U.S. Judge Aquilina urges Sport Canada to heed gymnasts' call for investigation into abuse, toxic culture

Canadian gymnasts remain steadfast in their calls for an independent investigation into the toxic culture and maltreatment of athletes, and are angry they weren't provided a seat at the Canadian sport minister's recent roundtable.

A group of 71 gymnasts that wrote to Sport Canada a week ago has now grown to over 300 signatories, and earned the support of U.S. Judge Rosemarie Aquilina, who famously presided over the Larry Nassar sexual abuse case.

And in a statement on Monday they questioned why Minister Pascale St-Onge excluded the "very athletes who brought forward countless cases of abuse in their sport."

St-Onge held an emergency roundtable on Thursday, calling the maltreatment in sport a "crisis." In her five months on the job, St-Onge said there've been allegations of either maltreatment, sexual abuse or misuse of funds levelled against at least eight national sport organizations.

In Monday's statement, the gymnasts said they had yet to receive any direct communication from the Sport Minister.

"Dolefully, the very athletes who brought forward this crisis were not engaged, did not receive the official minutes of the meeting, nor has the Sport Minister reached out to the athlete leaders calling for change," they wrote.

The gymnasts' plea for a third-party investigation has been heard outside Canada.

Judge Aquilina, who sent Nassar, a U.S. gymnastics doctor, to jail for life after accusations of sexual assault from hundreds of women, recorded a video of support to the Canadians on Monday.

"I hear you, I see you, I support you, I'm listening, I stand with you," Aquilina said in the three-minute video.

"You matter, your voice matters, you're not just speaking up for yourself, you're speaking up for all of those who