Madame Chair, members of the committee, thank you sincerely for inviting me to speak on such an important topic.
My name is Marie-Claude Asselin. I am, for close to 16 years now, the Chief Executive Officer of the Sport Dispute Resolution Centre of Canada, the SDRCC, home of the new Office of the Sport Integrity Commissioner, the OSIC.
Many witnesses before me spoke eloquently about the issues of concern to all of us. Victims and survivors especially, with stories profoundly disturbing, but necessary to hear.
At this time, please allow me to shift the conversation to solutions.
In 2000 a working group of the secretary of state for amateur sport concluded that due to a lack of fair and consistent policies or to the improper administration of those policies, athletes and other participants in sport are being disciplined, harassed and denied opportunities without a proper recourse to a hearing or appeal. The SDRCC was created to remedy this.
You heard witnesses refer to the Dubin inquiry as having brought to light the fact that sport organizations could not be trusted with applying anti-doping rules against their own members. They testified that Canada now has a strong and independent anti-doping program. I agree with them.
On November 21 in particular, one witness spoke highly of this truly independent anti-doping system. Something they failed to mention is that the SDRCC is, in fact, Canada's anti-doping tribunal, yet in the same breath they insisted that the SDRCC is not independent.
The SDRCC is neutral and independent by definition. Its arbitrators, not its board members, are tasked with making sure that national sport organizations' policies, and their decisions rendered pursuant to those policies, are not arbitrary, discriminatory or illegal. Since its creation in 2004, the SDRCC has handled more than 600 disputes pertaining to team selection, funding of athletes, eligibility matters and discipline, all in order to remedy discrimination, unfairness, corruption and maltreatment.
In providing access to justice that is adapted to the reality of sport, the SDRCC serves as an alternative to long and expensive court proceedings offered in civil courts and human rights tribunals. Delays encountered in these fora will not serve athletes, whose careers cannot be put on hold for two to four years while they await their day in court. SDRCC cases are resolved, on average, within 54 days for doping cases and 44 days for other sports-related disputes.
All witnesses who spoke before you on their negative experience in reporting abuse came forward prior to June 2022, before the date of creation of the Office of the Sport Integrity Commissioner. Consequently, they had to follow their own organization's processes, which, admittedly, were grossly inadequate, but at the SDRCC, victims and survivors have access to mental health and legal aid services even prior to filing a complaint. The specialized safeguarding tribunal rules strike a very careful balance between the right to due process and the need to offer protection to vulnerable parties and witnesses, like no other statutory tribunal in Canada and possibly around the world.
The SDRCC's safeguarding mediators and arbitrators and the OSIC investigators are experts trained in trauma-informed practices, with experience in human rights, in child protection and in residential school adjudication. Their biographies are published on the websites of the SDRCC and the OSIC. I can assure you also that we do have the voice of victims and survivors at the SDRCC, both in advisory and decision-making capacities. The fact that a victim or survivor does not post their private life on social media does not make them less of a victim. We are respectful of their choice, which is 100% theirs to make.
At the SDRCC we also agree with victims and survivors who claim that the program has its limitations. With less than six months since its opening, it is indeed in its infancy, yet it is unfair not to give it a chance. It is built on solid ground, and it would be certainly beneficial for it to have greater powers, such as the power of subpoena, the right to maintain a public registry of sanctions and immunity for its professionals. No one is denying that horrific abuses took place, and still do.
Given the right powers and proper resources, Madam Chair, I assure you that the SDRCC and the OSIC can absolutely achieve their safe sport mandate.
Thank you for listening.