Trudeau government dropped the ball on fighting abuse in sport, former minister says
CBC
A Liberal MP and former sport minister is again calling for a public inquiry into abuse in sport — and is accusing her own government of not doing enough to tackle the problem.
Kirsty Duncan said the government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau failed to build momentum behind her efforts to prevent harassment, abuse and discrimination in sport in the years after she left cabinet — despite knowing a lot about the problem well before Hockey Canada's handling of sexual assault allegations exploded in the news last year.
Duncan said she even faced "pushback" from people within her own government when she made tackling abuse a top priority of her time as sport minister.
Duncan said she would not identify the individuals who resisted her efforts, or state whether they were in her own office or other government departments.
"It should not be a fight. I'm asking for the protection of athletes and children. There should never have been pushback," Duncan told CBC News in an exclusive interview.
"I will not stand idly by while there are athletes, children and young people hurting in this country. And I do not accept the status quo. And if I do not push for an inquiry, it means accepting the status quo. And I will not be complicit."
On Thursday, Duncan announced she's taking medical leave effective immediately on the advice of doctors to deal with a physical health challenge.
Duncan was not re-appointed to cabinet by Trudeau after the 2019 election. She was instead appointed deputy House leader for the government.
Trudeau dropped the position of sport minister from cabinet at the time and folded Duncan's responsibilities into the portfolio of the heritage minister, Steven Guilbeault.
Guilbeault's ministerial mandate letter — which outlined his key policy objectives — charged him with fostering a culture of safe sport.
In response to questions from CBC about the progress Guilbeault made on that mandate, his office pointed to a Sport Canada timeline of safe sport initiatives in the country.
The department launched a call for proposals to implement a new independent safe sport mechanism in 2020. That led to Guilbeault announcing a new Sport Dispute Resolution Centre of Canada in July 2021 — his first significant safe sport announcement as minister.
A senior government source with knowledge of Guilbeault's portfolio concedes "other priorities required more attention" when he was heritage minister. Guilbeault's legislative priorities at the time including confronting online abuse, digital streaming regulation and copyright reform.
The source, who spoke to CBC News on the condition of confidentiality, said the department's priorities shifted when the pandemic hit in March 2020, just four months after Guilbeault was appointed minister. The source said they "totally understand" Duncan's claim that more could have been done on safe sport.
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