Numbers belie Scouts’ optimism
The chief commissioner of Scouts Canada said in an interview last month that the embattled organization was “alive and well and growing,” despite intense scrutiny over its handling of cases of suspected child abuse.
Stephen Kent said while he expected membership numbers to level off this year, “we’ve been able to turn the ship around.”
Hours after making those comments to Postmedia News, Kent sent an email to local Scouts Canada council commissioners that projected a less-enthusiastic tone.
“It’s with a heavy heart that I write this email,” the Oct. 19 message began. Kent then went on to describe how preliminary year-end data showed that membership had declined in all but four of the organization’s 20 local councils — a loss of almost 5,000 members.
“Unfortunately, after three years of growth for the first time in over thirty years, it appears that Scouting in Canada didn’t grow in 2011-2012,” he wrote. “The numbers appear flat.”
Kent attributed the membership declines in the email to a number of things, including the replacement of an old records-management system to a new one. There had been “considerable” duplication of numbers in the past, he wrote.
“We could blame CBC. We could blame school boards.
“We could blame changes in executive leadership,” he said.
“I don’t accept any excuses. And I take responsibility for the performance of our Councils.”
Last year, a CBC News investigation revealed that Scout leaders had abused more than 300 children since the 1940s and that Scouts Canada kept a confidential list of pedophiles who had been barred from the organization.
That prompted an apology in December by the organization to former scouts who had been abused by volunteer leaders.