continues to impact them in adulthood, you come here and demand that we be nice.
The organizations that we may not have been nice to, Mr. Bernard and Mr. French, have been Hockey Canada and other organizations that have harmed children. This is who we're here to protect. It appears, even through your testimony here today, that you don't have an interest in making any changes. It's like, “They can come to us; we haven't heard anything from them.”
I'll ask you this, because we've heard from Mr. Shoemaker and we've listened to the athletes' voices. You had 50 athletes who said that there is a fundamental problem, that your entire sport is rotten to the core and that your organization is rotten.
What actions have you taken, Mr. Bernard?
4:25 p.m.
President, Canadian Fencing Federation
I think we've had a misunderstanding. The idea wasn't to tell you we'll be doing nothing. I also notice that the time limits for giving answers make it impossible to give all the answers requested.
Mr. Julian, I was only able to mention two measures earlier. I would need more time to give you an overview of the situation and to outline all the actions we've taken. What we're going to do—