Mr. Speaker, as always, it is an honour to stand in this place and talk to issues that are so important to Canadians.
It is interesting that the previous Liberal member spoke a lot about how his experience of an athlete has informed policy. I wish the Liberals would take that same approach when it comes to some of the expertise offered by, for example, farmers in this place to help inform things like agriculture and environmental policy.
Before I jump into my speech, Mr. Speaker, I will be splitting my time with the fantastic member forHastings—Lennox and Addington.
I rise to address an important issue, safe sport, and the need to ensure that Canadians have trust within the institutions, whether it is a parent dropping their kids off with an athletic organization or our athletes going on an international trip to compete. Over the last number of years, dating back to 2018 in specific instances, and throughout history, we have seen examples where people have taken advantage of that trust and have abused and hurt athletes. It is unacceptable and it needs to stop. We cannot overstate how important it is to ensure that we have those very real and honest conversations.
When it comes down to it, Canadians and our country should and can be proud of much of what we have accomplished in sport, whether it be the things that make it onto television or minor sport associations. Unlike what the previous Liberal member thinks, I am very proud of a professional and amateur rodeo circuit, a sport of which we can be proud.
I also am very proud of my two boys, who had their first year of baseball this past year. I had a fantastic time learning some of those key and formational skills of teamwork and the discipline associated with team sport. I am sure each member of the House, either directly or one or two steps removed, has a story, whether it be themselves, or their children or a family member, of being involved in various levels of sport.
We cannot understate how important it is that we are able to trust those in authority, especially when it can be in vulnerable situations. There is a power structure in the way sports organizations are run, and we see how abuse has taken place, and that is absolutely egregious.
I appreciate my colleague from Quebec moving this concurrence motion, because it gives us the opportunity to not only talk about these issues, but also to ensure that action is taken so we can, as a nation, demand there be excellence and trust within the existing structures. As parliamentarians, looking at national sport organizations all the way down to the parents dropping their young kids off for those minor sports, there has to be trust throughout. When that trust breaks down, it leads to absolutely tragic situations.
We heard about a number of those scenarios in relation to Hockey Canada and gymnastics in hearings at the status of women committee. Parliament has heard about tragic stories where action should have been taken but was not. Words are not enough, and the result is that lives are broken and destroyed.
The idea of sport is an important one. This is not lost on me. As I mentioned, my kids started organized sport at a young age. Sport has an impact in building a resilient workforce and a capable structure. With the Olympics and the Paralympics this summer, we saw national pride expressed through sport.
To reference rodeo again, my personal favourite sport, a number of local athletes from Battle River—Crowfoot competed in the Canadian Finals Rodeo a number of weeks ago. I am very proud that a high school friend of mine will be going to the National Finals Rodeo in a couple of weeks.
We talk about sport and international competitions as being a point of pride. They give us something to believe in, including when times are tough.
I remember watching the gold medal game in the 2020 Olympics at a professor's house. It was incredible, a moment of intense national pride when Canada scored that winning goal. At the foundational level, when it comes to the role the government plays, it has to ensure that these national sport organizations and the leadership they provide in sport in this country can be trusted every step of the way.
I want to highlight a number of things that Conservatives, who were proud to participate in the report we are debating concurrence in today, put forward in addition to the work the committee put into the overall report. A number of additional recommendations were submitted in a dissenting report to ensure we can have that trust restored, as I referenced before.
The first one is at the very foundation of everything we are talking about: Sport Canada must hold national sports organizations accountable. There has to be accountability throughout the entire system, from leadership at the top all the way through our sports organizations. I have heard examples from constituents where that has not been the case, where there is erosion of trust and an inability by different organizations to have the clear accountability structure that is required to ensure that happens.
The second recommendation Conservatives highlighted in the dissenting report is that the Office of the Sport Integrity Commissioner must investigate complaints in a timely and impartial fashion and enforce consequences for non-compliance. It is great to have an office with an idea, but I have heard from other members of civil society who have been through various ombudsman processes and whatnot that an office needs teeth to ensure there can be investigations and an actual resolution of concerns that are brought forward. It may look nice on paper and may even have a nice office in a downtown building somewhere, but if it cannot result in action, then one truly has to ask what the point is. It comes back to that fundamental concept of trust. We have to be able to trust the process, investigate in an impartial fashion, investigate complaints in a timely manner and enforce consequences for non-compliance.
The third recommendation the dissenting report put forward was that Sport Canada must work with provincial and territorial governments to ensure provincial and post-secondary sport organizations are held accountable. It goes without saying that sport does not start and end in the nation's capital. I am sure we all have stories, whether it is our children, ourselves or high school sports team members all the way up to professional athletes. We have to ensure a team Canada approach, so to speak, that goes across governments and different levels of organizations to ensure accountability, again coming back to that fundamental principle of trust.
I would note the fourth recommendation in the dissenting report is that Sport Canada must establish a public registry. I want to dive into this very briefly. This is fundamentally important. As we heard in testimony before the status of women committee, there has to be the ability for athletes, coaches, parents and others involved in organizations to know that the person they are entrusting with either their lives, their athletes' lives or their children's lives can be trusted, to ensure they are going in with eyes wide open. That full accountability and trust needs to be there.
When it comes to the government's response, I found it interesting that the previous speaker talked about how great the government has been doing, yet it knew about allegations at Sport Canada for four years and did nothing. Action needs to be taken, trust needs to be restored and this debate today is an important step. However, without action, it is just words.