Minister St-Onge announces creation of Sport Canada athletes commission

Canada's sport minister Pascale St-Onge emphasized once again that the athlete voice is critical in changing the sports culture in this country.

St-Onge announced a couple of safe-sport initiatives on Sunday, including the creation of an athlete advisory committee within Sport Canada to amplify athlete voices. The minister has also set a deadline of April 1, 2023 for national sport organizations (NSOs) to sign agreements to work with the new Office of the Integrity Commissioner (OSIC).

St-Onge also plans to review Sport Canada's funding agreements with NSO's to "ensure that the standards in matters of governance, accountability and security are reached."

"We're all working towards breaking that culture of silence," St-Onge said. "So let's make sure that the athletes can speak out and feel free to do it. There's no reason to keep them from talking about their situation and what they're going through."

St-Onge spoke at the culmination of the Canadian Olympic Committee's annual session in Montreal. The COC announced a day earlier that it's investing $10 million into safe sport initiatives amid what St-Onge has called a safe sport "crisis" in Canada.

Hundreds of athletes in gymnastics, boxing, and bobsled and skeleton have called for independent investigations into their sports in recent weeks.

"The biggest theme is that athletes feel unheard and unseen. And so even as a starting point being asked what our experiences are, what our perspectives are, what our ideas are for change is critically important," said Rosie MacLennan, a two-time Olympic trampoline champion and chair of the COC's athletes commission.

"None of us want to see this system fail. We're all truly passionate about the sport system. We all truly love it …