Status of Women Committee on Feb. 13th, 2023

[Pascale St-Onge, Liberal, Brome—Missisquoi, QC]

The Canadian sport policy is not just a federal government responsibility. We are working on it with the other levels of government. It's scheduled to be released in February or March, if I'm not mistaken

In terms of the work I'm doing, which is a review of sport system funding and the requirements to be imposed in the contribution agreements with sport organizations, that will be announced in March because the next funding cycle starts in April. The implementation of these new measures will also be announced.

[Sébastien Lemire, Bloc, Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC]

You preferred to create a mechanism, the Office of the Sport Integrity Commissioner, within the Sport Dispute Resolution Centre of Canada. We've heard several witnesses say they were wary of this. You had the opportunity to make that structure a bit more independent, but you didn't.

So do you believe that sport should be self-regulating, despite the failures we've seen? Why did you create a quasi-sport organization, the office, under Sport Canada to monitor problems rather than an independent mechanism? We know that the office rejected two-thirds of the complaints filed with it.

[Pascale St-Onge, Liberal, Brome—Missisquoi, QC]

The Office of the Sport Integrity Commissioner is no longer under the Sport Canada umbrella and is independent of the Sport Dispute Resolution Centre of Canada (SDRCC).

It was my predecessor who issued a call for tenders, and the mandate to create the office was given to the SDRCC in July 2021. Since I took office, I've been expediting the creation of the office and ensuring that it has the funding and resources to complete its work as quickly as possible.

[Sébastien Lemire, Bloc, Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC]

Under the Universal Code of Conduct to Prevent and Address Abuse in Sport, is the Office of the Sport Integrity Commissioner able to address complaints that involve organizations such as Own the Podium, Sport Canada and the Canadian Olympic Committee, among others?

[Isabelle Mondou]

Yes, absolutely. All national sport organizations will be required to sign an agreement. Some, like Own the Podium and the Canadian Paralympic Committee, have already done it. The rest should have all have done so by April 1st.

[Sébastien Lemire, Bloc, Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC]

Thank you.

Is my time up, Madam Chair?

[The Chair, Conservative, Karen Vecchio]

I'm sorry; you're done.

We're now going to move over to Bonita for two and a half minutes.

[Bonita Zarrillo, NDP, Port Moody—Coquitlam, BC]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

I want to reiterate about the wording in the act about excellence. Culture definitely flows down, so I am pleased, Minister, to hear you say that you're looking at reviewing that aspect. I would just say that doing that soon would also really be a very important aspect here.

In the past, Minister, you've stated that a national inquiry will not address maltreatment at community and regional levels, and it feels like perhaps that's already been decided. I'm concerned that today you're asking for other ideas and not taking this one as a leading idea. The reason I'm saying that is that the majority of survivors have recommended an independent judicial inquiry. I'm wondering why that hasn't started and whether you will support this ask from victims and their supporters.

[Pascale St-Onge, Liberal, Brome—Missisquoi, QC]

A number of considerations must be made. I'm open to all recommendations and we're going to look at them all seriously. We've articulated some goals and others have been passed on to us as well. For example, we need to be trauma-informed, create safe spaces and do it right. Also, I believe everyone shares the objective of having appropriate recommendations to improve the sport system at all levels. We're going to look at that to figure out the best way to do it.

I'm waiting for this committee's recommendations and those of the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage. We're working right now to find the right formula and the best way to do it.

[Bonita Zarrillo, NDP, Port Moody—Coquitlam, BC]

Thank you.

Minister, we're talking about little girls here. A lot of time we're talking about little girls. We're talking about vulnerable athletes and young athletes who don't necessarily have a voice. Today you mentioned breaking the silence. I wonder if it is really breaking the silence. I will just close my comments today by saying that we just need to to believe them.

[The Chair, Conservative, Karen Vecchio]

Thank you very much, Bonita.

We have five minutes and five minutes.

Warren Steinley, I'll throw it over to you for five minutes, please.

[Warren Steinley, Conservative, Regina—Lewvan, SK]

Thank you very much, Madam Chair.

Madam Minister, thank you for being here today.

I'm going to come at this a little bit from the aspect of a coach. I've coached my kids in all their hockey for five or six years. I'm a father of three: a six-year-old, a seven-year-old and a nine-year-old. I'm not sure how I as a parent would handle some of the things we've talked about.

You mentioned that there should be a national registry of certified coaches. I find that the government always looks at tackling people who follow the rules and not those who don't, so why couldn't we have a registry of coaches who have been charged with assault so that those coaches can never again coach kids? I think that's a good place to start.

I also want to know if there's anything that traces international coaches. In gymnastics, we hire coaches from other countries. How do we know, when they get to Canada, if our kids are in jeopardy?

[Pascale St-Onge, Liberal, Brome—Missisquoi, QC]

Those are both good questions. I'll answer the first one telling you that we're looking for the best way to do things. I want to emphasize to you that our goal is to make sure that those who abuse and mistreat in support are no longer able to abuse. We need to get them out of the sport system. That's our goal.

Next, we need to have an international dialogue about abuse and maltreatment. Many countries are currently addressing this issue, but we also need international federations to do the same and change their approach.

Some sports take the athletes' physical appearance into consideration: They are evaluated on their appearance rather than their performance. We have work to do in that respect. If you want to make profound changes throughout the entire sport chain, we need to do it on an international scale. Countries will need to discuss this amongst themselves.

