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.
4:25 p.m.
Liberal
Chris Bittle Liberal St. Catharines, ON
Let me stop you there.
We'll make the questions shorter if time is an issue.
Do you believe that there are structural problems with your organization, yes or no?
4:25 p.m.
President, Canadian Fencing Federation
I don't think the structures are currently a problem, and I think the right people are in place. What has to be done now—
4:25 p.m.
Liberal
Chris Bittle Liberal St. Catharines, ON
Let me stop you there.
Do you disagree with Mr. Shoemaker and think you shouldn't listen to the athletes' voices? Your athletes are telling you there is a structural problem. You said with regard to the coach that Mr. Martel mentioned that there was a mention of abuse.
Don't you believe you have a positive obligation as guardians of children, looking out for children, to conduct an investigation to find out if your organization has a problem?
4:30 p.m.
President, Canadian Fencing Federation
The answer is yes, absolutely, and that's what we're doing.
As I said, we invited Fencing for Change to meet with us, now that we have an interlocutor. The next step will come after my appearance today because Ms. Mason has told us she would probably be prepared to cooperate on establishing a working, exchange and dialogue committee. Our purpose is to get a clearer understanding of what has prevented these people from filing complaints, to understand the fear they've experienced and to make changes that will ensure, starting now, that more people are unafraid to file complaints.
4:30 p.m.
Liberal
Chris Bittle Liberal St. Catharines, ON
It's clear that people are afraid to come forward.
Isn't that a sign to you that the leadership of the organization is to blame for this? Has there been a review of the leadership of your organization?
4:30 p.m.
President, Canadian Fencing Federation
I would humbly submit to you that this is what the dialogue with them will reveal to us. We'll be able to identify where the system shut down and when that happened. Was it recently, in the past 4 years, or 20 years ago? That can change everything.
We also contacted all the members of the national team. They included people who had previously filed complaints and were involved in certain complaint and sanction processes and who told us they trusted the current management team. I was of course entirely prepared for the contrary.
For the moment, however, what we're moving toward is dialogue with these anonymous people. They may not remain anonymous, but they may do so if they wish. We have to get a clearer understanding of what has prevented them from filing complaints and what we can do to ensure this never happens again.
4:30 p.m.
Liberal
Chris Bittle Liberal St. Catharines, ON
I still have some concerns. I know Mr. Housefather and Mr. Shields brought it up with respect to NDAs.
My question will go out to anyone who is listening: You can reach out safely to me or to any of the members of this committee. I'm a lawyer, and I'll treat it as solicitor-client privilege if you reach out in respect to NDAs. I find it hard to believe that is the case, but if there is anyone out there who has experienced that and is feeling silenced by Hockey Canada, you can turn to the members of this committee.
Thank you, Madam Chair.
4:30 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Hedy Fry
We'll go to the Bloc and Sébastien Lemire for two and a half minutes, please.
4:30 p.m.
Bloc
Sébastien Lemire Bloc Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC
Thank you, Madam Chair.
Mr. Bernard, you were on the board when the two complaints were filed against Kyle Foster. The Canadian Fencing Federation retained the services of lawyer Annie Bourgeois to represent its interests in the matter involving Mr. Foster. Can you confirm that that lawyer is associated with the office of Langlois Avocats in Montreal?
4:30 p.m.
Bloc
4:30 p.m.
President, Canadian Fencing Federation
I don't work there anymore, but I was working there at the time.
4:30 p.m.
Bloc
Sébastien Lemire Bloc Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC
Why were the services of a lawyer from your firm retained to represent the federation's interests in the matter?
4:30 p.m.
President, Canadian Fencing Federation
It was to save on costs. We discussed budget earlier, and, as we've seen, the federation's budget is limited. The federation was also going through a financial crisis at the time.
4:30 p.m.
Bloc
Sébastien Lemire Bloc Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC
Why not send the complainant the report on the investigation or the exhaustive sanctions that were imposed on Kyle Foster, as the dispute settlement policy provided at the time?
4:30 p.m.
Bloc
Sébastien Lemire Bloc Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC
I see.
We'd be interested if you could forward that information to us.
I'd like to continue with my colleague Mr. Martel's questions concerning Igor Gantsevich. Do you intend to conduct a preventive investigation in this matter? We don't get the sense that the federation has acknowledged the scope of the allegations.
4:30 p.m.
President, Canadian Fencing Federation
The scope of the allegations is recognized and mechanisms have been triggered. I can't say anything more about that because we're in a public setting and the case is being processed. However, I can assure you that the appropriate authorities are considering the matter. I don't know exactly what they're doing, however, because that's the way things are. I'm not entitled to know the details.
4:30 p.m.
Bloc
Sébastien Lemire Bloc Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC
As I understand it, an internal investigation is under way, but Mr. Gantsevich is still employed as the high performance director and isn't necessarily subject to interim sanctions. Apparently he was even publicly congratulated for his work at a recent wine and cheese event. We wonder what message that sends to the athletes, particularly to the more than 50 members of the Fencing for Change group.
4:35 p.m.
President, Canadian Fencing Federation
You said an internal investigation was under way, but that's not what I said. So I didn't say that; you did.
4:35 p.m.
Bloc
Sébastien Lemire Bloc Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC
That's what I concluded from what you said. So how would you describe what's going on?
4:35 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Hedy Fry
Give a quick answer please, Mr. Bernard, because your time is up.
Can you give a quick answer?
4:35 p.m.
President, Canadian Fencing Federation
I can't answer your question, Mr. Lemire, because the process is confidential.
4:35 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Hedy Fry
Thank you.
We now go to Peter Julian for two and a half minutes.
Thank you.