Safe sport advocate senses a government shift on issue of national inquiry

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The systemic problems are decades old, and the solutions may be years in the making, but safe-sport advocate Kim Shore saw movement Monday.

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And it gave her hope that the federal government is no longer categorically opposed to a judicial investigation into a sports system that is so obviously in crisis.

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Calgary-based Shore was back on Parliament Hill – performing for the sixth time since July – testifying to the Heritage Committee when she felt a change in wind direction.

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“Today in the hearing there was a shift from what I’m going to call quick fixes – let’s fire a CEO, let’s say there have to be parent visits, let’s do a lot of reconnaissance – we went from those conversations to, ‘OK, what what would a national inquiry look like, what would it achieve and how do we go about it?’ ”

Sports Minister Pascale St-Onge, who has at least publicly opposed repeated calls for an investigation, was not at the hearing. Liberal Reps Anthony Housefather and Lisa Hepfner were there, and it was a tweet from Housefather that fell midway through the hearing and stopped Shore.

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“As my colleague (Hepfner) just said and reiterated (St-Onge) it’s not a question of whether we do a national safe sport inquiry, it’s a question of how we do it,” Housefather tweeted. “It’s so important to move forward.”

There’s no public record of St-Onge supporting the call for an investigation, so Housefather’s tweet is odd, but Shore said her group saw it as “a bit of a green light” and an indication that St-Onge was in favor could .

If so, it couldn’t be soon enough for Shore and colleagues, who launched Gymnasts for Change Canada a year ago by publishing an open letter from survivors of sexual, physical, psychological and mental abuse. They took their fight to a federal government that promised safe sport would be a priority. That was five years ago, when outspoken advocate Kirsty Duncan was Secretary of State for Sport, and athletes are no safer today.

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“No, which I actually find shocking,” Shore said. “They should be because I think coaches and administrators are on high alert, but the number of current examples of egregious behavior hasn’t diminished.”

Just last week, 50 Canadian fencers issued an open letter accusing 20 years of abuse by coaches.

“For about two decades, fear of retribution prevented us from speaking out, and this enforced silence has led to complicity in our own abuse,” the fencers wrote.

Her voice echoes that of now more than 700 gymnasts who have signed an open letter calling for an investigation.

Shore takes all of the survivors with her in spirit each time she returns to Parliament Hill to once again battle the political windmills. Her efforts are supported by six other volunteers at Gymnasts for Change Canada and by advocacy groups Global Athlete and Scholars Against Abuse.

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“A lot of people ask how you guys are going on and is it anger that’s driving you?” Shore said. “Honestly, the engine of revenge or anger would have fizzled out long ago. We are driven by love. Love for sports, love for gymnastics, taking care of the children and that the engine doesn’t stop. love doesn’t go away It’s part of the fabric of who we are.”

Her passion for the cause has weathered endless frustrations and been reignited by important victories.

“I would say it’s been a win for Gymnasts for Change that we’ve gathered our community of survivors together so they know they’re not alone,” Shore said. “Beyond any political victory, the most important part of our entire mission is to let survivors of every sport know that they can come to us and that we are here to support them.

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“I think the frustration is that it’s taken a solid year of volunteer advocacy for us and others, we’re still struggling and we’re not there yet. There’s all this political positioning instead of people really thinking about what we urgently need to do in the name of protecting children and athletes?”

Shore hopes the federal government won’t apply another financial band-aid to the sports system’s woes in Tuesday’s budget, saying it needs to be reassessed and scrutinized on issues like governance, finance and security. And she has vowed to continue her work in Ottawa for as long as it takes.

“Until Parliament rests for the summer we will continue to push for this national inquiry because every day we don’t get is another day of children and athletes at risk, of corruption and collusion and all the worst of it of the sport are allowed to continue,” Shore said.

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