Status of Women Committee on Dec. 5th, 2022

[Allison Forsyth]

I don't work on complaints. I think that's very important to know. The reason that—

[Leah Gazan, NDP, Winnipeg Centre, MB]

But you work with victims.

[Allison Forsyth]

I work with alleged victims, yes. I'll go in and I'll support victims—

[Leah Gazan, NDP, Winnipeg Centre, MB]

I would say that this would be, for example, a conflict of interest.

[Allison Forsyth]

—but I don't work on complaints.

As a company, we took on national sporting organization complaints when there was no OSIC.

[Leah Gazan, NDP, Winnipeg Centre, MB]

But you work with Sport Canada—

[Allison Forsyth]

I don't work with Sport Canada.

[Leah Gazan, NDP, Winnipeg Centre, MB]

—or Soccer Canada—

[Allison Forsyth]

I'll work with an organization, yes, that wants me to come in and help them.

[Leah Gazan, NDP, Winnipeg Centre, MB]

You'll work with Soccer Canada and say “This is how you need to do things better”—

[Allison Forsyth]

Yes.

[Leah Gazan, NDP, Winnipeg Centre, MB]

—and then you'll work with victims at the same time. That would be a conflict of interest. That's a clear conflict of interest, no?

[Allison Forsyth]

I don't understand why. In every organization there are victims. I don't take phone calls from victims, because I don't work in complaints. I've never called or taken a phone call or gotten any private information from any victim that has anything to do with a complaint.

I go into every organization that would want me and I work to make them better. That always involves talking to victims, because there are victims in every organization.

[Leah Gazan, NDP, Winnipeg Centre, MB]

Okay. Thanks for clarifying.

[Allison Forsyth]

You're welcome.

[The Chair, Conservative, Karen Vecchio]

Thanks very much.

The first round is done. We are so close to the finish line. I will give a minute to Michelle, a minute to Anita—sorry, Anita—a minute to Andréanne and a minute to Leah.

Just try your best, everybody.

Michelle, you have one minute.

[Michelle Ferreri, Conservative, Peterborough—Kawartha, ON]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you to the witnesses for being here today. This is very important.

You know, 99 answers to a hundred questions: The old saying is to follow the money.

Marie-Claude, when I look at the Sport Dispute Resolution Centre of Canada, it says this:

...SSDRCC offers world-class resolution facilitation, mediation, [mediation/arbitration] and arbitration services. Avoiding a court battle means a quicker resolution at less cost and, in most cases, a better result for everyone involved.

The SDRCC is constituted by a federal act and is funded by the Government of Canada....

We've heard from countless victims that this process isn't working. Navigating the system isn't working. You're a little on the fence of calling for a national judicial inquiry, but the money is coming from the people who are paying your paycheque.

I don't understand why you wouldn't want a national inquiry. It just seems like a very big conflict of interest here that you don't have a vested interest to help the victims and that you want to solve it out of court.

[Marie-Claude Asselin]

Everything you've referred to is funded by taxpayers' money, whether it's an inquiry or the Sport Dispute Resolution Centre of Canada or the national sport organizations. It comes from federal funding.

For me, SDRCC could be funded by Health Canada. It could be funded by Justice Canada. It's now funded by Sport Canada. It's all federal funding.

[The Chair, Conservative, Karen Vecchio]

Thanks very much.

I'm going to pass it over to Anita for one minute.

[Anita Vandenbeld, Liberal, Ottawa West—Nepean, ON]

Thank you. One minute is so short.

I first want to say that I'll start with you, Ms. Forsyth, and say that given everything you've experienced, we all applaud and appreciate the fact that you're taking your trauma and turning it into finding solutions.

I have a quick question for both of you. We've seen over and over again that this is an intergenerational thing. This is something that has existed for a very long time and has become normalized. My question is, how do we break the cycle?

Given that OSIC has only been in existence for six months, do you see that as part of the solution? In, like, 30 seconds, how would you improve it? You can also send a brief if you need to.

[Marie-Claude Asselin]

I'm confident that we will succeed. I put my faith in the next generation, like Ms. Bailey, who was here last week. It was so refreshing and inspirational to hear about what she's doing. This generation will not put up with maltreatment, because speaking up has become mainstream thanks to the victims and survivors who paved the way for them.

[Allison Forsyth]

I'll share that there is so much work to be done in this space that OSIC.... I'll say on behalf of my own company that we need to put a regulatory body on top of us. Do whatever or audit our services, but this is a need in our country that will not be solved with one organization.

I completely 100% agree with independent management of abuse cases. Mine was covered up for 17 years, so I should hope that you'd know that I'd totally agree with that, but I need hundreds more people on the front lines, to be honest, working with me on education and prevention.

[The Chair, Conservative, Karen Vecchio]

Thanks very much.

Andréanne, you have one minute.

[Andréanne Larouche, Bloc, Shefford, QC]

Thank you very much, Madam Chair.

After hearing your testimony and the demands of the athletes, and especially those of the victims, I'm concerned. As you know, abuse survivors often take years to come forward. Will the SDRCC and the OSIC investigate previous abuse reports? If not, why not?

If they don't, who will? Who can identify the assailants, who may still be working in the sport, and hold them accountable for their actions against the athletes? How can we shed light on these cases without an independent inquiry?

[Marie-Claude Asselin]

Previous abuse cases aren't excluded from the ambit of the Office of the Sport Integrity Commissioner. There will be an analysis, and if current participants in the sport are still at risk, complaints concerning previous cases will definitely be considered.