Canadian gymnasts ask sport minister to suspend government funding to their sport

Canada's Sport Minister Pascale St-Onge is freezing Gymnastics Canada's funding until the national federation signs on with the new Office of Sports Integrity Commissioner.

St-Onge said Thursday that she informed GymCan's CEO Ian Moss last week that the federation needed to accelerate their process to sign up, or their funding would be suspended until they completed that requirement.

The minister said it was effective immediately.

The news comes on the heels of more than 500 gymnasts calling on St-Onge to do exactly that. St-Onge froze Hockey Canada's funding in the wake of the national organization's handling of an alleged sexual assault and out-of-court settlement.

"I understand the sense of urgency that motivates these athletes and I share their call for meaningful change," St-Onge said in a statement. "It has been my main focus since I was appointed, to work with the tools I have and move toward solutions that encompass our sport system.

"One of those main solutions is the new Office of Sports Integrity Commissioner (OSIC). It is fully independent and responds to what athletes and organizations have been asking for."

St-Onge has asked all national sport organizations to sign on with OSIC.

Canada's first sport integrity commissioner, Sarah-Eve Pelletier, began receiving and addressing complaints of maltreatment in sport on June 20. It's unclear whether OSIC will hear historical complaints.

Gymnasts for Change, which represents more than athletes, wrote a public letter to St-Onge earlier in the day, requesting the suspension of funds, plus repeating their calls for an independent investigation into their sport amid numerous claims of maltreatment. Most recently, a coach in Lethbridge, Alta., was arrested last week