B.C. government commits $500,000 to safe sport

Jul 6, 2022 | 3:13 PM

BURNABY, B.C. — The B.C. government is pumping $500,000 into its safe sport program amid numerous reports of abuse and maltreatment in Canadian sport.

Melanie Mark, B.C.’s minister of tourism, arts, culture and sports, says abuse in sport or anywhere else is completely unacceptable.

The half million dollars is in addition to an initial investment of $250,000 back in 2019-20, the minister said.

As of last year, all provincially funded sport organizations in B.C. were required to adopt a universal code of conduct as well as provide complaint reporting mechanisms and safe-sport information on their websites.

Nearly 1,000 sport leaders and board members in amateur sport organizations have completed a course designed by the Canadian Centre for Child Protection to safeguard kids from sexual abuse, Mark’s department said in a statement.

Since Pascale St-Onge took over as Canadian sports minister in October, her ministry has been awash in complaints of maltreatment and abuse. St-Onge has called it a crisis.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 7, 2022.

The Canadian Press