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Decentralized Democracy

House Hansard - 126

44th Parl. 1st Sess.
November 14, 2022 11:00AM
Context: House Hansard - 126 - Nov/14/22
Mr. Sébastien Lemire (Abitibi—Témiscamingue, BQ)
  • Nov/14/22 6:49:39 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, allow me to go back in time a bit. The creation of an independent body for handling complaints in sport is the result of a request from the Bloc Québécois. On April 28, 2021, my colleague from Longueuil—Saint-Hubert moved a motion calling on the House to ask the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage to undertake a study on the urgent need to establish a mechanism to receive complaints from athletes. On January 21, 2022, my colleague from Drummond and I wrote to the Minister of Canadian Heritage and the Minister of Sport to explain why it should be mandatory for national sport organizations to sign on to this mechanism. Then, on April 5, 2022, Sport Canada announced the creation of the Office of the Sport Integrity Commissioner, or OSIC, which we welcomed. However, the OSIC is clearly an unsatisfactory response to the widespread consensus in sporting, political and media circles. The House of Commons called for an independent public inquiry to investigate the issue thoroughly. The motion it unanimously adopted read: That the House call for an independent inquiry into Hockey Canada's handling of the events of June 2018, in order to determine whether this was an isolated event or whether there are deficiencies in Hockey Canada's handling of reported complaints of sexual assault, sexual harassment and other types of misconduct. I would like to go over a few facts. We learned that the Minister of Sport was informed in advance, on May 24, 2022, by Hockey Canada that there would be an article in the newspapers about an out-of-court settlement with a young victim concerning allegations of gang rape by eight hockey players in June 2018 in London. I would like to commend the stellar journalist Rick Westhead for writing that article. I then moved a motion in the House to summon Hockey Canada representatives to appear before the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage. We know the rest. On October 5, I asked the Prime Minister to confirm when he would launch a public judicial inquiry into the issue of abuse in sport. A motion was adopted unanimously by the Liberals, the Conservatives, the Bloc Québécois, the NDP and the Green Party, so when will this inquiry be launched? More than six months later, athletes from several disciplines are reaching out to parliamentarians to talk about the different kinds of abuse they endured. There is a growing consensus. We are coming to realize that we must examine more than just Hockey Canada. We must shed light on the toxic culture that is polluting our sports, and examine how federations handle complaints and how they treat their athletes. The concrete recommendations that will be made will result in real change. An independent inquiry will finally allow us to get to the bottom of this issue and will result in concrete recommendations that can be applied to all sport federations. This inquiry will bring everyone together and ensure that everyone is on the same page. It is important to harmonize the practices of national sport organizations and make them coherent. To learn from the past, we need to understand what happened over the last few decades. We need to look at what worked and what did not. Ultimately, the goal is to come up with a mechanism that works and a strong and trustworthy organization. We know this mechanism is still overseen by people closely associated with sport organizations, and the toxic culture that takes over at times can shake people's confidence. Athletes need to have faith in an organization that is dedicated to defending their rights, which is not the case at this point in time. I want to emphasize that athletes need a recognized, rigorous, credible organization that can ensure their complaints are handled by an independent individual. How do we achieve that dialogue? There can be no reconciliation as long as athletes can see or feel the power imbalance created by national sport organizations and Sport Canada's inaction, as recognized in July. Now, a public inquiry—
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Context: House Hansard - 126 - Nov/14/22
Mr. Adam van Koeverden (Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Health and to the Minister of Sport, Lib.)
  • Nov/14/22 6:54:03 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I would first like to thank the member for Abitibi—Témiscamingue for his question. I would also like to thank the other members of the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage for the important work they do in promoting a safe sporting environment. As a society, we in Canada have a shared responsibility to promote and ensure a safe sporting environment for all. Last month, we learned that Hockey Canada's CEO and its entire board of directors were stepping aside. Although we are pleased to hear that, we expect the interim board of directors to be made up of people who want to make real changes. We have tremendous admiration for our athletes, coaches and volunteers in sport federations. From international competitions to neighbourhood activities, sport is a positive force in our lives. That is why we, as a government, have worked really hard to ensure that partners, including athletes, take strong action to protect Canadian athletes and other Canadians by promoting an environment where all of us and them can safely engage in sport. An example of that action is the funding we provided in budget 2019 to enable Canadian sport organizations to promote accessible, ethical, equitable and safe sport. We are also proud to provide an investment of $16 million over three years to support the newly created Office of the Sport Integrity Commissioner. This is an important step to challenge the culture of silence and to provide a clear and reliable way for all participants in sport to report incidences of maltreatment and to be heard and supported. This independent mechanism will gradually become mandatory for all national sport organizations. In fact, in 2017, I was asked by the former minister of sport to be part of a working group. One of the things that my colleague from Abitibi—Témiscamingue mentioned was quite salient. In fact, we made some recommendations in that working group for what is now called the Office of the Sport Integrity Commissioner. One recommendation was that we create an arm's length, independent organization, a mechanism by which we can trust that sport organizations will rely on an ethical framework. We demanded that it be fully funded by the federal government. We also demanded, at that time back in 2017, that it be mandatory for all national sport organizations. I am proud to say that today, in 2022, all of those things are true. In response to the determination that Hockey Canada created those two separate accounts that my colleague referred to, the Minister of Sport very quickly froze funding to that national sport organization to be reinstated only after an audit has been prepared and completed and it has signed on as a full member of the Office of the Sport Integrity Commissioner. More recently, this summer, the Government of Canada announced that Sport Canada was working on new requirements to ensure organizations that receive federal funding meet specific governance, accountability and safe sport standards. We would also like to note that these new measures are only part of the solution. The responsibility of ensuring a safe sport environment must be shared by all leaders and stakeholders in the field, from community sport to competitive sport, from young ages to provincial, national and international sport. Our government will continue to engage provincial and territorial partners to drive alignment, which is essential to achieving that change in culture that we all strive for. I would also add that the change in culture needs to happen in other areas, and not just in sport. We firmly believe our society can transform the culture of sport and provide positive examples of sporting life. Our government is committed to continuing its work in that regard.
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