June 19, 2018
For Immediate Release

Today, the Honourable Kirsty Duncan, Minister of Science and Minister of Sport and Persons with Disabilities, announced stronger measures to eliminate harassment in the Canadian sport system.

“All Canadians deserve to participate and compete in a sport environment, free from harassment, abuse or discrimination, regardless of gender, race, religion, language, age and ability. The Government of Canada recognizes the presence of harassment, abuse and discrimination in sport and is committed to stopping further instances.”

New provisions in funding agreements will support eligible sport organizations in fostering healthy and safe workplace environments.

Effective immediately:

 

• Federally funded sport organizations must take all necessary measures to create a workplace free from harassment, abuse or discrimination of any kind.
• They must immediately disclose any incident of harassment, abuse or discrimination that could compromise the project or programming to the Minister of Sport and Persons with Disabilities.
• They must make provisions—within their governance framework—for access to an independent third party to address harassment and abuse cases.
• They must provide mandatory training on harassment and abuse to their members by April 1, 2020 and are challenged to make this a priority and put mandatory training in place as soon as possible.

 

“Harassment of any kind is completely unacceptable, and the safety and security of athletes, coaches and officials is always our top priority. We all must play a role in protecting our young people and our athletes: to speak up when we see something that doesn’t seem quite right and to listen—really listen—to our athletes. And most importantly, to act when the situation demands it to ensure our athletes always have the support they need from us.”

—The Honourable Kirsty Duncan, Minister of Science and Minister of Sport and Persons with Disabilities

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Respect Group was incorporated on April 5th, 2004 by co-founders, Sheldon Kennedy and Wayne McNeil, to pursue their common passion: the prevention of bullying, abuse, harassment and discrimination (BAHD). Offering certification programs for Community/Sport Organizations (Respect in Sport), Schools and the Workplace, Respect Group has certified over 1,000,000 Canadians.

 

We welcome and encourage sport organizations to view our programs at: www.respectinsport.com

For more information please email: info@respectgroupinc.com

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