Thank you, Madam Chair, for the invitation to appear before the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage.
My name is Debra Armstrong and I am the chief executive officer of Skate Canada. It's a role I have held since November 2016.
Skate Canada is a not-for-profit national sport organization that is focused on teaching Canadians to skate. Our programs are delivered by 1,200 skating clubs and schools and thousands of coaches across our country. Last year, we supported 200,000 registrants to lace up their skates through our programs. If athletes wish to pursue further skills, they can enter our figure skating pathway as a recreational or competitive athlete.
We are proud of the community of skaters we have created. We always strive to create a safe and inclusive environment. Any violations or misconduct is unacceptable in our sport.
As a mother of three daughters, all of whom participated in sport, and now a grandmother to three children, I can say that the issue of abuse in sport is not only part of my professional life, but of huge importance in my personal life. I know from personal experience with my children that sport well done has a positive impact and helps children grow self-confidence as they become young adults. Unfortunately, we know that not everyone has had the same outcome and that for many, their experience in sport has been extremely damaging to their well-being.
What is special about sport is that it has the power to inspire, from the local level to the world stage. From the backyard to the Olympic Games, sport touches many of us on different levels. I truly want everyone to be able to enjoy sport in a safe environment and benefit from the positive experiences and life lessons that sport can offer.
Skate Canada knows that safety in sport is critical to all that we do. We recognize that historically our policies and processes were not as robust as necessary to address bullying, harassment, abuse and discrimination. We have made progress in that area.
In 2019, we launched a reformatted national safe sport program. This update also included the adoption of the universal code of conduct to prevent and address maltreatment in sport into all of our policies and procedures.
Since 2020, all matters related to misconduct at Skate Canada have been managed by Skate-Safe, a misconduct reporting system that is operated by IntegrityCounts, which is a third party service provider. Complaints received through Skate-Safe are submitted to an independent external case manager to ensure that there is an independent review, investigation and disposition. All of our registrants, their parents and guardians, and our members from across the country have access to this mechanism.
In 2022, Skate Canada signed with Abuse-Free Sport. Abuse-Free Sport will handle all misconduct complaints for individuals who are part of our national team and our next-gen programs. That includes athletes, coaches, team leaders, staff and integrated support team members. Abuse-Free Sport will also be the reporting system for the Skate Canada board of directors and international officials.
It takes courage for victims of abuse to share and report their experiences. We commend everyone who has testified during these hearings. We also want to acknowledge that some individuals in our sport are not comfortable coming forward. We confirm our commitment to making sport safer so that we are able to rebuild those relationships. Trust must be earned, and we hope to restore that trust.
Sport, like many institutions, has systemic issues. Skate Canada is listening to feedback from those negatively impacted and will continue to improve our education, training, policy and procedure frameworks as we work to eliminate these barriers in sport. We will also support and incorporate lessons learned along the journey to be better, including the findings from these hearings.
Considerable work remains ahead of us, and we are prepared to put in the effort. We will hold ourselves accountable and be vulnerable as we make skating more inclusive and a safer place for all. As a community, we must provide an environment where everyone is respected, valued and supported to reach their full potential so that, in our case, they can truly experience the joy of skating.
Thank you, Madam Chair.