Question Period Note: The Government of Canada is taking measures to ensure a safe sport environment.

In response to an increase of instances of maltreatment within the Canadian sport system, the Government of Canada has made significant investments to support victims, increase accountability measures for national-level sport organizations, and increase training and education to ensure Canadians can participate in sport in a safe, welcoming and inclusive environment.

• The Government of Canada remains committed to ensuring that all Canadians experience a sport environment that is free from all forms of maltreatment.
• Since 2018, our government has worked to ensure safe, welcoming, and inclusive environments for everyone, by requiring all federally funded sport organizations to take measures to ensure a culture free from maltreatment of any kind.
• In addition to our support to key initiatives like the Office of the Sport Integrity Commissioner, I recently announced new measures to improve governance of federally funded sport organizations, enhance safe sport practices, and amplify the role of athletes in decision making.

• The Government of Canada has made significant investments in safety in sport since 2018–19:
o Budget 2019 identified $30 million over five years (2019–24) to enable Canadian sport organizations to promote accessible, ethical, equitable and safe sport. Approximately $18.5 million has been invested in individual national-level sport organizations to ensure that they are 1-Taking all necessary measures to create a workplace free from harassment, abuse or discrimination of any kind; 2- Making provisions for access to an independent third party to address harassment and abuse cases; and 3-Providing mandatory training on harassment and abuse to their members.
o Budget 2022 identified $16 million over three years (2022–25) to be invested in the establishment of the Abuse-Free Sport program, including the Office of the Sport Integrity Commissioner.
o Budget 2023 also identified $13.8 million to enhance accountability and support efforts to build a safe and accountable sport system.
• Sport Canada supported the Coaching Association of Canada to host a series of nationwide consultations on the development of a 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 (UCCMS), 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. The UCCMS covers the areas of 1-Psychological Maltreatment (e.g. verbal acts, non-assaultive physical acts and acts that deny attention or support; 2-Physical Maltreatment (e.g., contact or non-contact behaviours that have the potential to cause physical harm, such as malnutrition); 3-Sexual Maltreatment (e.g., Criminal Code Offences of sexual assault, sexual exploitation, sexual interference, etc.); and 4-Neglect (e.g., not providing an athlete recovery time and/or treatment for a sport injury, not being aware of and not considering an individual’s physical or intellectual disability, etc.).
• Through a contribution from Sport Canada, the Sport Information Resource Centre contracted McLaren Global Sport Solutions to do independent analysis of the national and international safe sport landscape and the development of recommendations on the most effective means to establish and deliver an independent mechanism for administering the implementation of the UCCMS.
• Based on the findings of the McLaren report, as well as additional input from the sport community, Sport Canada established the essential structure, roles, processes, and services that must be in place to effectively administer the UCCMS and launched a call for applications to identify a Canadian organization that could deliver those essential elements and services for federally funded organizations. Proposals were reviewed and recommendations made by a committee of representatives of Canadian sport and experts in prevention of abuse.
• In July 2021, the Minister of Canadian Heritage announced that the Sport Dispute Resolution Centre of Canada (SDRCC) had been selected to establish and deliver the independent mechanism, to be called the Office of the Sport Integrity Commissioner (OSIC),
• On April 5, 2022, the SDRCC announced that Sarah-Ève Pelletier, former national team artistic swimmer, member of the Quebec Bar and accredited civil mediator, was Canada’s first Sport Integrity Commissioner. On June 20, 2022, the OSIC launched its first phase of operations.
• The Minister of Sport made becoming a Program Signatory to the Abuse-Free Sport program, including access to the services of the OSIC, mandatory for all national-level national sport organizations in order to receive funding in 2023-24.
• Given the shared jurisdiction for sport between the federal government at the national level and the Provinces/Territories at the provincial and community level, there is a need for a collective response across the sport system. In February 2019, the Conference of Federal, Provincial, and Territorial Ministers Responsible for Sport, Physical Activity, and Recreation endorsed the Red Deer Declaration for the Prevention of Harassment, Abuse and Discrimination in Sport with agreement to develop a collaborative approach to increase awareness, prevention, identifying and reporting, and monitoring to address harassment, abuse, and discrimination in sport. At their meeting in February 2023, Ministers across the country agreed to work together to have all athletes and participants in Canada protected by an independent third-party mechanism in 2023.
• In June 2022, the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage began their study on “Safe Sport in Canada”. In November 2022, the Standing Committee on the Status of Women began another study on “Women and Girls in Sport”. The Minister of Sport and Sport Canada officials have appeared before both committees. The reports from the two Committees are expected soon.
• In response to the crisis in the Canadian sport system, many individuals and groups have called on the federal government to launch an independent judicial inquiry into reports of sexual, physical, and psychological abuse of athletes in Canada, including:
o Gymnasts for Change Canada wrote to the Prime Minister and the Minister of Sport on several occasions in 2022 and have repeated their call in 2023 during their appearances in front of both Parliamentary Committees studying these issues.
o On January 23, 2023, a group called Scholars Against Abuse in Canadian Sport made up of 91 members, across 30 Canadian and 17 international institutions, repeated the call.
o The former Minister of Science and Sport has called for judicial inquiry through both social media and, as recently as March 3, 2023, in an opinion piece in the Globe and Mail.
o On March 22, 2023, Fencing for Change Canada, representing over 50 current and former Canadian fencers at various levels of the sport, published an open letter on the Global Athlete Web site also calling for an independent judicial inquiry.
o On April 27, 2023, Figure Skating for Change Canada, representing over 50 current and former Canadian skaters (as of May 1) at various levels of the sport, published an open letter on their social media account also calling for an independent judicial inquiry.
o On May 4, 2023, Global Athlete wrote to the Minister of Sport and published their own open letter to the Minister calling for an independent judicial inquiry.

• On May 11, 2023, the Minister announced new actions that the Government of Canada is taking to improve governance of federally funded sport organizations, enhance safe sport practices, and amplify the role of athletes in decision making. Specific measures were announced in the areas of governance, the establishment of Sport Canada’s Compliance and Accountability Unit, non-disclosure agreements, the prioritization of the athlete voice in the sport system, maltreatment education and prevention, standards and the certification of coaches, a public registry of sanctions, the Abuse-Free Sport program, and the nomination process for the Board of Directors of the Sport Dispute Resolution Centre of Canada.

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