There was a report stating that these coaches, and a particular coach, should never work with young women again. It was given to Sport Canada. It was well known; it was published. However, Sport Canada continued to just hand money over to Water Polo Canada. There was no oversight. They didn't look at who was being hired or how the athletes were being treated.
That's what frustrates me. They're complicit in the abuse that continued within Water Polo Canada. I believe that strongly. We can blame Water Polo Canada, but Water Polo Canada said, “Well, if we don't have anybody checking us, we don't have to do what anybody says.”
What is the role of Sport Canada? They're just a financial administrator. They're really not looking out for the well-being of athletes, if Water Polo Canada is representative of what happens. I mean, this court case has come 21 years after we launched ours. They had all that time to check in and see how everything was going.
I met with a bunch of national team athletes about the continued abuse that's going on with both the men's and women's teams. Now that I'm in the work world and no longer in that bubble, I can't believe this type of stuff still happens. They're not required to report to anybody on the well-being of their athletes.
As I said, the athletes are not going to speak out because that could end their career. They know that for sure. That's why there has to be something. I would love to see oversight. I would love to see them be more involved in well-being.
I also believe that when you have something like Own the Podium, where all the money and increase in money is due to international finishes and medals, that's all everybody is focused on. I think that's where the abuse is about saying, “Well, we're just going to look it over and they'll win a medal.” That hasn't changed in the last 20 years.