The Canadians regained Olympic gold in women’s hockey, returned to the men’s soccer World Cup after a 36-year absence and won the Davis Cup tennis world championship for the first time.
The Canadians regained Olympic gold in women’s hockey, returned to the men’s soccer World Cup after a 36-year absence and won the Davis Cup tennis world championship for the first time.
But 2022 was also a historic year off the field of play, as Canadian summer and winter athletes and their supporters united to target abuse, neglect and corruption in their sports.
How did we get here?
Rob Koehler, managing director of Global Athlete, blamed the win-at-all-costs mentality of Own the Podium, the high-performance legacy of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games. Koehler said a public inquiry was needed, like the one in 1989 after the Ben Johnson doping scandal.
“There is an opportunity here for Canada to lead the way in understanding safe sport and understanding how to create better safe sport,” Koehler said. “You can’t do this until you learn from the past, to develop the future.”
The key dates of a year of controversy.
January 19
Athletics Canada CEO Dave Bedford has suddenly retired following complaints about sexually charged tweets.
February 8
Bob Birarda, the former coach of the Vancouver Whitecaps women’s team and the National Women’s Under-20 team, pleaded guilty to three counts of sexual assault and one count of touching a young person for sexual purposes. Birarda appeared via web link in North Vancouver Provincial Court from his attorney’s office for crimes that occurred between 1988 and 2008.
March 14
Dozens of current and former Canadian sliders have called for the immediate resignation of Bobsleigh Canada Skeleton’s interim president and CEO, Sarah Storey, and high performance director, Chris Le Bihan. Their long list of grievances included a toxic culture, a lack of care for athlete safety, and poor transparency and governance.
March 22
Following two Rugby Canada coaching controversies and disappointments in 2021 at the Tokyo Olympics, Calgary-based STRAAD Consulting’s High Performance Review says current and former players have confessed they don’t Were not proud to wear the national team jersey.
“Either through acts of ‘omission or commission,’ the organization’s leadership – Board, Executive, Operations and Coaches – failed to effectively manage the short and long-term needs of the high-level program. performance,” the board said. report ordered.
April 20
A woman has filed a $3.55 million lawsuit in Ontario Superior Court against Hockey Canada alleging eight National Junior Team players sexually assaulted her at a hotel in London, Ont. June 19, 2018. The case was settled out of court the following month. Sport Canada froze funding for Hockey Canada.
April 29
Four former players filed a $5.5 million lawsuit against Water Polo Canada alleging physical, psychological and emotional abuse, sexual harassment and mental suffering between 2004 and 2016. In October, after the documents were served, the board ordered an independent investigation and suspended coach Pat Avoine.
May 4
More than 100 current and former Canadian boxers have demanded the resignation of Boxing Canada’s high performance director, Daniel Trépanier, following allegations of physical and emotional abuse and neglect. They got their wish four days later.
May 11
Former elite gymnast Amelia Cline has launched a class action lawsuit in British Columbia against Gymnastics Canada and six of its provincial affiliates, on behalf of all gymnasts since 1978 who have allegedly suffered sexual, physical and/or psychological abuse.
May 26
Relatives of Canadians killed in the 2020 Iranian military missile attack on Ukraine Airlines Flight 752 successfully lobbied the Canadian Soccer Association to cancel a the World Cup against Iran on June 5 at BC Place Stadium. The friendly match against substitute Panama was called off when Canadian players qualified for Qatar went on strike over a new contract.
June 12
At the annual meeting of the Canadian Olympic Committee in Montreal, Federal Sport Minister Pascal St-Onge set April 1, 2023 as the deadline for federally funded national sport organizations to come under the jurisdiction of the new Office of the Sports Integrity Commissioner, Sarah-, appointed in April. Eve Pelletier. She also announced the creation of a new Sport Canada Athlete Advisory Committee.
July 27
Hockey Canada executives testified before a House of Commons committee that $8.9 million had been paid into 21 sexual abuse settlements since 1989. Some of the funds came from amateur player registration fees.
October 11
After months of controversy, including sponsors suspending or ending their payments, Hockey Canada CEO Scott Smith and the board have resigned. A new council of five women and four men, chaired by retired judge Hugh Fraser, was elected on December 17.
November 2
A North Vancouver Provincial Court judge sentenced Birarda to nearly 16 months in jail, four months house arrest, four months under an 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew and three years probation.
November 5
The Bobsleigh Canada Skeleton Annual General Meeting which began September 29 in Calgary has resumed at the Whistler Sliding Centre. Storey dropped a bombshell: she would not run for a third term as president. His successor was sports physiologist Tara McNeil.
1st December
Ciara McCormack, the former player who denounced Birarda’s return to training in 2019, has added her voice to the campaign for a judicial public inquiry into the Canadian sports system.
At a House of Commons Women’s Committee hearing, McCormack also called for an investigation into the Canadian Soccer Association for covering up Birarda’s misconduct in 2008.
“There’s a lot of taxpayers’ money in FIFA 2026 and there’s been so much wrong with our situation that hasn’t been repaired in any way,” McCormack said.
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