Question Period Note: Ongoing federal government activities in response to the sport priorities of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s Calls to Action and the Calls for Justice of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls

The Government of Canada, in collaboration with indigenous partners, is committed to fulfilling the sport-related Calls to Action of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada and the Calls for Justice of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls.

• We are committed to fulfilling the sport-related Calls to Action of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada and the Calls for Justice of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls.
• We are collaborating with key Indigenous partners to fulfill these commitments.
• Recent investments support Indigenous sport programming, leadership, research, as well as sport for social development for women and girls.

• There are five Calls to Action (CTAs) that specifically relate to sport: #87 to #91. Sport Canada is engaged on numerous fronts in responding to these CTAs, and works closely with Indigenous organizations, particularly the Aboriginal Sport Circle (ASC), to ensure the sport-based CTAs are addressed in a manner which respects Indigenous views and reconciliation.
• CTA 87 calls upon all levels of government, in collaboration with Aboriginal peoples, sports halls of fame, and other relevant organizations, to provide public education that tells the national story of Aboriginal athletes in history.
• Sport Canada supports The Tom Longboat Awards program, which honours Indigenous athletes for their outstanding contributions to sport in Canada. The ASC, the national voice for Indigenous sport, is engaging with the Canadian Sport Hall of Fame to continue to promote The Tom Longboat Awards and relevant recognition projects.
• CTA 88 calls upon all levels of government to take action to ensure long-term Aboriginal athlete development and growth and continued support for the North American Indigenous Games, including funding to host the games and for provincial and territorial team preparation and travel.
• CTA 89 calls on the federal government “to amend the Physical Activity and Sport Act”. Discussions with Indigenous sport stakeholders have concluded that this will be a longer term deliverable given that changes to the legislation will require consultation with other federal government departments in collaboration with the ASC. The ongoing work in other areas related to Indigenous sport development will lay the foundation for the future amendment of the Physical Activity and Sport Act.
• CTA 90 calls on the federal government “to ensure that national sports policies, programs, and initiatives are inclusive of Aboriginal peoples”. In response to CTAs 88 and 90, the Government of Canada is investing $18.9 million over five years, starting in fiscal year 2017 to 2018. These funds were earmarked to support Indigenous youth and sport initiatives in the following four areas: Indigenous sport leadership; culturally relevant sport programming; the North American Indigenous Games; and Sport Canada's data and research.
• CTA 91 calls upon the officials and host countries of international sporting events such as the Olympics, Pan Am, and Commonwealth games to ensure that Indigenous peoples' territorial protocols are respected, and local Indigenous communities are engaged in all aspects of planning and participating in such events.
• Sport Canada has included CTA 91 in documents shared with bid and host organizations and other stakeholders that are responsible for developing or supporting major sport event bids.
• Sport Canada is also coordinating the development of a national bidding and hosting framework for major sport events. This work involves leading provincial and territorial governments, as well as other major event stakeholders in reviewing best practices, lessons learned and strategies for future major sport events in Canada.
• In addition to the sport-specific CTAs, Sport Canada also delivers the Sport for Social Development in Indigenous Communities (SSDIC) initiative, which it launched in 2019 expressly to help address the social development CTAs, i.e., CTA 7: eliminate educational and employment gaps between Aboriginal and non Aboriginal Canadians; CTA 19: identify and close the gaps in health outcomes between Aboriginal and non Aboriginal communities; and CTA 38: eliminate the over representation of Aboriginal youth in custody.
• Through Budget 2018, the Government of Canada invested $47.5 million over five years, and $9.5 million per year ongoing, to expand the use of sport for social development in more than 300 Indigenous communities.
• The announcement resulted in the May 31, 2019, launch of the SSDIC component of the Sport Support Program, delivered by the Sport Canada branch. Drawing from these CTAs of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, the four intended outcomes of the SSDIC component are: improved health, educational and employment outcomes, and reduction of at-risk behaviours.
• Most recently, Budget 2021 proposed to provide $14.3 million over five years, beginning in 2021-22, and $2.9 million ongoing, to ensure that Indigenous women and girls have access to meaningful sport activities through the SSDIC component.

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