Pascale St-Onge says non-disclosure agreements go against the principle of safe sport.
Canada’s sports minister was responding to concerns from bobsleigh and skeleton athletes about a non-disclosure clause in their athlete agreement for the coming season.
Bobsleigh Canada Skeleton and Boxing Canada are among the national sporting organizations that have NDAs in their agreements.
Signed agreements are mandatory if athletes wish to compete and receive funding from Sport Canada.
St-Onge told The Canadian Press that the silence in sport must be broken and she expects all national sport organizations to be actively involved.
AthletesCAN, the association representing Canadian athletes, wrote a template for athlete agreements in 2019 that does not include a non-disparagement clause, and the template has been adopted by numerous sports, including Water Polo Canada, Athletics Canada, Gymnastics Canada, and Canada Snowboard.
Canada basketball is also among the sports that do not have an NDA for athletes.
AthletesCAN, which wrote the template with support from Sport Canada, aims to achieve 100 percent adoption by national sports organizations by 2022. That didn’t happen.
CLOCK | Athletes describe the toxic culture at Bobsleigh Canada Skeleton:
Athletes describe toxic culture at Bobsleigh Canada Skeleton
Canadian bobsleigh and skeleton athletes are calling for the resignation of two top officials at Bobsleigh Canada Skeleton after problems with the organization’s handling of safety concerns and complaints.
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