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Sport Solution Clinic identifies gaps in the safe sport system for provincial / territorial-level athletes

Posted on by Jacob Morris

By: Amanda Fowler and Safiya Nanji

The Sport Solution Blog is written by law students and is intended to provide information and the team’s perspectives on current issues. However, the Blog is not intended to provide legal advice or opinion. Athletes in need of assistance should contact the clinic directly at [email protected]. 

In the last year, Canada has seen high-profile abuse scandals across many sports, such as with Hockey Canada, Gymnastics Canada, Boxing Canada, and Bobsleigh Canada Skeleton. 

These scandals exposed abusive coaches, institutional mismanagement, and an overall failure for an appropriate response. Athletes, from all levels of sport, have fearlessly come forward with personal stories of abuse and some have filed formal complaints. As a result, the Minister of Sport at the time, Pascale St-Onge, acted. 1 Minister St-Onge oversaw the implementation of Abuse-Free Sport, Canada’s new independent system for preventing and addressing maltreatment in sport. However, it must be highlighted that this new system does not serve most athletes in Canada. Of those not covered, the most notable are provincial / territorial-level athletes.

Overview of Abuse-Free Sport

Before unpacking how and why provincial/territorial athletes fall into a gray area, it is important to have a general understanding of the Abuse-Free Sport framework. Abuse-Free Sport is composed of three entities: 

1) The Office of the Sport Integrity Commissioner (“OSIC”)

2) The Maltreatment in Sport Sanctions Council (“MSSC”)

3) The Director of Sanctions and Outcomes (DSO). 

OSIC is an independent third-party body responsible for administering the Universal Code of Conduct to Prevent and Address Maltreatment in Sport (UCCMS) through a trauma-informed process for national athletes and federally-funded National Sport Organizations (NSOs). 2 The UCCMS covers a wide range of maltreatment: harassment, psychological abuse, physical abuse, sexual abuse, grooming, boundary transgressions, discrimination, failure to report, and aiding and abetting in any of the aforementioned acts.

OSIC receives concerns in two manners: 1) individual participants submit complaints of alleged violations of the UCCMS, and 2) individuals or organizations request a sport environment assessment to investigate systemic UCCMS-related issues within a particular sport. Once complaints are adjudicated, the DSO makes decisions about provisional measures and has authority to impose sanctions on program signatories. The MSSC is directly accountable to the Canadian sport community to address discipline and sanctions. The MSSC oversees the operations of the DSO and ensures the DSO applies the UCCMS fairly and consistently, protects and promotes public interest, and ensures for an efficient and effective discipline process. Although each of these bodies are independent, the intent is for them to work together to ensure athletes are protected.

Provincial / Territorial-Level Athletes are Not Covered by Abuse-Free Sport

In 2022, the Federal Government committed $13.8 Million to implement OSIC as the new independent safe sport mechanism. 3 The budget notes state “[f]rom beginners to Olympians, every athlete in Canada should be safe from abuse, harassment, and mistreatment.” 4 The notes further state the Federal Government is “ensuring that our sporting institutions across the country are accountable for the treatment of their athletes to building a sport system that promotes the safety and well-being of Canadian athletes.” 5

However, with limited exceptions, OSIC only serves national-level athletes – a small fraction of athletes in Canada’s sport system. 6 Abuse-Free Sport operates on a federal mandate and has a limited basis of contractual jurisdiction. In effect, it can “only do what it is funded to do and can only carry out the mandate it has been given at this time.” 7

NSOs are required by Sport Canada to publish a safe sport policy, adopt the UCCMS, and opt-in to OSIC, failing which they are stripped of funding among other consequences. 8 No requirements of this kind are placed on Provincial/Territorial Sport Organizations (PSOs).  They may opt-in to OSIC if they wish. As of March 2024, only one NSO – Volleyball Canada – is a program signatory of OSIC with its services available at the National, provincial / territorial and club / local levels. Even if there is proper jurisdiction for a provincial/territorial safe sport matter, OSIC and the Sport Dispute Resolution Centre of Canada (SDRCC) may still exercise discretion to reject the case. 

Notably, OSIC concluded its first year of operations. Of the 193 complaints OSIC received between June 1, 2022 and June 30, 2023, only 66 of them, or 34 per cent, were deemed admissible for investigation. 9 OISC referred over 50 per cent of complaints to alternative organizations, including provincial/territorial sport bodies. This shows OSIC’s current mandate is limited, and safe sport issues are pervasive within all levels of sport.

The lack of harmonization and OSIC’s statistics suggest that provincial/territorial athletes are not able to be protected until they become national athletes. This can be problematic because athletes, coaches and management move within the Provincial/Territorial and National Sport Organizations. Without proper recourse for athletes in the form of consistent safe sport policies, procedures, and sanctioning across both levels of sport, it is difficult to hold offenders at the provincial/territorial level accountable for athlete maltreatment and athletes are trapped in abusive environments until they make the national team.

