Canada's new sport guardian awaits commission report on abuse and maltreatment

Canada's new safe sport warden hopes the Future of Sport in Canada Commission's first report gives direction on patching up cracks when it comes to abuse and maltreatment.

The Canadian Centre For Ethics in Sport took over the receiving and investigating of complaints and reports of maltreatment and abuse from the Office of the Sport Integrity Commissioner in April at the behest of former federal sports minister Carla Qualtrough.

The CCES's first quarter report revealed the same jurisdictional issues that plagued OSIC — the CCES mandate is limited to the federally funded national level and not the provincial, territorial and club levels.

Of 111 reports that came into the CCES in the first quarter, only 11 were deemed admissible by the CCES, and 82 were dismissed because they were not at the national, federally funded level.

The CCES does make an effort to find other authorities to handle cases not under its umbrella.

It issued provisional measures against two individuals not named in the report, but no sanctions, in the first quarter.

Below the national level, sports organizations are left to hire Independent Third Party (ITP) bodies or lawyers to handle cases.

Reporting mechanisms and how complaints are handled vary.

"Something needs to be done about it," said CCES safe sport executive director Signy Arnason.

The Future of Sport in Canada Commission has said it will release its preliminary report Thursday ahead of a September summit in Ottawa.

The commission held cross-country consultations in a dozen cities from October to January, when athletes, coaches, officials and sport organizations were invited to participate in writing, or via online submissions and surveys.

An online public survey released June 16 closes