Thank you.
Madam Chair, if you'll indulge me a few extra seconds, you referenced that Gymnastics Canada has had effectively the same harassment officer for approximately 30 years. We understand that Dr. Gretchen Kerr has been the go-to harassment officer for primarily most of the complaints that have come through Gymnastics Canada in the last 30 years. In those 30 years, unfortunately what we have now had reported to us is that abuse has thrived in that time. We have serious concerns and serious reservations about how complaints have been handled. We have received some very concerning reports regarding Dr. Kerr's conduct.
We will be circulating a five-page brief in which a story in that regard will be articulated to the committee. Essentially, it involves the sexual abuse of several athletes, some of whom were minors. Initially Gymnastics Canada told those complainants that because the person who was the perpetrator was no longer under contract, Gymnastics Canada could not investigate. They eventually opened an investigation when the Centre for Ethics in Sport insisted that Gymnastics Canada open an investigation.
I have a copy of the report that Dr. Kerr created. It essentially summarizes the allegations, but it makes no findings whatsoever of whether those reports were credible. It declines to offer any sort of discipline for that individual. Instead, it says that the complainants should report it to the massage college. It then recommends that if that individual ever reapplies to work for Gymnastics Canada, her file should be reviewed.
There is no discipline history for this person, who has allegedly sexually abused at least five athletes, some of whom were minors. We understand that there was no contact with the police from Gymnastics Canada when they received these reports. As a result, this individual could theoretically continue working, not just in gymnastics but in other sports, because there is currently no discipline history.
When you ask why this is has continued to be a problem for decades, these are exactly the problems we are concerned about.