Evidence of meeting #48 for Status of Women in the 44th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was athletes.
A recording is available from Parliament.
February 2nd, 2023 / 5:40 p.m.
Liberal
Yasir Naqvi Liberal Ottawa Centre, ON
That's great. Thank you.
Madam Chair, do I have any time left?
Liberal
Yasir Naqvi Liberal Ottawa Centre, ON
Oh, I have 38 seconds.
Can I ask Karen O'Neill the same question on bystander training and what role she thinks OSIC can play in such training?
Chief Executive Officer, Canadian Paralympic Committee
Thanks very much for the question.
I could go well beyond OSIC, because OSIC has a particular focus to get up and running, right now. All of us need to support it as much as possible and kick-start its initial role.
I think the collective—the federal or provincial governments and national organizations—can also build on some of the other items Ahmed spoke to earlier, particularly around education, prevention and bystander training.
I would also say—Erica referred to it a bit earlier—that even having the confidence or a voice to name the behaviour.... Oftentimes, and particularly from a Paralympic athlete standpoint, the desire to participate overrides the desire to call out behaviour and then not belong.
I think there are a number of different areas to look at, even before bystander training.
Thank you.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Karen Vecchio
Awesome. Thank you so much.
We have 90 seconds for Andréanne Larouche.
Bloc
Andréanne Larouche Bloc Shefford, QC
Thank you very much, Madam Chair.
My next question will be for Ms. O'Neill and Ms. Gavel from the Canadian Paralympic Committee.
Were athletes who won gold, silver or bronze medals awarded funding?
Chief Executive Officer, Canadian Paralympic Committee
Thank you very much for asking the question.
Currently, there is no performance funding available for medals. What we have done is.... While we were in Beijing, this topic really came to a head, I would say, and we made a commitment with our partners to be able to initiate performance funding, starting in Paris after the Paralympic Games of Paris in 2024.
The issue on this hand was that there was an inequitable representation for performance. You have the Olympic athletes, who are receiving, for bronze, silver and gold, $10,000, $15,000 and $20,000, and there are no funds at all to honour or reflect the performance of Paralympic athletes. The goal is to provide an equitable acknowledgement of performance.
Thank you for asking.
Bloc
Andréanne Larouche Bloc Shefford, QC
It's a great inequity. The minister is committed to changing this.
I hope that work will be done to resolve this inequity in sport, just as I hope that an independent investigation will be carried out to clarify cases where there are doubts about funding and potential conflicts of interest that this could imply and, above all, that there will be—
Bloc
Andréanne Larouche Bloc Shefford, QC
I'm not done, Madam Chair. There's a lot more to do.
That's what I had to say.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Karen Vecchio
Well, you know, if we speak faster, we get a lot in, right? I get that. That's the way I roll, too.
Leah, you have 90 seconds.
NDP
Leah Gazan NDP Winnipeg Centre, MB
Thank you so much, Madam Chair.
My question is for Madam Killins.
Currently, you are not a signatory of the Abuse-free sport program. Is that correct?
Director, Paralympic Performance and Pathways, Canadian Paralympic Committee
I'll pass this to Karen.
Chief Executive Officer, Canadian Paralympic Committee
That's okay.
I'm Karen O'Neill with the Canadian Paralympic Committee.
Chief Executive Officer, Canadian Paralympic Committee
No, no, it's absolutely fine.
As an organization, there are three gateways to go through. The first one is the adoption and support of the UCCMS, which we have done. The second one is the integration into our policy suite of the elements of the code that prohibit any form of abuse or maltreatment. That is done. The third and outstanding gate for us to pass through is that all of those engaged within our organization have signed the waiver. The waiver basically puts you in the system and the accountability structure of OSIC.
We signed on probably.... Well, we have a three-month window. We've completed the first two tranches, and we are just completing the third and final, so we're still well within the timeline. There is absolutely no question about supporting the principle. It's the mechanics of being able to work it through for this third and final gateway.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Karen Vecchio
We have seven seconds left. I'm stealing them from you.
On behalf of all the members here, I'd really like to thank all of you for coming and testifying in front of us. Today is one of our last days of taking testimony so that we'll be able to get to an extremely important report. Thank you very much.
Just as a reminder, if there are any questions, comments or concerns, please feel free to contact the chair or the clerk if there's anything we can do.
We'll be meeting once again on Monday. It's a change of schedule, but Danielle and I are working on it. We'll let you know as soon as possible.
Thanks. The meeting is adjourned.