The Province

Abuse in athletics `truly breaks my heart'

Sport integrity commission­er Pelletier explains how office will investigat­e complaints

- DAN BARNES dbarnes@postmedia.com

Sarah-Eve Pelletier's office won't start accepting abuse complaints until June 20, but Canada's first sport integrity commission­er has spent the past two weeks laying the groundwork for what she says will be an efficient, compassion­ate, fair and independen­t operation.

“We are working with a sense of urgency because my sense is that results will never come soon enough for those who have been waiting for them,” Pelletier said Wednesday. “We know that once we open our operations, we will need to address every matter as quickly as we can possibly do, and we'll do that. However, we cannot do that by compromisi­ng first off, finalizing and developing right now the best system possible, and then implementi­ng that system come June 20.

“We can't compromise on offering a trauma-informed process to our users, offering something that will be compassion­ate, that will be efficient, as I mentioned around the urgency and time-sensitivit­y, as well as fair for all the parties involved. We're balancing, I would say, those two aspects. But we are working with a sense of urgency.”

The Office of the Sport Integrity Commission­er (OSIC) will operate as a separate division within the Sport Dispute Resolution Centre of Canada.

Starting June 20, it will receive and address individual complaints of violations of the Universal Code of Conduct to Prevent and Address Maltreatme­nt in Sport.

If the office receives broader complaints — Canadian gymnasts and boxers past and present have recently gone public with allegation­s of toxic culture, for instance — the office will have a process in place to address those as well.

“If that's the case, then our office will also look into more systemic and cultural issues by performing something that we call sport environmen­t assessment. We are currently in the developmen­t phases of what that part of our role will entail.”

OSIC investigat­ions will be conducted by a roster of experts retained by the office, but acting independen­tly of it.

One case of maltreatme­nt in sport is too many. Sport shouldn't be about that.

Sarah-Eve Pelletier

That's an important distinctio­n for Pelletier.

“This is one of the key elements of the system, that we built it with independen­ce at its core and for that to be true, the investigat­ions will be performed through experts in their field, and they're going to perform their role independen­tly, they're not going to be staff per se.”

Pelletier's staff currently consists of a director of investigat­ions and a program manager who will help triage complaints.

The staff will grow as necessary, to ensure its efficacy. It has been funded by the federation government, which designated $16 million to it in the most recent budget.

“My team and our office, yes, will make sure that we are prepared to address what's going to come our way and to again, offer our best support, whether it be through mental health referrals or legal aid, we're going to do our best to accompany the complainan­ts every step of our process with resources,” said Pelletier.

She comes to this job with impressive credential­s, including two law degrees, a recent position with the Canadian Olympic Committee and a sporting career as a national team artistic swimmer. She has a clear vision of what success will look like in this new role.

“One case of maltreatme­nt in sport is too many. Sport shouldn't be about that. Speaking from my personal experience, sport should be about experienci­ng joy and growth and self-confidence and lifelong friendship­s. And quite frankly, when I hear that not everyone experience­s the benefits that sport is meant to offer, it truly breaks my heart.

“Success is abuse is eradicated from sport in Canada, also globally. That would be success, and we go back to what sport should be about; experienci­ng those values and benefits that sport has to offer.

“I would say there is a journey to get there. What we will do to get to this is our utmost, very best to create a safe environmen­t for complainan­ts and people in sport to turn to and to help address the concerns that they have.”

 ?? OFFICE OF THE SPORT INTEGRITY COMMISSION­ER ?? Sarah-Eve Pelletier's staff will grow as necessary to ensure its efficacy.
OFFICE OF THE SPORT INTEGRITY COMMISSION­ER Sarah-Eve Pelletier's staff will grow as necessary to ensure its efficacy.

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