Just days before being made aware of gang rape allegations against its players by Hockey Canada in June 2018, federal officials at Sport Canada were instructed to inform their minister of any incidents. They claim, however, that they said nothing to the minister at the time.
“Organizations must immediately disclose to the Minister of Sport and Persons with Disabilities any incident of harassment, abuse or discrimination that could jeopardize their projects or programs,” announced the minister at the time, Kirsty Duncan, June 19, 2018.
Precisely that day, human resources at Hockey Canada — an arm’s-length sports organization — received a call from the stepfather of a young woman who claimed that eight players attending a gala in London, Ont. had been sexually assaulted in a group. On June 26, Hockey Canada informed Sport Canada, a branch of the federal government attached to the Department of Canadian Heritage.
Sports Minister Pascale St-Onge says she only learned of the 2018 allegations against Hockey Canada players days before the matter hit the media. Ms. St-Onge was not a member of the government at the time, since she was not elected to the Commons until 2021.
Despite the June 2018 directive, Sport Canada has confirmed that it did not inform then-minister Kirsty Duncan or her successor in that portfolio, Steven Guilbeault, of the matter.
“Probably not specifically,” Sport Canada senior director Michel Ruest replied Tuesday in committee when Conservative MP John Nater asked him if the department had notified the minister’s office of the alleged assaults.
Minister unaware
The official explained the process in place within Sport Canada when the government is informed by a sports federation of an “incident”. This process appears to contradict Minister Duncan’s June 2018 announcement.
“This information transmitted to the manager to whom the analyst reports [qui reçoit l’information], the director and the general manager. It is then entered into a confidential directory, and the statistics relating to the number of cases and sport involved are transmitted or communicated to the higher level. »
Mr. Ruest also acknowledged that Minister Duncan “tightened the requirements”, speaking of a “crescendo” of measures taken since 2018 concerning security in sport, “a priority of the government”. He said nothing about the obligation to disclose any incident to the minister.
The current Minister of the Environment, Steven Guilbeault, was responsible for sports between the 2019 and 2021 elections, in addition to his responsibilities as Minister of Canadian Heritage. According to his mandate letter, he was to “promote a culture of safe sport at the national level, including physical security, sport environments free from harassment. »
His office confirmed that he too was not made aware of the allegations against Hockey Canada dating back to 2018.
Sports Minister Pascale St-Onge told a parliamentary committee on Tuesday that she now demands to be made aware of reports, in response to a question from NDP MP Peter Julian. The Department of Canadian Heritage did not immediately respond to questions from Le Devoir.
Further details will follow.