Category: ethics

First priority is to continue programming as planned despite the government funding freeze.

He seems to be willing to have a more independent and transparent process.

BUT I’m not clear on how and why Sports Canada would unfreeze funding any time soon.

The government froze funding for Gymnastics Canada, following abuse allegations. Today PM Trudeau said the organization needs to reassure parents the sport is safe. The CEO of @gymcan1 says "[Parents] have to do their due diligence before you put any children into sport…" pic.twitter.com/Sb88KElVlk

— Aarti Pole आरती (@aartipole) July 23, 2022

… We agree with “Gymnasts For Change” that a safe and welcoming environment for all participants in sport is of paramount importance, and that we must continue to be vigilant in eradicating any opportunity for negative, inappropriate or abusive behaviour to occur. 

The engagement of the McLaren Group speaks to our shared commitment of creating a holistic environment by collectively building a “roadmap” towards effective and sustainable behavioural and cultural change. …

We believe in the integrity of the process being led by the McLaren Group to help us create a holistic path forward and look forward to learning from this process and sharing the results with our community.

Gymnastics Canada response to Minister St. Onge's funding freeze announcementhttps://t.co/JcKQz3bnPY pic.twitter.com/EFbVsdA0Mi

— Gymnastics Canada (@gymcan1) July 22, 2022

Many of those who have petitioned through “Gymnasts For Change” believe the McLaren Group is not independent enough to get the job done properly.

The Prime Minister of Canada has weighed in on the issue.

The Canadian government is serious about making improvements NOW.

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. …

CBC

The Whyte Review looked into the practices of British Gymnastics.

It was co-commissioned by UK Sport and Sport England and led by Anne Whyte QC.

The review received in excess of 400 submissions of evidence. 190 interviews were conducted for the report, including 133 former and current gymnasts.

The report detailed ‘systemic’ accounts of both physical and emotional abuse of young athletes.

The submissions described sexual assault, excessive weigh management and emotional abuse of gymnasts.

British Gymnastics has a Whyte Review page. It includes a response from CEO Sarah Powell.

British Gymnastics is also facing separate legal action from dozens of gymnasts, including a number of Olympians, who allege widespread physical and emotional abuse.

Last week the 19-year-old gymnast Eloise Jotischky became the first person to win a civil case against British Gymnastics for the abuse she suffered in the sport.

Many around the world are right now reading and responding.