Sports Minister Pascale St-Onge rises during Question Time on Tuesday January 31, 2023 in Ottawa. St-Onge is urging her provincial and territorial counterparts to set up independent bodies to handle athlete harassment complaints by the end of this year. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian WyldAdrian Wyld
Federal Sports Minister Pascale St-Onge is urging her provincial and territorial counterparts to set up independent bodies by the end of this year to handle harassment complaints from athletes.
“All governments will work together to protect every athlete and competitor in Canada through an independent mechanism with a goal of achieving this by the end of 2023,” St-Onge told reporters on Saturday.
In recent weeks, Ottawa has said provinces and territories are making strides in offering athletes an equivalent standard for reporting abuse or harassment and having those complaints independently investigated.
St-Onge said that as of Saturday, Quebec, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia have such mechanisms in place, while the rest can either set up their own bodies or join the jurisdiction of the Federal Commissioner for Sport Integrity.
She announced Saturday a goal for all provinces and territories to deliver on that promise by the end of this year.
St-Onge argued that a focused timeline represented “huge progress” in taking a unified approach to the problem, stressing that it would take time to get a credible reporting body up and running.
“We understand that all jurisdictions have their own processes, their own budgetary agenda and timetable, which we must respect. But that doesn’t mean we don’t take the safety of athletes, children, youth and young adults across the country seriously,” she said.
St-Onge was speaking after meeting her colleagues from the provinces and territories on the sidelines of the Canada Games in Charlottetown, where she said they compared different options for these mechanisms.
Prince Edward Island Health Secretary Ernie Hudson, who hosted the meeting, told reporters the aim is to “eliminate the bad guys from sport” across Canada.
“This is in no hurry – for us or anyone else – to get it done. It’s a rush to get it right,” he said.
“Only through a pan-Canadian approach can we help ensure that sport is a true force for good in our nation, for athletes of every level, ability and age group,” he said.
Recent allegations of abuse and harassment related to Hockey Canada — as well as from athletes in the sports of bobsleigh, skeleton and gymnastics — have led to what St-Onge has called a crisis.
She told a parliamentary committee this month that part of the problem stems from a lack of consistency in how complaints are handled across the country.
“It is important that we have consistency in the system. Right now we’re seeing it’s very different,” she told the House Committee on the Status of Women in French last week.
“I don’t give anyone the buck, but the reality is that the sports system touches multiple jurisdictions and I can’t fix that on my own,” she added in English.
Last month, dozens of Canadian and global sports scientists signed a letter calling for a national inquiry to investigate “widespread reports of sexual, physical and psychological abuse of athletes across the country’s sports system.”
These scholars argued that Ottawa’s current plans are insufficient to hold people accountable.
St-Onge said on Saturday that to solve the problem, sports organizations need to make sure people face consequences. Coaches and parents also need to be informed and show leadership, she added.
“It’s really a collective responsibility,” she said in French.
“There is no single person who will be able to change the culture in a sport or completely stop abuse and mistreatment. It’s really a shared responsibility.”
Source: www.theglobeandmail.com
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