Liberal MP Kirsty Duncan has again called for an inquiry into Canada's safe sport crisis. Duncan spoke before the standing committee on Canadian Heritage, outlining seven steps she believes would help national sports organizations keep their athletes safe. Duncan rises during Question Period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Thursday, March 1, 2018. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang
OTTAWA – Liberal MP Kirsty Duncan has again called for an inquiry into Canada’s safe sport crisis.
Duncan spoke before the standing committee on Canadian Heritage on Thursday, making seven recommendations on the scope of a potential inquiry. She was the feature witness in the latest session of a yearlong parliamentary examination of toxic and abusive culture in high-performance sport.
“The time is now for a national public inquiry,” said Duncan, who served as Minister of Science and Sport from 2015 to 2019. “If Canada gets it right, we can better protect our athletes, we can also be a catalyst for a long overdue global conversation on athlete health, safety and well-being.”
Sport Canada is overseen by the federal Heritage Ministry.
Parliamentary hearings began last year after media reports that Hockey Canada had paid out a substantial legal settlement after eight members of its 2018 men’s world junior team allegedly sexually assaulted a woman.
Hockey Canada and other national sports organizations, including Gymnastics Canada, Boxing Canada, and Bobsleigh Canada Skeleton, have had significant turnover in their leadership over the past year due to toxic and abusive cultures.
Duncan argued on Thursday that the government should have an independent, comprehensive inquiry focused on the health, safety and well-being of athletes. She said that the inquiry should be trauma informed, and survivors must be fully empowered to speak plainly.
Her third recommendation was that the inquiry should examine the spoken and unspoken rules of each sport and also investigate the power differentials that exist on organizational and personal levels.
Duncan’s next recommendation was for Sport Canada’s safe sport measures and compliance instruments to be examined. In a similar vein, her fifth recommendation was for the inquiry to investigate the governance, accountability and finances of all NSOs as well as how sport leaders circulated between different organizations.
Her sixth recommendation was that the inquiry review data on all forms of abuse in sport on a sport-by-sport basis.
“My last and most important recommendation is that a thorough investigation be undertaken about whether cases of abuse were effectively resolved, were perpetrators removed from the system, or were passive enablers in place who protected the sport and the organization over the protection of young people,” she said.
Duncan announced on Jan. 26 that she would be taking a medical leave, but remain as member of Parliament for Etobicoke North, a riding in Toronto’s west end. She called for an inquiry into Canada’s safe sport crisis the next day.
Heritage Committee vice-chair Kevin Waugh said Thursday that it took a lot of courage for Duncan to testify in person instead of by video conference. Duncan, who wore a purple head scarf during her testimony, addressed those living with cancer at the end of her opening remarks.
“Know that you’re not alone and that I stand with you,” she said. “I am grateful for the life-saving medicine, science, and compassionate and excellent care of our health-care professionals.”
Sail Canada’s CEO Don Adams and Wendy Smith, the chair of the board for Gymnastics Canada, also testified on Thursday. Gymnastics Canada is currently without a chief executive officer.
Several members of the committee noted that Gymnastics Canada has had the most complaints levelled against it of all of Canada’s national sport organizations. Waugh told Smith that although she’s new to the role, she needs to be better prepared for her next appearance before the committee.
“I think it’s fair to say that we have been very disappointed with the lack of transparency so far, and the lack of responses to legitimate questions that are being asked,” said New Democrat Peter Julian, agreeing with Waugh. “And this comes from all members of this committee, we want (…) to see the organization change.”
Adams was taken to task by the committee over the firing of coach Lisa Ross. The two-time Olympian was dismissed by Sail Canada nine days after she had told its leadership that she was pregnant.
Ross was the only woman on Sail Canada’s technical staff of a high-performance director and coaches. Since her dismissal, Rosie Chapman was hired on a contract basis.
– By John Chidley-Hill in Toronto.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 15, 2023.