Barriers to Reporting Safe Sport Complaints at the Provincial / Territorial Level

At the Sport Solution Clinic, we have seen some of the barriers faced by provincial / territorial athletes who have filed safe sport complaints:

  1. PTSOs intentionally delaying the acceptance of a complaint, the issuance of an investigation report or scheduling a hearing for months;
  2. PTSOs finding opportunities to claim a breach of confidentiality by the athlete in order to have the complaint struck;
  3. PTSOs have conducted their own internal safe sport process while being in a conflict of interest;
  4. The safe sport process not being trauma-informed;
  5. PTSOs appointing individuals with no prior adjudication experience to the arbitration panel despite objections;  
  6. No recourse for athletes whose PTSO has breached procedural fairness during the safe sport process;
  7. Appeals are directed back to the PTSO for further handling because there is no appeal right to an independent body like OSIC or the SDRCC;
  8. Decisions are arbitrary and have no “reasons” to support a decided sanction; and
  9. PTSOs have no requirement to publish sanctions, which is an issue of public safety for those who may interact with the sanctioned coach in the future.

To our knowledge, issues like these are regular and constant for provincial/territorial athletes making safe sport complaints. It is unacceptable.

Conclusion and Recommendations

Provincial/Territorial governments clearly need to intervene in the safe sport processes of PTSOs. It can start bridging the gap by mandating PTSOs to adopt the UCCMS and join OSIC. A consistent, fair, and accountable safe sport mechanism serving both provincial/territorial and national levels of sport is necessary to remedy the issues listed above (and others). To do so may require collaboration and funding between federal and provincial/territorial governments, National and Provincial/Territorial Sport Organizations – and most importantly – involving provincial/territorial athletes.

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Footnotes

Athlete Rep Spotlight: Laura Walker, Curling

Posted on by Alan Hudes

It’s Our Turn, AthletesCAN’s new marketing campaign focuses on the stories of athlete leaders across the 68 sports eligible for AthletesCAN membership. The campaign highlights a pivotal moment for a new era in sport governance, underlining the athlete representatives’ respective journeys into the athlete advocacy movement both in their careers and within their National Sport Organizations (NSOs).

Each week, AthletesCAN profiles a key athlete leader among its membership, highlighting how athlete representation has played a significant role in their career and within their National Sport Organization.

Follow the Campaign

Laura Walker

Name: Laura Walker
Sport: Curling
Position / Event: Skip
National team tenure: 2018 – Present
Hometown: Edmonton, Alta.

How did you first hear about and get involved in athlete advocacy?

About two years ago now, a group of athletes within Curling Canada were brought together and we were just kind of asked questions and asked to discuss things that affected us, things within our High Performance Program and our National Team Program. And I think a lot of us had our eyes opened in that meeting to the fact that we hadn’t really been asked a lot of these questions before. We hadn’t had any of these discussions before, and a lot of us had been around for a really long time. From that group, our Athletes’ Council was formed and there’s now a group of us that are involved in athlete advocacy within Curling Canada. I have been on the Athletes’ Council since it began about two years ago. It grew out of us realizing that we maybe haven’t been asking important questions enough in the past.

Team Canada’s Laura Crocker and Kirk Muyres compete at the 2018 World Mixed Doubles Curling Championship (World Curling/Richard Gray)
Team Canada’s Laura Crocker and Kirk Muyres compete at the 2018 World Mixed Doubles Curling Championship (World Curling/Richard Gray)

Why is it important for the Canadian Sport System to prioritize an athlete-centred experience?

I think as an athlete, it’s a little bit frustrating and a bit perplexing to think about why it is that we as athletes have to push so hard for an athlete-centered sport experience. Sport doesn’t exist without athletes. We are sport and I think that a really good amount of positive and healthy sport experiences are life-changing for a lot of people. It certainly has been for me and to create those kinds of people in our world. I don’t think that there could be anything more important than giving the people who are involved in sport the best possible experience.

How have you used your athlete voice on behalf of your peers and how has it impacted your sport journey?

In May of 2023, I attended a Board meeting on behalf of the Athletes’ Council to basically request a seat at the table to request to have an Athlete Representative on the Board of Governors within Curling Canada. And from that process, we were able to have myself appointed to the Board. 

We now have an athlete in the room. We have an athlete at the table. We have someone there who’s part of the discussions and who can just bridge the gap between the athletes and the governance level at Curling Canada. So that’s something that we worked to achieve and I think it is extremely important and kind of a long time coming. So that’s affected my journey in the sense that I’m now a governor on the Board of Directors with Curling Canada, and it’s helped me really learn a lot and see that there’s more than one side. I think sometimes as athletes, we want to see change. We want certain things to happen for us. And now I am seeing why certain things are happening, why certain decisions are made. It’s really helping me to understand the big picture within curling and kind of balance all of the different factors and different stakeholders. That has certainly been eye-opening and a really positive experience for myself as both an athlete and now as an advocate

What is your favourite memory being an Athlete Rep / being involved in athlete advocacy? 

I think my favourite memory was actually sitting in that meeting room with the Board. I think I went into it not really knowing what to expect. I hadn’t really met a lot of the Board members before. I didn’t know them. I didn’t know what kind of reaction they would have to me, asking to be a part of it. 

