A group of more than 400 Canadian gymnasts are angered by Sport Canada’s response to calls for a third-party investigation into their sport, saying it “detracts and delays any meaningful action”.
Gymnasts for Change Canada — a group that has grown from an initial 70 to nearly 450 active and retired athletes — wrote to Sport Canada late last month asking for an investigation into the sport’s toxic culture and abuse of athletes, many of them minors.
In a letter sent to Sport Canada CEO Vicki Walker on Wednesday, they said their response was “similar to how Gymnastics Canada has been responding to athletes for decades. As the leading sporting authority in Canada, we expect stronger leadership. Instead, we’re left with another Canadian organization that facilitates systemic child abuse and fails to meet its mandatory duty of care.
“Every day that sport doesn’t act is another day of athlete abuse. How many more children need to be abused? How many more will consider suicide or self-harm as a result of this abuse before Sport Canada takes meaningful action?”
Walker’s April 20 letter to the gymnasts commended the athletes for their “courage and resilience to come forward.” She said that since 2018, Sport Canada has introduced new requirements for government-funded organizations, supported the development of the universal code of conduct to prevent and address abuse in sport, and supported the establishment of the first Office of the Sports Integrity Commissioner to manage reports from victims and witnesses .
Sarah-Eve Pelletier, a lawyer and former artistic swimmer, was appointed commissioner on April 6.
The gymnasts’ complaints come amid an outcry from athletes in numerous sports about toxic environments. Bobsleigh and skeleton athletes wrote a similar letter to Sport Canada asking for a third-party investigation and the removal of their CEO and high-performance director. New federal sports minister Pascale St-Onge said she had heard allegations of ill-treatment, sexual abuse or misappropriation of funds made against eight national sports organizations in her first five months in office. St-Onge called the situation “a crisis”.
“We are dismayed at your reluctance to provide at least some insight as to why Sport Canada will not comply with our call for an independent third-party investigation,” the gymnasts wrote Monday. “Instead, you have chosen to deny responsibility entirely, offer information already in the public domain, leave athletes without justice or a reprieve for years of abuse suffered, and NOT offer any hope for a better future.”
The gymnasts said they stand “strong and united” in their call for an independent investigation. They also found that Walker incorrectly addressed her letter to “Global Athlete Gymastic Athletes.”
“There is no such group,” they said.
This report from The Canadian Press was first published on April 27, 2022.
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