Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to get back on track.
I am deeply disappointed by the Liberals' cheap shots. Nothing covers for the fact that the Liberals are not doing what is needed to ensure safe sport in our country. We are seeing half measures from them and a lot of PR stunts, which I will get to it in a couple of minutes, but it is the same Liberals who just a couple of days ago blocked a motion that I put forward in committee to seek accountability on the soccer drone scandal that rocked our reputation in soccer and sport on the world stage during the Olympics. The Liberals are doing what they can to cover up what happened there, perhaps not unlike what we are seeing in the House today.
I will get back to the heartbreaking story of victims of sexual violence who were targeted by hockey players and the incidents of sexual violence and sexual assault that were known and covered up by Hockey Canada.
Following the explosive allegations that came up and knowing the extent to which Hockey Canada knew and covered up the abuse, it is hard to see how Hockey Canada can come back from it, even with the changes it has made in response, including revising its player code of conduct, introducing mandatory training on alcohol abuse and sexual assault, and better managing Hockey Canada events.
The former board chair maintained, “Hockey Canada took appropriate action by reporting this incident to the police, Sport Canada and launching an independent investigation.” Was that appropriate action? Nothing about this was appropriately handled. As shocking and horrific as this case was, we cannot turn away from it. There is a problem within sports in our country, and this report makes that clear.
Kristen Worley, a former high-performance athlete, described her experience of undergoing gender testing, saying, “I would be violated as a predetermination of my participation in cycling.” Throughout her career, her experience was “about abuse, trauma, maltreatment, collusion, the use of wilful blindness, the lack of state responsibility, gross liability, brand protection and foreign interference”. This is damning testimony.
Even the former minister of science and sport, the member for Etobicoke North, appeared at committee to describe her experience, saying:
I also know the darker side of sport. While I have not experienced the horrific abuse that you have heard about at this committee, I am a former gymnast and I know what it's like to be told to eat Jell-o, laxatives, toilet paper and water pills, and what it's like to be weighed and shamed.
Former athletes have described how broken they were upon leaving sports before they even hit 18. We heard from a number of witnesses describing the trauma and pain they carry to this day following their experiences in organized sport. One witness, a fencer named Emily Mason, said:
When I left the sport, I was 17 and I was a broken individual. I was in a mental health crisis. I attempted suicide. I was seeing a mental health professional. The difficulty my family has gone through in the years since I left the sport has been immense. It's been five years now, and it will be a part of our lives for years to come.
This is an endemic problem. As the report notes, as many as 70% of participants in sports will fall victim to at least one form of abuse during their sporting journey. The last record for the number of sport participants in Canada dates from 2016 and stood at eight million people. At 70%, that means 5.6 million people are harmed.
Another witness talked about how uncaring the junior hockey system can be. One of the witnesses shared:
I ended up with a puck to the face. When it happened, I also drove myself to the hospital. I got evaluated and I was told that I had a double jaw fracture. I drove to the pharmacy to get medicine, and I had to head home for recovery.
When I came back from my injury, I learned that the team, which was supposed to have warned my teachers about my incapacity to attend my classes.... Actually, I learned that I had failed all my exams, so I ended up quitting school. The emotional turmoil and the anger I felt coming back had me quit the team I was playing for.
Another parent described their kid's experience as a “dream that turned into a nightmare”.
That is not what sport is supposed to be in our country. We know that sport has the potential to transform lives. It can be key in terms of building not just athletic prowess and better physical form, but also a sense of self-confidence, self-worth and belonging.
Since ancient times, we know the power of gathering to compete in sport, as through the Olympics. Owing to my Greek heritage, I am familiar with the proud history of the Olympic Games as a special time where that part of the world came together to engage in sport as a high form of living and, certainly, as a way of people reaching their full potential.
I will say that Canada talks a good talk when it comes to its commitment to sporting ideals. We heard it from Liberals in the House today, commitments to integrity, commitments to safe sport, commitments to accountability. However, the reality is that Canada has failed many of our young athletes and their families and has failed the advancement of sport in so many ways.
I want to turn to a more recent scandal and again point to the failures of Canada when it comes to ensuring that ethics in sport, integrity in sport, is held to the highest standard. This summer, we all tuned in to watch the Olympics with great pride. We saw major successes from Canadian athletes, but we also saw a major failure. That was the soccer drone scandal that in many ways engulfed a big chunk of our time at the Olympics. We have one of the best women's soccer teams in the world, former gold medal winners, who are incredible players. I want to acknowledge the great Christine Sinclair, who did not play this summer but was critical in supporting and building the sport of soccer for women in our country.
However, we were all shaken when we found out that officials of Soccer Canada, officials of the Canadian women's team, engaged in flying a drone and engaged in spying, which was clearly known to be illegal, during the Olympic Games. It did not just make the news in Canada; it made the news around the world. It was so bad that FIFA launched an investigation, docked points from Canada and fined Soccer Canada. It was so bad that teams from around the world reached out, asking about what Canada was doing.
What was so problematic, in addition to the act of spying, was the arrogance with which Canadian officials responded, the pretense, making comments along the lines that everybody does it. We heard from teams that came out publicly to say no, that they do not engage in flying drones to spy on other teams, on their practices and as they prepare for games. Yet, Canada was out there flouting the most fundamental tenets of ethics in sport, of integrity in sport, of fair play in sport.
I admire our women's soccer players who gave the game their all, who gave it their all as a result of their years of hard work and the support of their families, of their coaches growing up and of their communities. They put it all on the line. However, shame on those Canadian officials. Shame on those within Soccer Canada who thought it was not just acceptable but legitimate in a way, as they went on to defend, to engage in that kind of culture, to engage in spying and to engage in the use of drones to spy on other teams.
I think we all recognized that this was needed work when Soccer Canada said that it would engage in an independent investigation, but that was months ago and we have not heard anything. That is why I put forward a motion to seek accountability on the parliamentary side. This motion finally came to a vote this week and I was shocked that the Liberals, along with the Bloc, blocked our initiative to have public testimony on the soccer drone scandal. Canadian athletes, families and fans deserve answers. They deserve to know that this mess is going to be cleaned up and that we will put an end to the culture of spying and cheating that was clearly encouraged in the lead-up to and during the Olympics.
What do the Liberals have to hide when it comes to Soccer Canada? What is it that they have to hide when it comes to truly getting to the bottom of integrity, ethics and fair play in sport? Canadian athletes and all Canadians deserve better.