And I remember being met with such positive feedback, with such open-mindedness. The Board was really open to wanting to make this happen somehow, someway. And I remember that being just kind of a great feeling, knowing that we’re all on the same side and we just have to figure out how we can get there together. I think that’s a real testament to curling, but I think also kind of a lesson for other athletes in other sports that sometimes you just have to ask. Sometimes you just have to get in the room and have a candid, from-the-heart conversation. And you might be surprised what could come of that.

What have you learned about being a leader in your sport?

I’ve just learned how much learning there is to do and always will be to do. I think certainly in curling, but I’m sure in a lot of other NSOs, a lot of factors kind of exist in a bit of a vacuum. There might be the High Performance side, the governance, the staff, the events, the operations. All of these things happen a little bit independently of each other. And I think I’ve learned how beneficial it can be for all of those pieces to learn a little bit more about the other pieces of the puzzle and kind of listen to all sides. I just think that that’s really important and something that I may have overlooked in the past. And I’m really looking forward to continuing to learn more in the future.

Why should your peers join AthletesCAN and/or get more involved in the leadership of their National Sport Organization?

If not now, then when?  There are a lot of positive changes coming out with the Sport Governance code changing, with this kind of narrative in Canadian sport around creating that more athlete-centered sport experience. And I think athletes in the past have had this notion of wanting to get more involved. They’ve felt like maybe they’re not heard. They have had these feelings of wanting to do more, but either not necessarily having the time with our busy training and competition schedules and just not really knowing how. 

And that’s where AthletesCAN comes in. There’s just so many great resources and great people that it’s all out there for you. You don’t have to figure it out by yourself. You don’t have to have this daunting task of knowing where to start. You can start with AthletesCAN, and you can get a lot of your information from there. And it just makes it a lot less daunting to take that step to get involved and start to advocate for yourself.

Athlete Rep Spotlight: Mercedes Nicoll, Snowboard

Posted on by Jacob Morris

It’s Our Turn, AthletesCAN’s new marketing campaign focuses on the stories of athlete leaders across the 68 sports eligible for AthletesCAN membership. The campaign highlights a pivotal moment for a new era in sport governance, underlining the athlete representatives’ respective journeys into the athlete advocacy movement both in their careers and within their National Sport Organizations (NSOs).

Each week, AthletesCAN profiles a key athlete leader among its membership, highlighting how athlete representation has played a significant role in their career and within their National Sport Organization.

Follow the Campaign

Mercedes Nicoll

Name: Mercedes Nicoll
Sport: Snowboard
Event: Halfpipe
National team tenure: 1999-2018
Hometown: Whistler, B.C.

How did you first hear about and get involved in activism in your sport?

Our Executive Director at Canada Snowboard approached me to help create an Athletes’ Council – that’s how I got started. In sport, I was kind of always questioning why things were happening and being part of the Athletes’ Council allowed me to get the answers and understand the business side of what a National Sport Organization does. So it’s all thanks to the Executive Director that I got started in athlete representation. 

Mercedes Nicoll
Mercedes Nicoll (Courtesy of Snowboard Canada)

Why is it important for the Canadian Sport System to prioritize an athlete-centred experience?

In sport, in Canada, it is of the utmost importance because you wouldn’t have a National Sport Organization without the athletes. So if you don’t have an athlete on your Board yet or at the discussion table and their voice isn’t being heard, then I don’t think you’re doing due diligence to the rest of the athletes coming up in the system. So, I think it’s really important to have an athlete-centered program for every National Sport Organization and work with Sport Canada on that as well.

How have you used your athlete voice on behalf of your peers and how has it impacted your sport journey?

There are so many ways that I used my voice to impact the athletes in snowboarding. Being the Chair of the Athletes’ Council for seven years now, we’ve learned a lot and also listened a lot to the athletes. I know funding is always a big factor and one of the wins that we had was actually listening to what was coming in from the government and then being able to listen to the athletes, what they were paying for and get some of that money back in their pockets. Obviously, during a pandemic going through all of those things was really expensive and doing all those tests was really expensive. So that’s like one thing that we helped with the athletes. But I mean, it’s a day-to-day listening and understanding grind and using your voice at the table, especially the Board table, to give the Board members a better understanding of what it is to be an athlete and how much it costs. And sitting on Boards seems insignificant maybe to athletes, but it really does build an understanding for other people who are in those seats to see exactly where athletes are and have their voice heard.

What is your favourite memory being an Athlete Rep / being involved in athlete advocacy?

I have so many memories of being involved with athlete advocacy. I’ve sat on the Board of AthletesCAN. That was super enlightening. I probably would say the AthletesCAN Forum. Those are my best memories because that’s when you get a better understanding of where all athletes are at and how you can help them or how they can help you. You can bounce ideas off of each other just to get an understanding and better what you want to be as an athlete representative, and take it back to your program.

What have you learned about being a leader in your sport?

As I’ve been an athlete representative for Canada Snowboard, I’ve learned a lot. I would say I was very green and I didn’t understand anything, and now I’ve been a director on the Board for many years. I think the most valuable thing is being able to have patience as well as listening to both sides of every party, and and just taking it in and not being afraid to share that voice of an athlete because it is so important.

