Question Period Note: Federal Budget 2022

Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister tabled the 2022 Federal Budget on April 7, 2022.

• Budget 2021 provided a record total of over $1.9 billion in new supports to the culture, heritage, sport and official languages sectors, many of which are still being rolled out.
• Budget 2022 builds on these supports with new funding for Canada’s sport system. It features investments of $16 million over three years for the Sport Dispute Resolution Centre of Canada to implement the new Independent Safe Sport Mechanism. This funding will also ensure national sport policies and practices reduce the risk of harassment, abuse and discrimination and create a safer, more inclusive sport system.
• Our government is also proposing to provide $1.8 million in ongoing funding starting in 2022-23 to Special Olympics Canada.
• This investment will build on our previous $16 million investment in Budget 2018 to help over 45,000 children, youth and adults with intellectual disabilities in Canada to enrich their lives through sport.

• Background on Funding for Special Olympics Canada
o Special Olympics Canada (SOC) is the leading sport organization for persons with intellectual disabilities.
o This funding will allow Special Olympics Canada to maintain and build on progress being made for persons with intellectual disabilities. This funding will support more than 45,000 children, youth, and adults in Canada through its strong network of 21,000 volunteers.
o The Budget 2022 investment of $1.8M per year starting in 2022-23 represents a renewal of sunsetting funding of $16M from Budget 2018. Budget 2018 provided incremental annual funding to SOC to support the continued growth and on-going delivery of community-based sport programs for athletes with an intellectual disability. This incremental funding was provided over a four-year period and was sunsetting at the end of 2021-2022.
• Background on Safer Sport and the Sport Dispute Resolution Centre of Canada
o Clear evidence has been brought forward in recent years of a history of abuse and unsafe environments in Canadian competitive sport. While some investments have been made to address the issue, these unsafe environments continue today.
o Athletes and Canadian sport organizations have called for urgent action to establish an independent safe sport mechanism to receive and respond to allegations of maltreatment.
o The Sport Dispute Resolution Centre of Canada (SDRCC) is a not-for-profit corporation created by federal legislation and funded by the Government of Canada. The mission of the SDRCC is to provide the sport community with a national alternative dispute resolution service and strengthen the culture of fairness in Canadian sport. In July 2021, the SDRCC was selected by the Government of Canada to implement an independent safe sport mechanism at the national level.
o On April 5, 2022, the SDRCC announced Ms. Sarah-Ève Pelletier as Canada’s first Sport Integrity Commissioner. The intent is to gradually make it mandatory for all federally funded organizations to use the Sport Integrity Commissioner as their independent third party to receive and manage allegations related to unsafe sport environments.
o Budget 2022 proposes to provide $16 million over three years, starting in 2022-23, to PCH, to support actions to create a safer sport system. This will include funding for the SDRCC for the implementation of the new Independent Safe Sport Mechanism, and funding to ensure national sport policies and practices reduce the risk of harassment, abuse, and discrimination and create a safer and more inclusive sport system.

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