Gymnasts for Change Canada Responds to Future of Sport in Canada Commission

11 December 2023: Gymnasts for Change Canada and Global Athlete acknowledge today’s announcement by the Minister of Sport to establish a ‘Future of Sport in Canada Commission’ to review the Canadian sport system. 

We are disappointed the Minister did not support survivors’ and advocates' calls for a National Inquiry that meets judicial standards with the power to compel documents, and subpoena testimony from organizations. We are concerned that these are critical shortcomings in this review that may prevent robust and meaningful outcomes. 

Today’s announcement, however, does send a clear message to all people in sport that the government has recognized that the Canadian sport system is broken and needs repair. This announcement is a direct result of the public pressure applied by courageous survivors, advocates, scholars, and media who are committed to exposing the truth. Their input now, and moving forward, is crucial for the support and success of this review mechanism. 

We intend to continue advocating to ensure this newly announced review is robust, completely independent from sport actors, who created the current failing system, and scrutinizes leading sport organizations and funding bodies. 

For almost two years, we have called for a national inquiry into the Canadian sport system. While child abuse and violations of athletes’ human rights underpin our calls, we recognize that abuse and limited justice are symptoms of a larger systemic problem that must be addressed through this review. 

Last week, we met with the Minister of Sport at the United Nations in Geneva for the Sporting Chance Forum. Both the Minister and our organizations agreed that any mechanism for reviewing the system must extend to every corner of the sporting landscape to create robust systemic and cultural change.

While it is unclear whether this review has the breadth and depth to address the entire system, engaging with athletes and advocates to further shape the terms of reference will be critical to getting it right. If there is a refusal to meaningfully engage with those most affected and those who have advocated to bring this review to fruition, there will be skepticism and a cloud of suspicion that it is constructed with pre-determined outcomes. 

The power of engaging with those most affected and most silenced was demonstrated recently at the Canadian Safe Sport Think Tank. Global Athlete and Gymnastics for Change Canada brought together advocates, survivors, former Provincial, National and Olympic-level athletes, coaches, sports administrators, and scholars to engage in a comprehensive examination of the Canadian sport system. The results of this safe and confidential space allowed for open and honest dialogue in order to uncover the true breadth and depth of the problems. Please click here to view the Think Tank report.

If this ‘Future of Sport in Canada Commission’ review is to succeed with radical reform of the Canadian sport system and justify its ask for those most affected by violence in sport to participate, it must be trustworthy, athlete and survivor-centric, and include mechanisms for enforcing recommendations to all government-funded organizations.  This announcement is but a first step towards a safe, accessible, and equitable sport experience for participants, at every level and within every community. The work has only just begun.