Why should your peers join AthletesCAN and/or get more involved in the leadership of their National Sport Organization?

You should join AthletesCAN because there are just so many resources and so many amazing reps that you get to meet. I do hope that you join as a rep so that you can come to Forum. It’s really one of the best places to meet other athletes and get an understanding of what other athletes are doing, and how you can better sport for the next generation as well as your generation of athletes. There are so many resources out there that you’re probably not aware of. So head over to the AthletesCAN website or just ask a staff member, find another athlete rep and they’ll be willing to help you because it’s not an easy path to take at first. But once you understand what’s involved, it’s so good and it and it’s so helpful and really we’re all just here to make sport better for the next generation and to have our voice heard as athletes.

Sport Solution Clinic Blog: The Relationship Between National Sport Organizations and Provincial/Territorial Sport Organizations

Posted on by Jacob Morris

By Nic Spagnuolo (Case Manager), Eli Hutchison (Caseworker)

The Sport Solution Blog is written by law students and is intended to provide information and the team’s perspectives on current issues. However, the Blog is not intended to provide legal advice or opinion. Athletes in need of assistance should contact the clinic directly at [email protected]. 

National Sport Organizations (NSOs) are the governing bodies for sport within Canada. Among their responsibilities, NSOs work closely with Provincial/Territorial Sport Organizations (PTSOs) to implement policies and promote their sport at the regional / grassroots level. 1 PTSOs are self-governing organizations that are responsible for the development of their sport, providing a competitive pathway for athlete development at the provincial or territorial level, selecting provincial/territorial teams, recruiting and training coaches and officials, and conducting provincial/territorial championships. 2. In working towards these objectives, a PTSO is overseen by an NSO, where the NSO sets out rules that the PTSO must follow. The relationship between an NSO overseeing a PTSO is demonstrated through how a PTSO must align with the rules of their NSO, as well as how funding works between them. Additionally, there are implications to this relationship when a member league under a PTSO decides to break away from an NSO.

Alignment with NSO Rules

In regulating sport at the provincial level, a PTSO must ensure that they are complying with the regulations of their NSO regarding rules of play, competition, scoring, equipment, the field of play, and the requirements set out for athletes, coaches, officials and referees. 3 An example of this is the new policy that Hockey Canada, the NSO for ice hockey in Canada, recently implemented regarding dressing room requirements. Effective as of September 12, 2023, Hockey Canada issued a new “Dressing Room Policy” with the purpose of creating a safe, inclusive and equitable dressing room space. 4 Under this policy, all participants are required to wear minimum attire at all times in a dressing room when there is more than one participant present, such as wearing shorts or compression shorts along with a t-shirt. 5 Additionally, this policy includes the “Rule of Two”, which requires two adults to be present either in or immediately outside the dressing room to ensure that the dressing room environment among participants is free from any discrimination, harassment, bullying, or other forms of maltreatment. 6

With Hockey Canada implementing this policy, PTSOs for ice hockey throughout the country are responsible for ensuring that all of their leagues and member associations are adhering to the new dressing room rules. This demonstrates how an NSO can use their oversight over their PTSOs to regulate their sport down to the provincial level.

Funding Between an NSO and a PTSO

Additionally, there is a funding component in the relationship between an NSO and a PTSO. How funding works between them can be demonstrated by again using Hockey Canada as an example.

Each player in a league operated by a PTSO for ice hockey, which falls under the governance of Hockey Canada, must pay a fee as part of their agreement for participation that goes towards Hockey Canada. 7 Hockey Canada then uses these fees to help fund their operations at the PTSO level, which includes funding programs for grassroot development, as well as development programs for coaches and officials in these leagues. 8 Hockey Canada has many additional sources of funding to finance their operations, such as national and international events, sponsorships, government and non-governmental funding, and donations. 9 Part of Hockey Canada’s operations that this financing goes towards, is providing funding to their PTSOs to help operate ice hockey at the provincial/territorial level. This includes providing funding to PTSOs for matters regarding the development of ice hockey across the country, helping to build and maintain the necessary facilities across the country for ice hockey, and to provide PTSOs with the necessary technological equipment for the sport. 10 As seen from looking at Hockey Canada, an essential component to the relationship between an NSO and a PTSO is the funding provided by the NSO to help the sport be played, regulated, and developed to the highest quality at the provincial and grassroots level across the country.

