COC CEO 2023 Session Recap – Team Canada

Each year, our members and the broader sports community gather for the Canadian Olympic Committee meeting – an opportunity to discuss long-term goals, important issues and system-wide solutions. As a non-profit organization, it also serves as the annual general meeting of the COC. In addition to the important organizational matters of an annual general meeting, the focus this weekend was on the needs of Canadian athletes and the future sports system.

We were joined by guest speakers (thanks Estelle Metayer and Nouman Ashraf!) who encouraged us to consider new ways of thinking about embracing change, reminded us of the importance of sport and urged us to explore how, as individuals, we can a system, may be most effective. Which was fitting, because it was clear that the system needed strong safe sport initiatives, effective athlete representation, and the resources to make it all work — three areas that are inextricably linked and that require meaningful system-wide change to achieve.

I have already said that an underfunded system is one that cannot be completely secure. Lack of funding leads to understaffing, burned-out staff and a lack of support for athletes and coaches. It’s also taking a toll on organizations that rely heavily on the support of volunteers to function, as leaders are expected to do whatever it takes to keep their organizations afloat. Unfortunately, the 2023 federal budget did not include increases in sports funding that would have helped address many of these issues. Despite this, all session participants, from athletes to executives, reiterated their commitment to finding solutions.

On Saturday we hosted an Athlete Representation Panel moderated by Olympic Medalist, President of the Commonwealth Games Canada and Chair of the OLY Canada Commission, Claire Carver Dias, on the following topics:

• Two-time Olympic champion Rosie MacLennan, Chair of the COC Athletes’ Commission
• Olympic bobsledder Cynthia Appiah, representative of Bobsleigh Canada’s skeleton athletes
• Helen Manning, CEO of Athletics Canada
• Dustin Heise, Chief Executive Officer of Canada Snowboard
• Governance expert Shai Dubey from Queen’s University Smith School of Business

The clear realization was that sport cannot shy away from effective athlete representation; they have to accept it. I firmly believe that when athlete representation is encouraged and supported through training and mentoring, sport becomes safer at all levels. At the COC, our Athletes’ Committee is extensively consulted on issues affecting athletes and two of its members, Rosie MacLennan and Inaki Gomez, serve on the COC’s Board of Directors. We also have 19 Olympians, Paralympians and Pan American Games athletes, including Rosie and Inaki, on the staff and board of the COC and Foundation, all of whom play key roles in our day-to-day operations.

The discussion continued on Sunday when we hosted a Deloitte-facilitated workshop on Safer Sport as part of the COC’s ongoing commitment to support a safe, inclusive and accessible sport system. The workshop brought together more than 200 athletes and leaders from across Canada’s sports system for difficult but solution-oriented conversations about one of the most pressing issues facing sport in this country right now.

Safe sport has been a key area for all of us in the Canadian sports system this year. At last year’s meeting, the COC announced a $10 million investment in safe sports. A portion of this investment was earmarked to support the transition of all NSOs and MSOs to an abuse-free sport. Since then we have worked tirelessly with our sports partners to ensure these funds are invested wisely and effectively. A key element of the COC’s work was support for the establishment and early development of the Office of the Sports Integrity Officer (OSIC). I was thrilled that OSIC now has more than 80 signatories and some provinces are considering signing up. I cannot stress enough how important this step is. The system was loud and clear that having athletes at all levels have access to an independent mechanism to report abuse and harassment is absolutely critical to making the sport safe and accessible to all. The remainder of our $10 million investment in Safe Sport will be used for the highest impact needs, and we’re working with the entire community to determine where those gaps are and how we can harmonize existing work.

It was a strong workshop that showed me once again that our system is versatile. No one in the room was against a stronger athlete’s voice or a strong and independent safe sport mechanism, and everyone was looking for solutions. Key findings included the need to strengthen the system in terms of better training, more transparency, educational options for athletes and most importantly parents. It is clear that the OSIC is an important element, perhaps even the foundation, of a safe and inclusive system, much like the Canadian Center for Ethics in Sport does for anti-doping. But it is also clear that Canada needs a broader awareness campaign that empowers parents and everyone involved to ask the right questions and have a single point of contact for support.

The session and workshops left me thoughtful and full of energy. With more than 200 athletes and sports system officials in the room, it was impossible not to be inspired. And as we look ahead to the next 16 months, there is even more reason to be excited: we have the ANOC World Beach Games Bali 2023 this summer, the Pan American Games Santiago 2023 this fall and the Gangwon 2024 Winter Youth Olympic Games in January and the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, beginning in July 2024.

With all of this, it’s not surprising that there was a consensus that the system needs to be better at talking about what it’s good at. As one of our guest speakers said, the system needs to demonstrate to Canadians the power of sport because sport, when done right, is an incredible force for good. It builds communities; it builds leaders; it’s good for the economy; It is good for the physical and mental health of everyone involved and much more.

In fact, the weekend ended with a call for a manifesto, something to rally around that demonstrates everyone’s total commitment to supporting survivors of abuse in sport, building safe sport structures necessary to prevent future abuse, and to pass on the benefits of the sport to as many Canadians as possible. There’s a lot of hard work to be done, everyone agrees, but it’s getting better and better and I’m proud that the system put participant well-being at the center over the weekend. This may not be a manifesto, but it is certainly the way forward.