Athlete Groups call on the Minister of Sport to support a national judicial inquiry

4 May 2023

Dear Minister St-Onge,

During Question Period on April 28, 2023, you stated that your office will be announcing an “investigation” process in the coming weeks to address the ongoing abuse crisis in Canadian sport. As a collective, we are astonished that you are skirting athletes’ calls for a national inquiry. As you are aware, an “investigation” and a national inquiry are two very different mechanisms for addressing the human rights violations and child abuse in Canadian sport. Investigations are focused on incidents and conducted behind closed doors. An inquiry is focused on evaluating the efficacy of an entire system in an open and transparent manner. Given these differences, we have grave concerns about your forthcoming actions.

Athlete survivors, sport stakeholders, athlete advocates, child and human rights advocates, and academics have repeatedly called for a national inquiry to address the abuse crisis in the Canadian sport system. The ask is very clear: A national inquiry into abuse in sport be conducted pursuant to Part 1 of the Inquiries Act and be scoped with input from survivor groups, involve both public hearings and in-camera testimony, be trauma-informed, and scrutinize the existing sport system structures, including organizations above the NSO level, such as Own the Podium, Sport Canada, AthletesCAN, and the Canadian Olympic and Paralympic Committees (including their foundations). Anything less will be insufficient to evaluate the current system and develop meaningful solutions to this crisis.

Assuming you have watched the impactful testimonies given at the Standing Committees on the Status of Women and Canadian Heritage, we are perplexed by your recent suggestion, which ignores the overwhelming calls of survivors, allies, and experts for a national inquiry, and instead suggests a lesser investigatory mechanism will be implemented.

Your ongoing silence, and the fact you have yet to engage survivor-led advocacy groups about what your process may entail, continues to affect the very community whose trust you have yet to gain. We are alarmed that none of the organizations representing thousands of athlete survivors, such as Global Athlete, Gymnasts for Change Canada, Figure Skating for Change Canada, or Fencing for Change Canada have been consulted about this process or even notified that it was in development.

Instead, survivors now face a nebulous investigatory mechanism, developed behind closed doors, without clear statutory foundation, established contrary to the very clear calls for a national inquiry. This is the antithesis of a trauma-informed approach and undermines any goodwill between your office and the athlete survivor community. The foundation for any announcement should be engagement with the survivors calling for an inquiry; sadly, they continue to be ignored.

Today, we call on you to course-correct, to demonstrate your clear and unwavering support for abused children and athletes, and to uphold your duties as Minister to address the present human rights crisis facing the sport system. We ask you to stand with survivors and truly listen to their voices. We ask you to use your power to courageously support the call for a national inquiry and devote all efforts to achieving that objective.

Anything less is a disservice to every brave survivor who has come forward to date to help end abuse in Canadian sport for future generations.

Sincerely,

Gymnasts for Change Canada, Figure Skating for Change Canada, Fencing for Change Canada, Soccer for Change Canada, Scholars Against Abuse in Canadian Sport and Global Athlete