Canadian Heritage committee  Our national safe sport program encourages everyone to access our independent mechanism or Abuse-Free Sport, and we will continue to communicate that to our stakeholders across the country.

Canadian Heritage committee  As noted earlier in my comments, we certainly recognize that in advance of our change to our national safe sport program in 2019, our procedures and processes were not as robust as they needed to be. To the extent there are complaints that relate to a time prior to the current system, we acknowledge there were gaps.

Canadian Heritage committee  We have transparently posted selection criteria for all national and international championship events, which we make available to all of our athletes. You are correct that there are a series of different events that go into the determination of that. The good news about figure skating is that competitions are determined by scores, so we have objective criteria that factor into the overall consideration.

Canadian Heritage committee  You were referring to the letter we received from Figure Skating for Change Canada on April 27. This matter was brought to the attention of the board of directors of Skate Canada. We immediately responded to the open letter. It is an open letter that is anonymous. It does not name any particular athletes.

Canadian Heritage committee  Madam Chair, may I ask for clarification? I was not able to understand the first part of the translation. Could I ask that it be repeated, please?

Canadian Heritage committee  Thank you, and I apologize. We are not aware of the athletes who are involved in this particular set of allegations that are raised in the open letter, so we have had no change in our approach to athletes since that time.

Canadian Heritage committee  No, there's been no change since that time. We have what we believe to be a very robust and solid relationship with all of our athletes. Our policies and procedures are transparent. They are clearly posted, and we make ourselves available for any clarification any of our athletes need.

Canadian Heritage committee  Not that I'm aware of.

Canadian Heritage committee  Thank you very much for the question. We have a public registry of sanctioned and/or permanently expelled coaches. We also have the “coach in good standing” tool, which all of our clubs across the country have access to. If a coach is sanctioned—i.e., temporarily or permanently expelled—we immediately notify the provincial and territorial sport organization and all clubs in that jurisdiction.

Canadian Heritage committee  Yes, that's correct. Our particular position is that our membership is very important to us. If we are going to make a decision to expel and ultimately reintegrate someone, it is important for the board of directors of Skate Canada to opine on that decision.

Canadian Heritage committee  Thank you, Madam Chair, for the invitation to appear before the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage. My name is Debra Armstrong and I am the chief executive officer of Skate Canada. It's a role I have held since November 2016. Skate Canada is a not-for-profit national sport organization that is focused on teaching Canadians to skate.