Question Period Note: Discrimination and racism in sport

Sport helps millions of Canadians across the country to stay physically and mentally fit, make new friends, and express themselves. Canadians should always feel safe to play, coach, or be part of sport in any way they wish. The Government of Canada is taking concrete steps to ensure that sport is accessible and free from harassment, abuse, maltreatment and discrimination.

• Our government remains committed to promoting an environment where all Canadians can safely engage in sport, regardless of age, ability, race, ethnicity, gender, gender identity or sexual orientation.
• We are working with the sport community to establish mechanisms for managing allegations of maltreatment to ensure safe, welcoming and inclusive environments for all athletes.
• We understand that Artistic Swimming Canada is taking measures to address the complaints received.

• The Minister of Canadian Heritage’s mandate letter included the commitment to “continue to work with partners, including provinces and territories, to foster an environment that is safe, welcoming and inclusive in the sport and cultural industries”. The letter also included the commitment to “foster a national culture of safe sport, including physical safety, sporting environments free of harassment, promoting diversity and inclusion in sport and research into injury prevention”.
• Through Budget 2018, the Government set a target to achieve gender equality in sport at every level by 2035, and provided an initial $30 million over three years. A federal Gender Equity Secretariat was established to develop, implement and monitor a gender equity in sport strategy in Canada. The goal of this Secretariat is to bring about greater participation of women in leadership roles, coaching and officiating, which in turn contributes to greater representation and safety in sport.
• Budget 2019 provided $30 million over five years, starting in 2019–20, with $6 million per year ongoing, to enable Canadian sports organizations to promote accessible, ethical, equitable and safe sports.
• On June 19, 2018, the following measures were announced to enhance the existing policy framework in these areas: Federally funded sport organizations must: 1-Take all necessary measures to create a workplace free from harassment, abuse or discrimination of any kind; 2-Immediately disclose any incident that could compromise the project or programming to the Minister responsible for sport; 3-Make provisions for access to an independent third party to address harassment and abuse cases; 4-Provide mandatory training on harassment and abuse to their members by April 1, 2020.
• In February 2019, during the meeting of federal, provincial, and territorial Ministers responsible for sport, physical activity, and recreation, Ministers endorsed the Red Deer Declaration for the Prevention of Harassment, Abuse and Discrimination in Sport. As part of this declaration, Ministers will develop a collaborative approach to increase awareness, prevention, identifying and reporting, and monitoring to address harassment, abuse, and discrimination in sport. Ministers also agreed to make "safety and integrity in sport" a standing agenda item for future meetings.
• On February 22, 2019, Sport Canada launched the Innovation Initiative, which provides funding to eligible organizations for testing innovative approaches to sport participation and retention challenges as it pertains to equity, access, diversity and inclusion, as these are important elements relating to the leadership of the national sport community.
• In March 2019, the Sport Dispute Resolution Centre of Canada launched of a pilot project for a helpline for referral and for an investigation unit to extend its expertise and services to offer an independent third-party service to investigate harassment and abuse complaints.
• Sport Canada supported the Coaching Association of Canada to host a series of nationwide consultations on the development of the Universal Code of Conduct to address harassment and abuse in Canadian sport. The resulting Universal Code of Conduct to Prevent and Address Maltreatment in Sport (the Code), which includes general principles, definitions of misconduct and prohibited behaviours and an approach to sanctions, was endorsed by the majority of national-level sport organizations and released publicly in December 2019.
• Sport Canada is currently working closely with the national sport community to identify the most appropriate and effective approach and mechanisms for implementing the Code for federally funded sport organizations, and to promote the Code as a model approach for organizations at all levels of sport.
• Through a contribution from Sport Canada, the Sport Information Resource Centre contracted an independent analysis of the national and international safe sport landscape and develop recommendations on the most effective means to establish and deliver an independent mechanism for administering the implementation of the Code.
• Based on the findings of this report, as well as additional input from the sport community, Sport Canada has established the essential structure, roles, processes, and services that must be in place to effectively administer the Code, and is developing a call for applications to identify a Canadian organization that can deliver those essential elements and services for federally funded organizations.
• The independent mechanism to administer the implementation of the Code is expected to be in place, with financial support from Sport Canada, in the 2021–22 fiscal year.
• Budget 2019 provided $45 million in funding over three years, beginning in 2019–20, for Canada’s Anti−Racism Strategy 2019–22.
• Since the official launch of the Strategy in June 2019, Canadian Heritage has established the Federal Anti−Racism Secretariat, launched the Anti-Racism Action Program, taken preliminary steps to define the methodology to support data and evidence activities in collaboration with Statistics Canada and the Department of Justice, and has developed a Memorandum of Understanding with Public Safety. The Secretariat has begun engaging with stakeholders, government and the private sector to foster alignment and collaborate on further action to address identified gaps and issues.
• Sport Canada has been engaging with the Federal Anti-Racism Secretariat and is considering potential ways of developing an anti-racism in sport strategy that would address the specific needs of the sport community.
• Canada Artistic Swimming has followed their internal process and concluded a review of the National Team environment in Montréal. The review report has provided recommendations that Canada Artistic Swimming will implement.

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