[Warren Steinley, Conservative, Regina—Lewvan, SK]

I have to jump in here.

Please consider those two options, because I don't think we have to penalize and make more red tape for people who are following the rules. It's the ones who break them.

I have an example. I grew up in southwest Saskatchewan in Swift Current. Graham James was one of the most embarrassing points in Swift Current's history, and after he got out of jail for abusing those boys, he was then coaching in Spain. There has to be a way to track these people, especially within our country but also internationally. Christine Sinclair stated that Canada Soccer flat out lied and that now the public is being lied to as well.

When you're looking at these organizations—and we had Mr. Moss here from the Gymnastics Canada—they seem to be part of the culture problem. I don't think sports are the problem. I think the people who run sports are the problem. How are you going to address some of those cultural changes? It starts at the top, with people who are trying to hide this more than trying to get to the bottom of it.

[Pascale St-Onge, Liberal, Brome—Missisquoi, QC]

We need to look at the governance models in place within organizations and make sure that the highest standards of governance are being enforced. That's one thing we will bring about with funding reform in the sport system.

Then, the issue of economic transparency is extremely important to me, as I have accountability and evaluation mechanisms. That's why we're also working with Sport Canada to ensure that the right tools are in place to evaluate compliance.

[Warren Steinley, Conservative, Regina—Lewvan, SK]

I have one last question.

I believe there should be a national inquiry into Gymnastics Canada at the least. I think there's a huge problem, and our girls and boys who are doing gymnastics are in jeopardy. My daughter is seven, and I don't believe I would ever let her go into gymnastics. Sometimes in gymnastics they actually tell you to drop your kid off and then leave, and you don't know what's happening.

If you had a little girl, would you let her join gymnastics with the state gymnastics is in right now, with that culture, and with what's going on with our girls and boys in Gymnastics Canada?

[Pascale St-Onge, Liberal, Brome—Missisquoi, QC]

I want to be clear. What we've heard about gymnastics and what's happening in some clubs are unacceptable. I don't understand parents being prevented from being there during practice to make sure their minor children are safe. The fact that a club is preventing parents from being present during practice or competitions should set off alarm bells.

It's an unacceptable situation that has to change. I'm determined to shine a light on the situation.

[Warren Steinley, Conservative, Regina—Lewvan, SK]

I have 25 seconds left.

Please be aware of the seriousness of this committee. My colleagues are doing a great job. I've been here a couple of times. These are our children that we're talking about, and there needs to be a national coaches registry, as these people are doing terrible things to our kids. There needs to be accountability so that these clubs know who they can and cannot hire as coaches.

[Pascale St-Onge, Liberal, Brome—Missisquoi, QC]

I can assure you that I'm determined to do everything I can to change the sports world using all the tools and powers at my disposal.

[The Chair, Conservative, Karen Vecchio]

Thank you very much.

We'll move along to Anita for five minutes.

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

Thank you very much, Madam Chair.

Minister, thank you so much for being here today. It is absolutely evident from your testimony that you care deeply about our athletes and about ending the abuse and mistreatment of athletes. I think we all appreciate that very much. It's obvious you've been listening to all the athletes, victims and survivors you've been speaking to. I appreciate that you've said a few times today in the committee that it's not about “if” but about “how” we move forward. I know you're looking forward to our committee report as a mechanism to show you some of the “how”.

We have heard absolutely horrifying testimony in this committee, very difficult testimony, the testimony that we can't look away from.

One of the things that we've heard is that obviously, in an ideal world, prevention—stopping it from happening in the first place—is what we want, but when it does happen, athletes don't necessarily go directly to saying they want to report it and they want an official investigation. They need some mental health supports, they need an advocate, and they need to know what their options are before they're at a point where they're ready to actually file a complaint. Putting that in place and having a single entry point for athletes, particularly on the mental health component, is one of the things that we've heard.

Could you please comment a little bit on that?

[Pascale St-Onge, Liberal, Brome—Missisquoi, QC]

There are many things we need to look at. In my opinion, one of the things that could be extremely powerful is empowering athlete representation in the organizations that represent athletes. That could be an excellent entry point.

We've just announced funding to AthletesCAN so that athletes can have one hub they can refer to in order to find mental health support and to find resources when they're facing situations of abuse and maltreatment. There's a terrible power imbalance in sports, where the future of athletes—whether they are chosen or not for the next step—depends on their coaches and on their federation. To me it's very important that we empower athletes so that they are part of the decision-making process at every level. It's very important that they be considered and heard, and that the organizations that represent them are empowered and better structured to really represent them at their best.

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

I would note that we actually have a number of teenaged athletes here in the room. I know that all of us here share the wish that their journey in sport is going to be healthy, fun and positive. They are the reason that we are all here today.

Thank you, Minister.

I would like to share my last minute and a half with Ms. Sidhu.

[Sonia Sidhu, Liberal, Brampton South, ON]

Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you, Anita, for sharing your time. Thank you, Minister, for coming and joining us today.

Yes, absolutely we want to empower our athletes.

Minister, we have heard that a comprehensive and mandatory registry for sanctioned individuals should be developed. They should be ineligible to participate or compete within the Canadian sport system.

Do you believe this is a strong recommendation?

[Pascale St-Onge, Liberal, Brome—Missisquoi, QC]

Yes, we are looking at ways that we can achieve that.