COC states support for national safe-sport inquiry as national fencing execs grilled in Ottawa
CBC
Canadian Fencing Federation executives were the latest sport leaders called on the carpet by a parliamentary committee to answer for its safe sport record, while the Canadian Olympic Committee's chief executive officer stated his support for a national inquiry.
Members of Parliament grilled CFF president Yann Bernard in Ottawa on Thursday because some athletes have alleged a longstanding toxic, bullying and abusive environment.
COC chief executive officer David Shoemaker was also among witnesses questioned by MPs.
He joined a chorus of voices from the sports community in supporting a national inquiry into safe sport.
"I deeply believe that sport, when done right, is an incredible force for good," Shoemaker said Thursday. "An unsafe sport system is an unacceptable sports system.
"I do think that an inquiry that hears survivors and is trauma-informed should happen. I'm glad Minister St-Onge has committed to one."
The recent avalanche of athlete complaints about maltreatment and abuse, including sexual abuse, in their sports has thrown Canadian high-performance sport into turmoil.
Tearful athletes across several sports have testified at both Heritage and Status of Women committee hearings about the abuse and harassment they experienced from coaches and other team personnel, how those in power turned a blind eye to it, and their fear of repercussions if they complained.
The fencing federation follows Hockey Canada, Canada Soccer and Gymnastics Canada, which have been questioned by MPs in recent months about personnel and financial decisions and also how they handle misconduct.
WATCH | Canada soccer execs questioned over treatment of women's team:
Former fencer Emily Mason of Vancouver told committee MPs on April 24 that she was a "broken individual" when she left the sport at age 17.
"Again and again, we have also heard that survivors are afraid," Mason said during her April testimony.
"They are afraid that if they come forward they will face not only personal retribution from their abusers but also the risk of losing their national team spots.
"This is because under the current CFF selection policy, national members may be chosen by majority vote of CFF officials and staff rather than by results or official rankings."
Canada's Kevin Drury battled his way to a gold medal that left him in tears at a World Cup ski cross event on Friday in Val Thorens, France.
Soccer fans have accused FIFA of a "monumental betrayal" after latest prices for World Cup tickets began to circulate on Thursday.
NHL commissioner Gary Bettman is “disappointed” that the main arena slated to host ice hockey at February’s Olympics isn’t yet completed with less than two months to go before the Games are scheduled to be played.
A two-year suspension from competitive swimming has forced Penny Oleksiak to answer questions about drug use, train by herself in public pools and defend her legacy as Canada’s most decorated female Olympian.
Hockey, one of the premier events at the Winter Olympics and one that is welcoming NHL players back for the first time in more than a decade, will take place on ice shorter than NHL-regulation size.
Summer McIntosh capped swimming’s U.S. Open with the event record in the women’s 200-metre butterfly on Saturday in Austin, Texas.
Some bronze medals are worth their weight in gold. Valerie Grenier's third-place finish in women's giant slalom at the Mont-Tremblant World Cup certainly fits that category.
The men’s World Cup draw in Washington D.C. was going well for Canada until Pot 4.
The draw for the 2026 World Cup takes place Friday at 12 p.m. ET at the Kennedy Center in Washington, for the purpose of dividing the 48-team field into 12 groups of four. Once the tournament starts, 32 teams will advance from those preliminary groups to the single-elimination knockout rounds.
The Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., buzzed with activity and speculation on Thursday in advance of Friday’s all-important draw for the 2026 men’s World Cup.
By the time the management group for the Canadian men’s national hockey team emerges from marathon meetings on Tuesday, as much as 80 per cent of the roster going to Italy next February should be written in pen.
Canada’s ski mountaineering athletes have their Olympic dreams on the line this weekend at a World Cup event in Solitude, Utah.
Goalie Carter Hart, one of five 2018 Canada world junior hockey players acquitted of sexual assault in July, will make his first NHL appearance in nearly two years when he starts in goal Tuesday night for the Vegas Golden Knights, who host Chicago.