What Happens When a Member League / Organization / Club Breaks Away from a PTSO and an NSO

Although this relationship does allow an NSO to regulate their sport across the country, there can be instances where a member league, organization or club  under a PTSO breaks away from the overseeing NSO. For example, on June 1, 2023, the Board of Governors for the British Columbia Hockey League (BCHL) opted out of renewing their membership with Hockey Canada. 11 The move came after years of failed negotiations, where the BCHL tried to persuade Hockey Canada to change some of its policies concerning Under-18 (U18) players. 12 Specifically, the BCHL felt that these policies limited the chances of some U18 players from pursuing the option of playing ice hockey in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). 13 As such, out of a desire to create more opportunities for players to play varsity ice hockey in the NCAA, the BCHL decided to not renew their agreement with Hockey Canada. 14

Under this move, the BCHL will also no longer be a member of BC Hockey, the PTSO that governs ice hockey in British Columbia under Hockey Canada. 15 This means that the BCHL will now operate as a fully independent league and will not be subjected to oversight from either BC Hockey or Hockey Canada. Without the oversight of Hockey Canada, players on any team in the BCHL will no longer be able to participate in Hockey Canada events, which include provincial and national championship tournaments. 16

Additionally, players in the BCHL will no longer be able to submit claims of abuse or maltreatment to Abuse-Free Sport and the Office of the Sport Integrity Commissioner (OSIC) or to Hockey Canada’s independent third party. 17 As a result, the BCHL will need to create their own separate system for safe sport policies and for how to deal with any safe sport complaints, which may not be consistent with the policies in place from Hockey Canada and their respective PTSOs. As seen in this example, the relationship between an NSO, PTSOs and leagues at the grassroots level is essential in an NSO having the ability to regulate and govern sport at all levels throughout the country.

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Citations

Commonwealth Games Federation appoints former AthletesCAN President Claire Carver-Dias Regional VP for the Americas

Posted on by Alan Hudes

Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) and Commonwealth Sport Canada (CSC) are proud to announce the appointment of Claire Carver-Dias as CGF Regional Vice-President for the Americas until the 2024 General Assembly.

Claire has more than 20 years of dedicated service to the Commonwealth Sport Movement, both on and off the field of play. She has served on a variety of Commonwealth Sport Canada Committees and in 2014 was elected to the Commonwealth Sport Canada Board of Directors, becoming President in 2022. A decorated athlete in her own right, Claire won multiple medals at international competitions, including two gold medals in synchronized swimming at the 2002 Commonwealth Games. In 2018, she led Team Canada as the Chef de Mission, with the team equalling their best ever medal haul. She also served as Co-Chef de Mission for Team Canada at the 2022 Commonwealth Games. Claire is an active contributor to several multi-sport organizations in Canada, including the Canadian Olympic Committee, Coaching Association of Canada, AthletesCAN and Olympians Canada.

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Athlete Rep Spotlight: Matt Dunstone, Curling

Posted on by Jacob Morris

It’s Our Turn, AthletesCAN’s new marketing campaign focuses on the stories of athlete leaders across the 68 sports eligible for AthletesCAN membership. The campaign highlights a pivotal moment for a new era in sport governance, underlining the athlete representatives’ respective journeys into the athlete advocacy movement both in their careers and within their National Sport Organizations (NSOs).

Each week, AthletesCAN profiles a key athlete leader among its membership, highlighting how athlete representation has played a significant role in their career and within their National Sport Organization.

Follow the Campaign

Matt Dunstone

Name: Matt Dunstone
Sport: Curling
Position: Skip
National team tenure: 2013 – Present
Hometown: Winnipeg, Man.

How did you first hear about and get involved within your sport? 

It started with Amy Nixon, who was the president of the Board at the time, and our CEO at the time, Kathy Henderson who kind of came up with this idea. I know a couple of us athletes had kind of been pushing towards having that open line of communication with Curling Canada. But Amy and Katherine were kind of the drivers that helped get us over the edge and make that happen. I think we were pushing for about two and a half years now since we have had our Athletes Council with Curling Canada, and for the most part I think it’s been a very productive and positive experience.

Why is it important for the Canadian Sport System to prioritize an athlete-centred experience?

There are a couple things. I think one is for us as athletes to actually understand the NSO side of things. It’s pretty easy for us to just understand what our side of it is and not really know what an NSO actually goes through to make things happen for us and for them. So just getting a better understanding of what they do and how they go about their business. And on the flip side, for us to actually be involved in situations and decisions that affect us as athletes at certain events and championships, to be able to perform and just to kind of have that center ground in that area for all of us to come together to try and get Canada on the podium. Whether you’re an NSO or an athlete, that’s what everybody wants. So for us to be able to kind of have this area for us to come together and try to grow as Canadian curlers, that’s been my favorite part of it all. And that’s why I think it’s super important.

Matt Dunstone
Matt Dunstone (Curling Canada/ Michael Burns)

How have you used your athlete voice on behalf of your peers and how has it impacted your sport journey? 

I think it’s just brought us all closer. Especially in curling, it is a very unique sport where you have separate teams who try and beat each other all the time to get to the World Championships. But for us to be able to actually come together and work as Team Canada, that’s kind of been the biggest change where, in curling, everybody’s got their four person teams kind of spread out all across. You don’t really come together and this council has kind of been an area for one player of each of the top Canadian teams to kind of come together and work towards something. And then, having a voice targeted towards things that we would like to see in our Canadian championships that are hopefully going to bring more success at the world stage.

What is your favourite memory being an Athlete Rep / being involved in athlete advocacy?

