Canadian Gymnasts Urge Sports Minister for Probe Into Child Abuse Allegations

Summary

• Gymnasts for Change Canada call for investigation into child abuse 
• Young Canadian gymnasts are being tortured in a toxic sports culture
• Sports Minister looking into the matter but yet to launch investigation 

Gymnasts for Change Canada (GCC), an advocacy group comprising over 500 gymnasts, alleged that its calls for an investigation into allegations of child abuse and toxic culture in the sport were not answered for several months. The group urged the country’s federal sports minister Pascale St-Onge to initiate an independent probe into the matter.

Group Miffed With Inaction on Complaints

The group expressed its disappointment and said that the lack of enthusiasm to initiate any action dismissed the survivors’ experiences of public humiliation, sexual grooming, mental and physical abuse. The GCC claimed that it had sent a comprehensive list of such allegations in a detailed email to the minister and her chief of staff in June 2022 but St-Onge’s office did not respond to the mail.

The group had also addressed an open letter to the minister in March demanding an independent judicial probe on the matter. The group chided St-Onge for her indifference toward the accusations. The minister responded to the GCC’s recent letter, saying that the accounts of abuse in the Olympic Canadian gymnastics scene were extremely concerning and demanded a collective response.

St-Onge elaborated that the establishment of the Office of the Sport Integrity Commissioner (OSIC) is a part of the change that athletes were striving for. The OSIC is an independent but federally-funded body that aims to address individual complaints and undertake cultural sports assessments. The body can review the reported incidences of maltreatment in live sports such as gymnastics.

Ex-sports minister Kirsty Duncan and former GymCan member Kim Shore mentioned that Canada should follow Australia and Great Britain in conducting thorough investigations. The GCC further noted that while Gymnastics Canada was on board with the OSIC, the latter’s limited powers and resources might be inadequate in tackling the culture of harassment and abuse.

St-Onge Yet to Approve Sports Environment Assessment

St-Onge and her team have still not approved the Sports Environment Assessment as they feel that a more robust system is required to eradicate mistreatment in Canadian gymnastics. The minister confirmed that her team has been talking to athletes for six months to arrive at a concrete decision.

Meanwhile, abuse is still rampant in the sport and continues to this day, according to the GCC. In July, coach Jamie Ellacott was arrested for sexually assaulting minor players in Lethbridge. Gymnasts like Abby Spadafora and Alexandra Landry came out with their own experiences of abuse meted by coaches. The two athletes supported the calls for a probe and demanded Gymnastics Canada do more to protect players.