Madam Chair, members of the committee, good morning.
First of all, I would like to thank you for this invitation to contribute to your committee's study. What has been your focus for several weeks has also been of concern to me since the beginning of my mandate. I am horrified by the stories we are privy to, and I salute the courage of those who dare to speak out.
I think of the teenage girls who are forced onto brutal diets or weight loss pills, which destroy both self-image and self-confidence. This has disastrous consequences for the rest of their lives. I am thinking of children who, under the guise of helping them achieve excellence, are exposed to abusive training, which causes irreparable injury. I think of children who are sexually abused by coaches who should be behind bars. It is absolutely appalling, and I share your outrage. There is simply no reason or justification as to why sport should equal abuse.
Over the past year, I have met with athletes, victims and survivors. I have also spoken to experts and researchers from all walks of life. All these people want to be part of the solution. I find this very encouraging, because it also means that the culture of silence is being broken.
Among the voices that are being raised, some are calling for investigations. To me, it is clear that it is not a question of whether something should be done, but more importantly how it should be done.
Just to be clear regarding calls for an inquiry, it's not a matter of if we need to do something, but how.
My goals are to do justice to survivors in a safe, trauma-focused way, and then to take stock of what has been accomplished and what remains to be done to ensure the safety of all participants in sport. We are currently assessing the best ways to achieve both of these goals, and the relevant recommendations of this committee could play a major role. In the meantime, there are some very concrete things that need to be done that cannot wait.
Since my appointment as Minister of Sport, I have used all the powers I have to accelerate change. Now is the time to tackle the power imbalance between athletes and the sport system by amplifying their voices and providing support to athlete organizations.
We also know that sport will only be made safe if we improve the governance, accountability, training, education and capacity to prevent abuse and maltreatment across the organizations in the sport system. We've all read the headlines. When governance and accountability fail, bad decisions are taken and our athletes pay the price. We can change that. I am changing that. I am reviewing how and under what requirements the federal government finances national sport organizations. Sport should not regulate itself. We must provide support and services to victims when it does happen.
In 2019, more than 1,000 athletes took part in a study to determine what could be done to make sport safer. One recommendation in particular came out loud and clear above all the others: It was that the federal government create an independent complaint mechanism where athletes could go with their experiences without fear of reprisal.
The Office of the Sport Integrity Commissioner, or OSIC, is that mechanism, and it is fully independent. It responds to the standards of independence set by scholars, experts and athletes alike. Like many federal agencies, OSIC is federally funded, but operates with an independent board of directors. It is independent of Sport Canada and of sport organizations.
A little more than six months since its creation, more than half of the national sport organizations have already signed to OSIC. I expect that all of them will be signatories in the next few months.
However, even if all national sport organizations sign on, there will still be a huge gap—one we cannot ignore. While the federal government and national sport organizations are responsible for about 3,700 athletes, the vast majority of cases of abuse and maltreatment happen outside the federal scope. They happen in local clubs, leagues and gyms, all of which are within the responsibility of provincial, territorial and local authorities.
This harsh reality was recently pointed out by an extensive investigative report from CBC. Canadians all over the country are asking us to fill that gap.
This is the next step, but I can't do it alone. There are many aspects to this issue, as well as demands for inquiries, that require us all to work together in the interests of the athletes. That is why next week, when I meet with my provincial and territorial counterparts, I will reaffirm the urgency of working together to ensure better protection, better harmonization of the system, and the establishment of a reliable complaints mechanism.
There is no reason why children and young athletes should not have equal protection from coast to coast. All levels of government, including the provinces and territories, must do what it takes to ensure that abusers are excluded from our sports system.
I want to close by thanking this committee for its work. We have an opportunity to improve the face of sport. Together we can do it.
Thank you for your attention.
