Abuse in sport can’t be tolerated

There are so many benefits to participating in sport for youngsters — from fitness and skill development to building confidence and making friends. So it was an unmistakable sign of an extensive problem when a former national team skier said she didn’t want her children involved in any provincial or national sport organization in Canada.

Gail Kelly knew all the good that sport could do. But, tragically, she also knew the terrible harm that can happen when a sport organization does nothing to stop an abuser in its midst.

A year ago, her former coach Bertrand Charest was finally convicted of 37 offences of sexual assault and exploitation against nine young athletes in the 1990s.

Kelly wasn’t safe as an athlete. And she didn’t believe enough had changed to be certain that her kids would be.

On Tuesday, Kirsty Duncan, the minister of sport, took steps to ensure that Canada’s national sport organizations do a better job of protecting today’s athletes than Alpine Canada did for Kelly and her teammates.

“Absolutely no harassment of any kind is acceptable,” Duncan said flatly.

Under Ottawa’s new policies, national sport bodies must immediately disclose any allegations of abuse, harassment or discrimination to the minister’s office. And they must make provisions for an independent third party to investigate allegations of abuse or harassment.

That should help end the shameful practice of a sport body conducting a cursory internal review that results in a coach quietly going on their way. And, potentially, to coach unsuspecting and vulnerable athletes somewhere else.

National sport bodies must also provide mandatory training on harassment and abuse to all their members by April 2020.

The most welcome part of Duncan’s announcement is that complying with these new measures is tied to millions in federal sport funding. As the minister rightly noted: “Money talks.”

The federal government hands out more than $40 million a year to sport bodies. None of it should flow to organizations that aren’t willing to do all they can to ensure their athletes, coaches and staff are able to pursue the benefits and joys of sport free from all forms of abuse and harassment.

The government needs a stick because just requiring new policies is clearly not enough.

We know that because Ottawa has long required federally funded sport bodies to have policies to address harassment and abuse. And that hasn’t been enough to protect all athletes.

And these won’t be enough unless they are truly embraced by organizations at the community sport level all the way up to elite national teams, and diligently enforced.

That’s why provinces also need to step up and ensure the funding they provide lower-level sport groups is tied to strong prevention policies and procedures for dealing with any allegations of abuse and harassment.

Coaches teach their charges, especially the younger ones, not only about sport but life itself. And when athletes get good enough to travel for training and competition – a proud right of passage in the sporting world – coaches are a family away from home.

It’s a position that holds incredible power over an athlete’s present and future, and sport administrators must do more to ensure that trust is never abused.

Kelly and her teammates didn’t have to speak publicly about the abuse they suffered. They wanted to speak out, hoping they could to save others from a similar fate.

Everyone in the sport system has a role to play in making sure that’s the case.