Canadian Minister of Sport Announces “Future of Sport in Canada Commission”

Global Athlete and Gymnasts for Change Canada acknowledges today’s announcement by the Minister of Sport to establish a ‘Future of Sport in Canada Commission’ to review the Canadian sport system.

We are disappointed the Minister did not support survivors’ and advocates' calls for a National Inquiry that meets judicial standards with the power to compel documents, and subpoena testimony from organizations. We are concerned that these are critical shortcomings in this review that may prevent robust and meaningful outcomes.

Today’s announcement however does send a clear message to all people in sport that the government has recognized that the Canadian sport system is broken and needs repair. This announcement is a direct result of the public pressure applied by courageous survivors, advocates, scholars, and media who are committed to exposing the truth. Their input now, and moving forward, is crucial for the support and success of this review mechanism. 

We intend to continue advocating to ensure this newly announced review is robust, completely independent from sport actors, who created the current failing system, and scrutinizes leading sport organizations and funding bodies.

For almost two years, we have called for a national inquiry into the Canadian sport system. While child abuse and violations of athletes’ human rights underpin our calls, we recognize that abuse and limited justice are symptoms of a larger systemic problem that must be addressed through this review.

Last week, we met with the Minister of Sport at the United Nations in Geneva for the Sporting Chance Forum. Both the Minister and our organizations agreed that any mechanism for reviewing the system must extend to every corner of the sporting landscape to create robust systemic and cultural change.

While it is unclear whether this review has the breadth and depth to address the entire system, engaging with athletes and advocates to further shape the terms of reference will be critical to getting it right. If there is a refusal to meaningfully engage with those most affected and those who have advocated to bring this review to fruition, there will be skepticism and a cloud of suspicion that it is constructed with pre-determined outcomes.

The power of engaging with those most affected and most silenced was demonstrated recently at the Canadian Safe Sport Think Tank. Global Athlete and Gymnastics for Change Canada brought together advocates, survivors, former Provincial, National and Olympic-level athletes, coaches, sports administrators, and scholars to engage in a comprehensive examination of the Canadian sport system. The results of this safe and confidential space allowed for open and honest dialogue in order to uncover the true breadth and depth of the problems.

If this ‘Future of Sport in Canada Commission’ review is to succeed with radical reform of the Canadian sport system and justify its ask for those most affected by violence in sport to participate, it must be trustworthy, athlete and survivor-centric, and include mechanisms for enforcing recommendations to all government-funded organizations.  This announcement is but a first step towards a safe, accessible, and equitable sport experience for participants, at every level and within every community. The work has only just begun.

Joint Statement: A National Inquiry into Abuse in Sport must be Top Priority for the Government of Canada to Protect Canadian Children and Athletes

For over 18 months, Canadian athletes, advocates, scholars, and allies have been calling for the Government of Canada to initiate a national inquiry into the toxic culture of abuse that, as we have sadly come to learn, exists across all levels of Canadian sport.

It was the thousands of athlete voices that began this call but as evidence has mounted during the months of hearings before the Canadian Heritage Committee and the Standing Committee on the Status of Women, the call for an inquiry has been joined by the Canadian Olympic Committee, Own the Podium, the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport, the Canadian Human Rights Commission, Canadian Women and Sport, the Coaching Association of Canada, Scholars Against Abuse in Canadian Sport, and high profile USA advocates Judge Rosemarie Aquilina and Rachael Denhollander.

With Parliament resuming this month and the appointment of a new Sports Minister in the Honourable Carla Qualtrough, we reinforce that a national inquiry must be a priority to protect Canadian children and athletes. The calls for this inquiry will not diminish. The need will only continue to grow and without a robust solution, the problems will continue to fester.

We cannot waste any more time. We must act to end child abuse and human rights violations occurring in Canadian sport. A national inquiry must happen without further delay. 

Click here or see below to watch the video for those advocating for an inquiry.

Canadian Safe Sport Think Tank Report

Recently, a cross-section of Canadian sports people gathered for the Canadian Safe Sport Think Tank hosted by Global Athlete and Gymnasts for Change Canada to collectively address the country’s sporting crisis. Olympic and National Team athletes, advocates, survivors, sports administrators, coaches, and scholars engaged in a comprehensive examination of the Canadian sport system and collaborated to identify a pathway for its recovery and reconstruction.

For the last two years, the culture and operations of sport in Canada have been under the spotlight for its failures to adequately serve and protect all Canadians who participate in sport. Despite the heightened scrutiny from the parliamentary hearings conducted by Canadian Heritage and the Standing Committee on Status of Women, there has been limited action from both the Government of Canada and national sport leaders to acknowledge and act upon the national crisis to ensure sport in Canada becomes a safe, healthy, and equitable environment for all.

Recognising the lack of inaction, the Think Tank welcomed participants over two days and provided a safe space to offer open and honest feedback and perspectives on the Canadian sport system. Through multiple comprehensive roundtables, four pivotal themes emerged as playing a role in the shortcomings of Canada’s sport system:

Collusion and Conflicts of Interest:  The Canadian sport system was discerned to be duplicitous by design, with a high level of collusion, where conflicts of interest and hidden affiliations protect the status quo and serve nationalist goals driven by the capitalization of sport and commercial exploitation of athletes.  Power is limited to a few organizations such as Own the Podium (OTP) and the Canadian Olympic Committee (COC), leaving National Sport Organizations (NSOs) in a vulnerable position, where fear of losing funding dictates the operation of their sports.

Nationalist Goals of Sport within the Global System: With sport placed under Heritage Canada, the Canadian sport system has been set up to utilize 1% of sport population, the elite athletes, to promote Canada’s identity, culture, values, and legacy on global scale. This approach does not serve 99% of the sporting population who play sport for fun, health and socialization.

The Exploitation of Athletes: There is little to no protection of athletes in Canada. Established safe sport systems are failing the 1% population of elite athletes and neglecting the 99% of the sporting population. This is leaving athletes powerless, with almost no representation and little bargaining power. Sport has purposely self-regulated, with minimal oversight, to deny access to justice and remedy to athletes who are maltreated – facilitating and exacerbating the denial of their basic human rights.

National Inquiry: The Canadian sport system is failing the masses while simultaneously eroding high-performance sport. A national inquiry is necessary to understand what all Canadians need and want from sport and how sport can best become a tool for health, community, and development, instead of a propaganda tool for nationalist goals.

If the Canadian sport system continues to operate in this manner, the ability to create, serve, and maintain a healthy population and a healthy and successful sporting culture will be eroded.

These findings are further detailed in the report - click here to read.