Once a year we do get together as a Council with Curling Canada. So that would be my favorite part, just the in-person meetings that we’ve been able to have and be face to face. The Zoom meetings are one thing, but to be able to get a little more personal and have that face-to-face interaction is something that’s super important and something I’ve thoroughly enjoyed. And hopefully down the road, that’s something I’m going to be able to do with AthletesCAN and with a larger group of people from a large scope and different types of athletes.

What have you learned about being a leader in your sport?

There are a lot of moving parts. As an athlete, you kind of get this tunnel vision that it’s just the event, whether it be the Brier or the Scotties and just winning that and going to a World Championship. You don’t truly understand all that goes into that, and how many different stakeholders there are involved to make all those events happen to allow us athletes to perform on a full time basis. Just learning about all of that, who all is involved, has been my favorite experience of it all. Just because it’s way over my head about who actually is involved and who gets a say, and just learning that part of it has been the coolest part for me because you have no idea how many people are actually involved just to make what seems like a little thing actually happen and go forward.

Why should your peers join AthletesCAN and/or get more involved in the leadership of their National Sport Organization?

I think at the end of the day, the more people we have involved, the more people we can bring together and just work towards a common goal. Whether it be curling, skiing, diving, you name it. At the end of the day, with sport in Canada, we want a couple of things, right? We want integrity, we want loyalty, we want trust. We want to represent our country with class and dignity. And we want to win and we want to get on top of the podium and just bring people together to an area to help grow, to learn about each other’s experiences and ultimately push the yardsticks forward to get better every single day at each one of those aspects. The more people we have involved to do that, the closer we’re going to get to the common goal that we all have. 

Call for Nominations for CSIO Athlete Council

Posted on by Alan Hudes

Canadian Sport Institute Ontario (CSIO) is putting out a call for nominations to you, the athletes residing and training here in Ontario, to join our Athlete Council!

The Athlete Council is a standing committee of CSIO. With CSIO being an athlete-centered sport organization, the Athlete Council’s objective is to represent the best interests of CSIO affiliated athletes. The Athlete Council’s mandate is to articulate and develop recommendations from an athlete’s perspective to best influence services offered by CSIO, the flow and conditions of our facilities, and more.

Nominations can be made for yourself, or you can nominate a fellow athlete who you think would be a great fit for this Council. Please see the attached document (Appendix B – Nomination Form) to complete your nomination before March 3 at 11:59 PM.

 

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AthletesCAN launches “It’s Our Turn” athlete-centred marketing campaign

Posted on by Jacob Morris

TORONTO – AthletesCAN, the association of Canada’s national team athletes, is proud to announce the launch of It’s Our Turn, a new athlete-centred marketing campaign, highlighting the importance of the athlete representation movement across the Canadian sport system.  

The new campaign focuses on the stories of athlete leaders across the 68 sports eligible for AthletesCAN membership. In particular, the campaign highlights a pivotal moment for a new era in sport governance, underlining the athlete representatives’ respective journeys into the athlete advocacy movement both in their careers and within their National Sport Organizations (NSOs).

"Athlete representation isn't just a matter of fairness; it's a catalyst for positive change. It ensures that the sport system evolves with the times, fostering a culture of inclusivity, fairness, and innovation, paving the way for policies that prioritize the well-being of athletes, and the sustained growth of the sports we love."

Erin Willson - AthletesCAN President and artistic swimming Olympian

The campaign is headlined by a promotional video launching today, with customized assets also built for each of the 68 NSOs. In addition, a new Athlete Rep Spotlight profile series is set to kick off, with teaser clips posted weekly to AthletesCAN’s digital channels alongside the full interviews on AthletesCAN.ca.

Follow the It's Our Turn Campaign

Each conversation features a national team athlete, who has either served as an informal or formalized NSO Athlete Representative, an official Athlete Director on their NSO’s Board or as a  member of an NSO or Multisport Organization Athlete Council / Committee. Production of the interview series is being supported by the AthletesCAN Creative Champions and the AthletesCAN Awareness Committee which is responsible for overseeing the organization’s membership, marketing, communications and partnership initiatives.

“‘It's Our Turn’ speaks to the athletes, urging them to step into roles that extend beyond the field of play. Their experiences, insights, and voices are not only valuable but essential. The decisions made at the highest levels should be informed by the authentic narratives of those who compete."

Susanne Wereley - Awareness Committee Chair, Olympic rowing champion and AthletesCAN Board Member

The campaign builds on a pair of recently-announced initiatives, including the ongoing National Team Athlete Town Halls in collaboration with the Canadian Olympic and Paralympic Sport Institute Network (COPSIN) and Minister Qualtrough’s launch of the Future of Sport in Canada Commission to address the history of systemic abuse in Canadian sport and its underlying causes. 

Canadian national team athletes are invited to register for the Town Halls to give feedback on their athlete experiences, with events remaining in Winnipeg (Feb. 27), Montreal (Mar. 12) and Calgary (Mar. 26). Full details are available here.

