CAAWS – Toronto, February 25, 2019 – CAAWS celebrates the commitments made in the past week by Federal and Provincial/Territorial governments to support the advancement of gender equity in Canadian sport. The Federal-Provincial/Territorial Ministers for Sport, Physical Activity and Recreation endorsed a vision for “all women and girls to be equitably represented, recognized, and served across all aspects of Canadian sport”, accompanied by a set of actions agreed to in principle. This was followed by Federal Minister for Science and Sport, Kirsty Duncan, announcing the creation of a Gender Equity Secretariat at Sport Canada.

The pairing of these announcements with announcements on safe sport measures is not coincidental. Both are integral to values-based sport, and a more equitable sport system is a safer sport system; inclusion of girls and women, particularly in leadership roles, is a critical factor in achieving a sport system free from abuse, harassment and discrimination.

CAAWS has long called for a greater role for governments in promoting equity and inclusion. Governments are uniquely positioned to provide leadership on this topic by setting standards for inclusion and holding sports accountable for meeting those standards. We applaud the steps taken in the recent week, which have the potential to drive systemic change at all levels of sport.

We now call on the Federal and Provincial/Territorial governments to follow through in implementing the measures identified at the Ministers’ meeting in Red Deer. We commit our support to this important undertaking and will work in partnership with governments and sports to provide thought leadership and solutions that will lead to real, lasting change for a more equitable and inclusive sport system.

Federal-Provincial/Territorial Ministers’ press release – HERE

Federal announcement on Gender Equity Secretariat and National Code of Conduct – HERE

Media contact:

Greer Gemin

Communications Coordinator

greer@caaws.ca