Sports minister expects wave of complaints for new commissioner

Canada’s sport minister expects a wave of complaints when the new Office of the Sport Integrity Commissioner begins its mandate later this month.

The country’s first Sport Integrity Commissioner, Sarah-Ève Pelletier, will begin receiving and processing complaints on June 20.

The US Center for SafeSport, established in 2017, said it received 5,000 reports and disciplined more than 600 people in its first three years of operation.

In Pascale St-Onge’s first five months as Canada’s sport minister, allegations of mistreatment, sexual abuse or embezzlement have been brought against at least eight national sports organizations in what she called ” crisis “.

St-Onge established the Office of the Sports Integrity Commissioner (BCIS) as an independent entity to investigate reports of abuse.

“We also anticipate a retroactive effect,” St-Onge told The Canadian Press. I know there are going to be a lot of phone calls just because of the stories we’ve heard over the past few weeks and months.

“I am truly shaken by the stories we have heard,” said the Minister.

“I’m happy because we’re going to have an independent mechanism,” she added. I know the first few years are going to be difficult, but what I hope is that we can have a future where athletes, as soon as situations arise, they know (who) they can turn to, so that we can intervene as quickly as possible. »

Resource

This year’s federal budget provided $16 million to fund OSIC’s operations in its first three years.

Sport Canada already contributes more than $1 million a year to the Sport Dispute Resolution Center of Canada (SDRCC), which provides arbitration and mediation services to resolve disputes.

By comparison, the Center for SafeSport’s funding envelope in the United States in 2020 was US$18.2 million, with the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee contributing US$11.5 million.

“We will closely monitor how things unfold, if the resources are sufficient,” promised St-Onge. We already fund the SDRCC. That extra $16 million over the next three years, we’ll see how it goes.

“This new mechanism is for me an absolute priority, that it is effective. »

All national sports organizations will be bound by a universal code of conduct. St-Onge says she met with the National Sport Organization (NSO) about safe sport.

“They all know this is a real big deal, that I’m not going to continue to tolerate the situations and the stories that we’ve heard,” continued the minister.

“They all know that we are working on a culture change, that they have to be part of it. We’re going to raise the bar of what we expect of them, how they should prevent these situations from happening. »

Basketball Canada Campaign

St-Onge is supporting Basketball Canada’s Learn About The Signs Safe Sport campaign announced Thursday in Ottawa at a Canadian Elite Basketball League game between the BlackJacks and the Scarborough Shooting Stars. The Minister attended the game.

The campaign, funded by Sport Canada, includes an ad dramatizing toxic behavior.

“We can’t be in every gym in this country, but we can hold every gym accountable,” Basketball Canada chief executive Michael Bartlett said.

“Our job must be to use our megaphone, our platform, our marketing power, our resources, to collectively bring the attention of the basketball community to what is acceptable and what is not, so that they have the power to speak out against unacceptable behavior and have the tools and resources at their disposal to know what to do in these situations.

“We do this because it is our job to take the lead in sharing and promoting what is right and wrong. »

Bartlett is set for the ad campaign whose goal is to potentially inspire people to report cases of child abuse and abuse in the sport of basketball.

“It’s a good sign that such a big organization like Basketball Canada is going to do something around this theme,” St-Onge said. In light of the latest stories we’ve heard, one of the problems with the sport system is the culture of silence.

“People have remained silent in the face of these situations. Talking about it is a really important first step. »

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