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Decentralized Democracy

House Hansard - 194

44th Parl. 1st Sess.
May 10, 2023 02:00PM
Context: House Hansard - 194 - May/10/23
Mr. Sébastien Lemire (Abitibi—Témiscamingue, BQ)
  • May/10/23 6:17:31 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I rise today in favour of an independent public inquiry into sports. The issue has become more important than ever and it is disappointing that the Minister of Sport thinks that this issue still requires nothing more than internal audits as cases come up. We all saw the leniency in the audits since, in less than a year, funding for Hockey Canada and Gymnastics Canada was restored. In the case of Canada Soccer, it is total silence. It is incomprehensible that after more than 35 articles on separate cases involving several dozen victims tied to allegations of sexual assault and harassment in sport, there has not been more outrage in the House. For more than a year, the Bloc Québécois has tirelessly and clearly called for an independent public inquiry into sports. Today, the NDP MPs, and I commend them, also took position in favour of an inquiry. The Conservatives and the Liberals remain, in my opinion, divided on this issue. I ask the question. If it was our own children, would we hesitate on whether or not to shed light on the allegations of abuse in the world of sports? The silence of the Minister of Sport is as disconcerting as her absence thus far from the discussions taking place in the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage. She has been invited on more than one occasion. None of the testimony—all of which was very well researched and relevant—spurred her to act responsibly and transparently. I want to talk about different aspects. There is the outsourcing of safe sport cases. It was the Liberal government that implemented the idea of contracting out complaints from athletes who have been abused or mistreated. This is a highly lucrative arrangement for these private sector firms, which the government calls “third party investigators”. Currently, these firms are paid by federations and there is no assurance that victims are treated fairly in the process. There are no quality standards in place, and Sport Canada does not conduct any verifications. Many victims testified that they were mistreated by these investigators. These investigations should be conducted by people who have the well-being of the athletes at heart, and, above all, who have no conflict of interest. Even worse, the process results in non-disclosure agreements that silence the victims. This tacit endorsement by the government prevents victims from speaking out or they risk being prosecuted. We absolutely need to consider changing this paradigm so that victims can really have a say. A non-disclosure agreement must be the prerogative of the victim because only they can make that decision. These non-disclosure agreements raise another concern. Coaches dismissed by these federations for allegations of abuse will be protected by these very agreements. A public and independent inquiry will shed light on these elements and lead to action. The financial audits ordered by Sport Canada are a financial framework that requires the tabling of detailed financial statements in order to obtain funding. However, it seems that no one analyzes these results year over year or asks questions about the objectives of these sports organizations. It is as though it were just a box to be checked. That does not work. Some corporations in Canada are not in compliance with the Canada Not-for-profit Corporations Act. We see these situations of abuse. The study being done by the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage has found that sports organizations have benefited from government largesse without sufficient accountability and transparency. Less than 5% of these organizations are in good standing with the federal registry of corporations. They are violating the rules for federally chartered corporations. The government is clearly not taking action. Everyone has an obligation to report abuse in sport. However, it seems quite clear that the priority for Sport Canada is not to act on this information. In closing, I would say that establishing a public and independent inquiry in the field of sports is imperative in order to conduct spot checks, rather than the light—
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Context: House Hansard - 194 - May/10/23
Mr. Sébastien Lemire
  • May/10/23 6:25:45 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I am crossing my fingers that my colleague from Milton's positive leadership will lead to action. Otherwise, perhaps we can battle it out on the soccer field later. I am asking the parliamentary secretary to at least admit that, unfortunately, the government has failed in its duty to shed light on the management of abuse and sexual misconduct in sports. There is a lot of bureaucratic jargon being used. The government is failing to recognize the distress and frustration of amateur and national athletes, as well as those covered by the program subsidized by the federal government. The government must get to the bottom of the management problem in sports organizations, because it has been going on for far too long. That is our athletes' right, and they have every right to demand it be respected. These days, many people are criticizing the minister for failing to take into account the victims' point of view. That is particularly true at the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage. Everyone agrees on one thing. The minister is working on an announcement, but the work has been done behind closed doors—
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