Question Period Note: Violence in sport

The Government of Canada continues to assume a leadership role to ensure safety and security for all participants in sport.

• Harmful and intentional physical acts of violence have no place in sport.
• It is imperative that sport organizations have prevention measures in place, specifically addressing the rules of the game, training methods and behaviours.
• The safety and security of athletes, coaches and officials is a top priority for the Government of Canada. Our government will continue to work with the sport community to address these issues.

• From 2013 to 2016, Sport Canada co-chaired a Safety in Combative Sport Working Group with the government of Quebec, which examined issues related to provincial and territorial jurisdictions’ response to the amendments to Section 83 of the Criminal Code with a view to prepare recommendations for Pan-Canadian standards in combative sports.
• In 2016, Ministers responsible for sport, physical activity, and recreation approved: 1) the creation of a Committee of Canadian Athletic Sport Commissions to facilitate communication and cooperation; 2) the implementation of pan-Canadian standards and the supervision of professional combat sports in each province and territory. They also endorsed the proposed amendments to section 83 of the Criminal Code relating to Prize Fights.
• Recent case law related to violence in sport has indicated that sport is no longer immune from legal actions and criminal ruling. Players, coaches, administrators, and spectators are exposed to sanctions for violent behaviours in the same manner that they would outside of a sport context.
• On June 3, 2019, the Standing Committee on Health tabled the 24th Report on the Subcommittee on Sports-Related Concussions in Canada’s study, entitled Tackling the Problem Head-on: Sports-Related Concussions in Canada, in the House of Commons. The report contains thirteen recommendations calling on the Government of Canada to continue to act in the areas of research, awareness, prevention, detection, management, and surveillance. The Federal government’s response was presented to the House on June 23, 2021.
• Recommendation 13 of the Subcommittee’s report asks that the Government of Canada work with the sport community to ensure a cultural shift on safety in sport, specifically by focusing work on the prevention of concussions through rules of the game; training methods; and behaviors of participants, coaches, officials, administrators, medical support personnel and parents. The scope would include work in the area or prevention of violence-related behaviors in sport.
• The federal Budget 2019 provided $30 million over five years to enable Canadian sport organizations to promote safety and integrity in sport. This funding supports policy development and prevention management initiatives in the areas of concussions, harassment and abuse, and anti-doping.
• The Government of Canada ensures that all sport organizations eligible for funding support have concussion, harassment and abuse, and doping policies in place.
• Sport Canada, together with the government of Saskatchewan, co-chairs the federal-provincial-territorial Workgroup on Ethics, Safety, and Integrity in Sport and prepares recommendations for consideration by ministers on safety-related matters. The sport community, provinces and territories are well represented on this committee. The issue of violence would fall under the purview of this workgroup.
• On August 5 and 6, 2022, Ministers responsible for sport, physical activity and recreation gathered for the 2022 Federal, Provincial and Territorial conference. The ministers assessed the progress made since the 2019 Red Deer Declaration to make sport safer, and discussed next steps towards the prevention of abuse, harassment, sexual violence and discrimination.
• Ministers recognized the necessity in ensuring that Canadians can participate in sport free from harassment, abuse, sexual violence and discrimination and that safe sport is a collective responsibility.
• They are demanding a culture change in sport and issued a call to action to leaders across all levels of the sport sector, urging them to address systemic issues and to demonstrate accountability by providing an environment that is free from maltreatment and abuse.
• Ministers have agreed to work towards establishing an independent third-party authority in their jurisdiction, including processes for the reporting and resolution of maltreatment allegations for sport organizations funded by a federal, provincial, or territorial government in 2023. Jurisdictions may choose to use the Office of the Sport Integrity Commissioner as their independent third party, or another entity.
• Ministers also committed to collaborate with the sport sector and athletes to evaluate the possibility of implementing education and training on anti-harassment and anti-abuse specifically for athletes, to include training on peer-to-peer relationships.

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