Register for Town Halls

About AthletesCAN

AthletesCAN, the association of Canada’s national team athletes, is the only fully independent and most inclusive athlete organization in the country and the first organization of its kind in the world.  As the voice of over 6,000 current and recently retired Canadian national team athletes, AthletesCAN membership spans 68 sports across the Olympic, Paralympic, Pan/Parapan American, and Commonwealth Games, and those currently funded by Sport Canada competing at Senior World Championships.

AthletesCAN ensures an athlete-centered sport system by developing athlete leaders who influence sport policy and, as role models, inspire a strong sport culture, through educational resources, support, training and professional development.  

Follow us on social @AthletesCAN and Join #TheCollective today.

For more information, please contact:

Alan Hudes
Manager, Communications and Sport Partnerships
AthletesCAN
613-526-4025 Ext. 224
[email protected] 

The SDRCC, OSIC, NSOs, PTSOs, Sport Solution Clinic, and You

Posted on by Jacob Morris

By Tyler Rogerson (Case Manager), Isabella DiMenna (Caseworker), Nicholas Burton (Caseworker) ​​

The Sport Solution Blog is written by law students and is intended to provide information and the team’s perspectives on current issues. However, the Blog is not intended to provide legal advice or opinion. Athletes in need of assistance should contact the clinic directly at [email protected]. 

Key Takeaways​

  • Provides an overview of the different administrative bodies and stakeholders that govern and regulate national-level sports in Canada
  • Outlines the legal resources that are available to members of AthletesCAN

Canada’s National Team athletes are busy! Between training, competitions, recovery, and finding time to decompress, AthletesCAN members have demanding schedules. To make matters more complicated, Canadian athletes may be faced with legal challenges throughout their career. These issues may include disagreements over team selection, concerns regarding Athlete Assistance Program funding, Safe Sport disputes, and disagreements over disciplinary measures. 

This blog post will provide Canadian athletes with an overview of the various administrative bodies that govern and regulate high -performance sports in Canada and how they interact with one another. Ultimately, Canadian athletes should know that the Sport Solution Clinic at Western Law exists to provide all members of AthletesCAN with pro bono (free!) legal advice and representation and can assist them in the resolution of their sport-related legal issues.

SDRCC Logo / Logo du CRDSC

The Sport Dispute Resolution Centre of Canada (SDRCC)

The SDRCC is created by the Physical Activity and Sport Act,1 and provides alternative dispute resolution for sport-related disputes in Canada.2 In essence, the SDRCC is an administrative body that is responsible for mediating and arbitrating sport-related disputes involving Canadian national team athletes; however, the SDRCC will only become involved after the disputing parties have exhausted their sport’s internal dispute resolution processes. All disputes submitted to the SDRCC are governed by the Canadian Sport Dispute Resolution Code (the Code) which “outlines the procedural rules under which all disputes submitted to SDRCC must [adhere to].”3 The most recent version of the Code (which applies to all SDRCC cases opened after 1 October 2023) can be found here and will be useful for any member of AthletesCAN who would like to bring a dispute to the SDRCC.

The SDRCC offers four different dispute resolution methods: resolution facilitation, mediation, arbitration, and mediation/arbitration.4 Resolution facilitation involves a neutral facilitator “whose role is to try to help the parties to better communicate with each other and to resolve their dispute through an amicable settlement.”5 Similarly, mediation involves a neutral third party who focuses on facilitating a resolution between disputing parties rather than on promoting communication. Mediation will only end a dispute if the disputing parties agree to a resolution.6 The process of arbitration, however, is significantly more structured and “employs a neutral third party to hear the evidence and decide for the disputants how their conflict should be resolved.”7 It is important to note that resolving disputes by arbitration will not be collaborative and the arbitrator’s decision will only favour one of the parties.8 Lastly, mediation/arbitration is a hybrid dispute resolution mechanism that may ultimately result in arbitration. In this mechanism, both parties are given the opportunity to first resolve their issues through mediation. If the mediation process is unsuccessful, both parties will be required to have their dispute resolved by arbitration.9

Beyond its role as an administrative tribunal, the SDRCC aims to educate Canadian national team athletes and provide them with the “tools and guidance to help resolve minor disputes quickly and informally.”10 The SDRCC is committed to proactively connecting with key stakeholders in the AthletesCAN community through the publication of resources, hosting of workshops, and the distribution of educational material about how to best prevent and resolve disputes at the lowest levels.11

For more information on the SDRCC, please visit the SDRCC website.

OSIC Logo

The Office of the Sport Integrity Commissioner (OSIC)

The Office of the Sport Integrity Commissioner is an independent division of the SDRCC which aims to promote Safe Sport and implement the Universal Code of Conduct to Prevent and Address Maltreatment in Sport (UCCMS) across Canada.12

The UCCMS was first published in 2015 and “is the core document that sets harmonized rules to be adopted by sport organizations that receive funding from the Government of Canada to advance a respectful sport culture that delivers quality, inclusive, accessible, welcoming and safe sport experiences.” 13All sporting organizations that have adopted the UCCMS are held accountable by the OSIC to ensure that their sporting environments are free of misconduct and are spaces where all community members are treated “with dignity and respect.”14

