The news is littered with reports about abusive behaviours, funding issues, lack of transparency and accountability. Boards of directors are not fulfilling their fiduciary duty, making decisions based on medal-chasing, and there’s a mismanagement of resources.

The recent announcements by the federal Minister of Sport, Pascale St-Onge, are encouraging. However, change is also needed at a provincial and local level. 

The measures announced by the federal Minister of Sport, Pascale St-Onge, are positive. By 2025, federally funded national sports organizations must adopt the Canadian Sports Governance Code governance principles, which include having an athlete on their board. Sport Canada will also have a compliance team to hold national sports organizations accountable for these aspects.

The problems that Canadian sport faces are multifaceted, and they also have multiple levels. The majority of issues are local. While national changes are necessary, local, provincial, and territorial level changes are also needed.

Mis()governance and the public’s mistrust

This complexity has led to confusion, duplication of efforts, resource stretching, and a lack of accountability. This has resulted in confusion, duplication of efforts, resource trying, and a lack of accountability.

There is a lack of transparency and consistency when making decisions. This can lead to unfairness or favoritism. Medals are a part of any sport. The federal government and the national sporting bodies have prioritized medals above sports participation for all of one’s life.

Read more: To clean up Hockey Canada, financial transparency is a must.

The third edition of the Canadian Sport Policy, slated for release later this year, should address this by presenting lifelong sport as a key context and area of focus for Canadian sport system stakeholders. But whether lifelong sport will exist beyond words in this new 10-year policy remains to be seen. Notwithstanding, the system’s focus on medals has led to an overemphasis on certain sports or athletes while others are neglected.

Jeremy Luke, President of the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport (middle-left), Own the Podium CEO Anne Merklinger, and Sport’Aide Director Sylvain Croteau appeared as witnesses before a House of Commons Heritage Committee in Ottawa on 15 May 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

Unfortunately, initiatives for local sports have not received the same funding as national efforts. This is despite the fact that more local people participate in sport. Sports at the grassroots level are important for future athletes to develop and also for a healthy, active lifestyle.

Public Trust

The numerous scandals that have occurred in Canadian sports over the past few years have undermined confidence. The federal government has spoken, but the provincial, territorial, and municipal governments are largely silent. Why is it that most Canadians are only involved in sports at a local level?

Local needs and realities must be addressed. They need to be applied across all sports and at all levels.

The new governance oversights announced in the Sports Minister’s announcement are a good step forward. Still, we have seen that sports organizations auditing their policies leads to an assessment on paper and not the actual practice.

Independent standards commission

In other industries, standards are set and maintained. The Canadian Standards Association certifies sports equipment. Many organizations have ISO certification. There are safety cultures and formalized committees in industries where safety and health are a major concern.

Why not the sports sector? Standards associations and independent auditing groups are common in other industries. Canadian sport needs an independent standard commission, comprised of experts from various fields, including sports, to establish and enforce standards across the entire sports system.

The standards will cover governance, ethics, and transparency. The commission will be able to impose sanctions such as fines, suspensions, and disqualifications for violations or substandard behavior.

The creation of a commission that has the authority to hold individuals and organizations accountable would ensure that everyone in the sports system adheres to the highest standards.

This independent standards commission would be critical in ensuring that safety and duty of care are embedded into every job. The standards of the commission would place a priority on the well-being and safety of athletes, coaches, and other stakeholders.

The benefits of such a body are obvious. It would help to address systemic issues such as governance, medal-chasing, and public distrust by establishing formal, consistent standards across the entire sport system. It could support Canadian Sport Policy values relating to safety, positive experience, equity, diversity and inclusivity, affordability, accessibility, alignment, efficiency, sustainability, and sustainability over a Canadian’s lifetime.

It will be difficult to establish an independent standards committee for the entire sport system. The Canadian government and the 13 provinces and territories will need to support the commission with funding and effort. The benefits would be significant.

We can collectively address issues in Canadian sport by prioritizing professionalism, integrity and duty of care. It is our duty to all Canadians to restore the fabric of sports in Canada. All levels of government must take action and not only speak. It is now up to them.