Thank you Madam Chair.
Dear members of the committee, in no way is my testimony today to negate the positive experiences that athletes and children across Canada have taken from sport. I would further appeal to those athletes who have had positive experiences to listen, observe and become allies of survivors of abuse.
We at Global Athlete have directly and indirectly heard from athletes in the sports of gymnastics, soccer, bobsleigh, skeleton, athletics, cross-country skiing, water polo, swimming, artistic swimming, boxing, canoe/kayak, rowing and figure skating. Their lived experiences must be listened to and must be taken into account, and these evil behaviours that surround sport must be removed.
The fact that athletes have turned to Global Athlete and not the current system should speak volumes; athletes fear and do not trust the sports system. Under the current framework, it has been terrifying and traumatizing for athletes to come forward. They are all brave survivors.
As leaders of this country, we need to make sure that abusers and the enablers are made accountable for their actions. The current sports system has dramatically failed athletes. For almost a year, Canadian athletes have been loud, and they have been mostly ignored—until today. We thank you for that.
This is the first step to answer their calls for a third party independent judicial investigation across the toxic culture of abuse in Canadian sport. Make no mistake: Abuse in sport is global. Canada now has the opportunity to be a leader, as it was in the Dubin inquiry, and to change the culture of sport in Canada.
The Dubin inquiry removed the right for sporting organizations to test their own athletes. It's time to address abuse in a similar fashion. Human rights and child rights must be at the centre of this change.
Over the past year, Global Athlete has been inundated with lived experiences of physical, sexual and emotional abuse that have not been met with adequate remedy. Canadian athletes have said their sporting organizations have failed them. All you have to do is look in the media. Athletes are actually taking lawsuits against their own sporting organizations because they have failed to act. This speaks volumes as to why sport cannot be trusted to regulate itself.
Abuse in sport is a human rights issue, not a sport issue. Abusers recognize the power imbalance that leaves athletes powerless and coaches and administrators as the almighty powerful. Athletes have shared lived experiences with me that have ripped my heart apart, and I know they would do the same to you.
The lack of action and desire to meaningfully tackle these complaints is disturbing and, without doubt, borderline negligent. The lived experiences are heavy. The least we can do is listen, assist and demand justice and change. Every victim of abuse needs justice to heal.
I will not get into the details of the abuse that I have heard from select athletes, but I will provide some common themes shared by them. Athletes do not trust the sports system or sport administrators to operate and act in their best interests. Athletes and parents fear retribution. When they do speak up, retribution becomes real. Sport has silenced athletes for years. Athletes are not believed. They are gaslighted to questioning their lived experiences and are forced through retraumatizing processes when coming forward. Allies of athletes who work in sport organizations try to come forward and are limited by confidentiality and non-disclosure agreements. These are not sport issues; these are human rights issues.
No confidentiality or non-disclosure agreement should prevent or stop anyone from coming forward to expose the truth. For decades, sport has operated under a veil of sport autonomy. This autonomy has given sport the ability to operate with ultimate authority and with little to no oversight or accountability.
Over the past months, we've witnessed how Sport Canada has limited scope and power, and how they fail to make sporting organizations accountable for their lack of action and wrongdoings. Instead of addressing the root problem, Canada has created more problems by empowering sport structures to oversee human rights issues.
The Sport Dispute Resolution Centre of Canada was first appointed in this role, and then, based on anecdotal evidence, the Office of the Sport Integrity Commissioner was established. These are all sport entities trying to solve human rights issues with limited powers and limited independence.
Sport is a small community, and there are far too many real or perceived conflicts of interest to adequately address these issues. Canadian athletes whom we've heard from are tired of band-aid solutions.
Dear members, on behalf of thousands of Canadian athletes, we appeal to you today to strongly support a third party independent judicial investigation. Your actions following this study must send a clear message to every child, youth and elite athlete that they will no longer be forced into silence and will be believed and protected when they come forward.
Madam Chair, members of the committee, thank you.