The OSIC enforces the UCCMS in two ways: complaint management and through Sport Environment Assessments. The complaint management process focuses on individuals and involves receiving complaints, conducting initial assessments and independent investigations, imposing sanctions, and providing access to legal and mental health support.15Through its complaint management system, the OSIC has established a mechanism for members of the AthletesCAN community to ensure that they can report and address instances of maltreatment and misconduct.16

Sport Environment Assessments are broader in scope than the complaints handled by the complaint management process. The Assessments aim to investigate and address systemic issues of maltreatment and misconduct which contravene the UCCMS in a particular sport. Sport Environment Assessments are intended “to look for the truth, seek to understand the problem and its root causes, and then look at possible solutions, all of which are ultimately presented in a published report.”17

Both the complaint management and Sport Environment Assessment processes are designed to complement one another and aim to achieve the same fundamental goal of eliminating maltreatment and abuse within Canadian sports and ensuring compliance with the UCCMS.18

For more information on OSIC, please visit the OSIC Website.

National Sport Organizations (NSOs) and Provincial/Territorial Sport Organizations (PTSOs)

National Sport Organizations (NSOs) are “the national government bodies for [a] given sport in Canada.”19 At the time of the publication of this blog post, there are 63 federally-funded NSOs in Canada. Although they have many important functions, NSOs manage their sport’s high -performance programs, select their sport’s National Team(s), and manage the promotion of their sport across the country.20 Further, NSOs can directly assist athletes through the Athlete Assistance Program which supplies government funding directly to Canadian athletes nominated by their NSOs.21 A full list of the NSOs can be found on the Government of Canada website.

Notably, many NSOs have provincial and territorial counterparts, Provincial/Territorial  Sport Organizations (PTSOs), which have similar functions to NSOs. An athlete can interact with both their NSO and PTSO at different stages of their career and may even interact with both administrative bodies simultaneously. Due to the significant role that NSOs and PTSOs have in the development, mentoring, and success of their athletes, legal issues can arise between the parties over team selection, funding, and disciplinary measures. It is at this point that the parties may rely on the intervention of the SDRCC and the OSIC and members of AthletesCAN may turn to the Sport Solution Clinic for legal advice and representation.

Ultimately, NSOs, PTSOs, and athletes must work collaboratively within the guidelines of the SDRCC and the OSIC to advance the success of their respective sports and the safety of their sporting environments.

Sport Solution Clinic new logo

Western Law’s Sport Solution Clinic

Western Law’s Sport Solution Clinic provides pro bono (free!) legal advice and representation to Canada’s National Team athletes. The Sport Solution Clinic is unique as it is the “only program of its kind in North America and is available to all members of AthletesCAN.”22 The Clinic is dedicated to assisting Canada’s national team athletes in navigating the myriad administrative bodies and systems that govern their sports and provide access to the legal remedies available to them.

The Clinic is supervised by its Supervising Lawyer, Amanda Fowler, and is supported by a staff of 25 students at Western Law. Together, the team at the Sport Solution Clinic provides legal support on a wide variety of legal issues including general inquiries, team selection, Athlete Assistance Program funding, appeals, Safe Sport, discipline disputes, and preparation for mediation and arbitration through the SDRCC.

Ultimately, the Sport Solution Clinic exists to provide free legal assistance to Canada’s national athletes so they can focus on their sporting pursuits and reach their goals on the world’s biggest stages. For more information on the Sport Solution Clinic, please visit the Clinic’s website or contact us at [email protected]. 

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Footnotes

Rugby Canada and the Canadian Rugby Players Association announce new collective agreement

Posted on by Alan Hudes

Rugby Canada and the Canadian Rugby Players Association (CRPA) are pleased to announce a new Collective Agreement, entering 2024 with a strong foundation for the partnership between the two entities for the next three years.

Rugby Canada and the CRPA underwent an in-depth, thorough and inclusive process in 2023 to develop the Collective Agreement with the assistance of key stakeholders and legal counsel.

The Collective Agreement guides collaboration between Rugby Canada and the CRPA, provides national team players with formal representation, and outlines the rights and responsibilities of all parties.

“We went through a comprehensive process with Rugby Canada last year in developing this Collective Agreement and are pleased to now continue working together with this foundation in place. The CRPA’s goal is to protect, promote, represent and develop Canadian rugby players, and we look forward to continuing this together with Rugby Canada.”

Olivia Apps - CRPA Women’s 7s Representative
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AthletesCAN’s staff, operations, work, and network depend on traditional Indigenous territories to provide us physical space, sustenance, safety, and community to work, live, and play. We respectfully acknowledge that our members hail from across the country representing the many traditional, treaty, and unceded territories of all the Inuit, Métis, and First Nations people of Turtle Island.

We acknowledge that our ability to live and work on these lands is a direct benefit of policies of expulsion and assimilation of Indigenous peoples during the time of settlement and Confederation, and since. The harms of these policies are many and are still being felt in Indigenous communities today. We express gratitude towards the Indigenous peoples who have and will continue to steward these lands. We affirm our commitment to enacting the 94 Calls to Action by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, especially the Calls to Action which directly relate to Sport, No. 87-94.

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