44th Parl. 1st Sess.
May 10, 2023 02:00PM
- May/10/23 2:10:08 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, every year, Canada produces world-class athletes who go on to achieve great things. Today, I want to acknowledge the accomplishments of three stars.
Priscilla Lopes-Schliep is a track and field champion who won a bronze medal in the women's 100-metre hurdles at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Derek Suddons was a member of the Canadian bronze-winning team at the 1996 U-19 World Field Lacrosse Games in Tokyo. Adrian Woodley has won four national championships in 110-metre hurdles.
What do these athletes have in common? All of them come from Whitby, Ontario, my riding. On April 29, I and community leaders from across Whitby had the chance to hear their stories and celebrate their accomplishments as they were inducted into the Whitby Sports Hall of Fame.
I hope members will join me in congratulating Priscilla, Derek and Adrian for their many successes and for supporting those who aspire to follow in their footsteps.
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- May/10/23 6:21:39 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I would like to begin by thanking my colleague for bringing awareness to this issue. I also want to say that our government understands the situation very well. It recognizes that this is a very important challenge. I want to commend and thank everyone who has the strength to share their stories.
On the subject of an inquiry, I want to repeat for my friend that it is not a question of “if”. It is a question of what form and scope it will take. I want the member to know that.
Reports of maltreatment, including harassment, abuse and discrimination have come to light recently and there have been consistent calls for stronger governance and greater protections for athletes, accountability and better alignment within the sports system.
I am familiar with these calls. I have been making them myself for over 10 years. I was the vice-chair or chair of the Athletes’ Commission for a total of almost a decade. We have been fighting for a stronger and more accountable support system. The first letter that I wrote to Sport Canada was in 1999.
We take this issue very seriously, and we are committed to ensuring that all sport participants, including children and youth, experience a safe and inclusive sport environment.
While changes in the sport system involve many stakeholders, including provincial and territorial governments, national sport organizations, national multi-sport service organizations, Canadian sport centres and the private sector, the Government of Canada has made significant and concerted efforts to promote safe sport, particularly in recent years.
We have worked to ensure safe, welcoming and inclusive environments for all athletes through investments in the 2018, 2019, 2022 and 2023 budgets.
The Government of Canada supported the achievement of a number of safe sport milestones in recent years. We can be proud of this collectively. For instance, the Universal Code of Conduct to Prevent and Address Maltreatment in Sport was developed by and for the sport community, with the support of Sport Canada in the last five years.
In July 2021, Sport Canada launched a call for proposals to find the most appropriate and most qualified organization to administer the code of conduct and establish an independent safe sport mechanism. A committee of sport community stakeholders and experts in ethics, youth protection and policy development selected the Sport Dispute Resolution Centre of Canada to do this work.
In June 2022, the Sport Dispute Resolution Centre of Canada set up the Office of the Sport Integrity Commissioner. As of April 1, 2023, every national sport organization has signed an agreement to access the services of the Office of the Sport Integrity Commissioner.
Though the Government of Canada has demonstrated leadership in this area, it is important to note that ensuring a safe and inclusive sport environment is a shared responsibility with provinces and territories as well, particularly when it comes to younger participants. In February 2019, federal and provincial territorial ministers responsible for sport, physical activity and recreation endorsed the Red Deer Declaration for the Prevention of Harassment, Abuse and Discrimination in Sport, and ministers at that time committed to developing a collaborative approach to address harassment, abuse and discrimination in sport—
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- 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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- May/10/23 6:26:49 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, we are speaking very fast. I am going to try to get my ideas out in English because they take longer in French, although I am working on it.
This has been a work in progress for many, many years. I used to come to the Hill to advocate for a better sporting environment back in 2015 or 2016. The first time that I came here to do government relations on behalf of athletes was in 2009. I hear the calls to stronger action. The member did acknowledge concrete action over the last couple of years. It has been accelerating to a degree in the last couple of years, particularly under the leadership of the Minister of Sport.
We have come so far and there is no reason why the House needs to be divided on this issue. We are talking about safer sport environments for kids and better sport environments for all participants, and I think that is something that we can collectively continue to work on. The Minister of Sport has prioritized this issue as number one since she was appointed. We have made significant investments since then, and we will continue.
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