Sports Minister Pascale St-Onge speaks during Question Time in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill on February 10.BLAIR GABLE/Reuters
Ottawa is earmarking $16 million in Thursday’s federal budget to fund the newly formed Office of the Sports Integrity Commissioner, created to address serious complaints of abuse and mistreatment in sports.
Funding will be spread over the next three years, a government source said. The Globe and Mail does not identify the source because they were not authorized to speak publicly.
The office, which was inaugurated this week, is overseen by the Sport Dispute Resolution Center of Canada (SDRCC), which was selected by the government last summer to set up a new mechanism to ensure safety in amateur sport.
On Tuesday, the SDRCC announced that Sarah-Ève Pelletier, a lawyer and former national team synchronized swimmer, had been appointed as the country’s first sports integrity officer.
Former synchronized swimmer named first Sports Integrity Officer in Canada
The bureau is expected to begin operations this spring, serving as an independent investigator into abuse and mistreatment at various levels of sport. Prior to its inception, athletes in Canada raised the alarm about a lack of independent investigations into allegations of physical, mental and sexual abuse, while several programs, such as alpine skiing and gymnastics, were rocked by allegations of sexual assault involving coaches.
Previously, Canada’s more than 60 national sports organizations could effectively monitor complaints within their own ranks and appoint their own investigators to handle cases. Athletes, including several prominent Olympians, said this created a system stacked against them. Many were afraid to speak out for fear of punishment or damage to their careers.
In January, Sports Minister Pascale St-Onge said she would make the mechanism mandatory for all national sport organizations. Last week she said she will make it available at the provincial and territorial levels as well.
Athletes in various sports are speaking out about abuse, including past and present members of Canada’s synchronized swimming, gymnastics, bobsleigh and skeleton programs. Ms St-Onge said she had heard allegations of abuse relating to eight organizations in the first six months of her tenure. The Globe has learned the list also includes rowing, rugby, athletics, curling and wrestling.
When SDRCC was selected last summer to oversee the new independent Safe Sport Office, the government said it would provide up to $2.1 million in funding. The source said the $16 million in this week’s budget adds to that amount.
It is still unclear how much the new office will need to operate. Canada’s national sports organizations will also be expected to contribute funding, but will have no control over how investigations are conducted or their outcomes.
The minister admitted in an interview that she expects the new office will face a backlog of complaints that will need to be decided when it begins operations.
With an account by Robert Fife
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