Mr. Speaker, in connection with Motion No. 10, which concerns reinstatement of clause 9, it is vital to reinstate this, because it is one of the key points of the bill. It concerns the Sport Dispute Resolution Centre.
Having spoken with all athletes as well as a number of coaches, we find it obvious that this is both welcome and necessary. I trust that it will not be made mandatory.
I had proposed some amendments on this, making it a voluntary decision for the athletes to be part of this centre. Similarly, should they wish to take advantage of the centre's mediation or arbitration, the federations and Sport Canada would be required to participate.
These amendments were turned down in committee. Since the bill does not make reference to this, it is important not to deprive athletes of their rights, in other words, they must still have the right to decide to go to court.
Creation of a dispute resolution centre must not deprive anyone of his or her rights. I trust that it will be used as something extra, another extrajudiciary approach, that is the opportunity to opt for mediation or arbitration. People must, however, still have the possibility of going to court if that is important to them.
In other words, if two athletes decide its settlement is final, this must be respected. This represents a big step forward for athletes, because they will have a choice, but this must remain a choice and not be made an obligation. I hope that the bill will be interpreted in this way. There is no specific reference to this being mandatory or not, so I hope this is what will be done.
Now for the appointment of the executive director, it was important to move this amendment because we want this centre to be truly independent. We are creating an extrajudiciary entity, but there must be transparency and independence.
In this regard, when the minister or the secretary of state for amateur sport appoints the directors of this board, it is important for these directors to appoint the executive director. This will ensure transparency. Of course, this will also indirectly ensure accountability, since the board will operate at arm's length.
It is high time we had such legislation and co-operation with the provinces and with Quebec. I hope that people will talk to each other, that the ministers will get along, because physical activity and sport are extremely important for society, in terms of health, but also of unity and sport ethics.
We have not yet discussed the issue of sport ethics. The bill does not say much about it, but it is so important. As members know, we now have the World Anti-Doping Agency in Montreal, and this is wonderful for Quebec and for our athletes. It tells the whole world that doping in Quebec and in Canada is a thing of the past, and we must show leadership in this respect. I hope that we will make good use of this bill to achieve our objectives.
Of course, I congratulate the members of the subcommittee on amateur sport for reaching a consensus. We all had to make compromises. Personally, it goes without saying that I would like to see many amendments to this bill.
Again, I want to tell the secretary of state for amateur sport that we must not forget the amendments on the grounds of the decisions made by the dispute resolution centre, which must be put in writing. Deadlines should be included in this regard. As for the amendments that I proposed in this respect, I hope that the government will follow Quebec's procedure code, which is part of an act, not regulations, and I hope that the legislation will be amended to include these amendments.
The registration of a sentence must be included in the bill, not just in the regulations, as the government tried to do. The idea is not to have the dispute resolution centre work in isolation. This would be a mistake. Things as important as deadlines or the written reasons for an arbitral decision must be included in the bill.