A group of Canadian gymnasts who have called for an independent investigation into their sport are “dismayed, but not surprised” by Gymnastics Canada’s announcement of a cultural review.
McLaren Global Sport Solutions (MGSS) was hired to review Gymnastics Canada’s national safe sport policies and procedures after dozens of current and former gymnasts wrote to Sport Canada alleging mistreatment amid a toxic culture in their sport.
“GymCan has unilaterally imposed this process on survivors without consultation or discussion,” the athletes, who call themselves Gymnasts for Change, said in a statement.
“The announcement offers no assurance that this process is trauma-informed, safe, and meaningful for survivors to participate in. In fact, the ad makes no mention of survivors or the epidemic of abuse within the gym at all. This follows a consistent pattern of the institution placing its concerns for self-preservation above the needs of survivors and highlights GymCan’s continued failure to truly listen to survivors in this sport.”
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The dozens of gymnasts who wrote an open letter to Sport Canada in early April have since grown to more than 550 signatories. Additionally, former gymnast Amelia Cline was the named plaintiff in a proposed class action lawsuit against Gymnastics Canada and six provincial gymnastics federations. The proposed class of plaintiffs allege physical, sexual, and/or psychological abuse while participating in programs provided by those organizations dating back to 1978.
The proposed 32-page class action lawsuit was filed in the British Columbia Supreme Court last month.
“The MGSS team is delighted to be working with GymCan on this important engagement,” McLaren chief executive Richard McLaren said in a statement on Thursday. “The sport of gymnastics globally has faced intense scrutiny and the same is true here in Canada. We will review the findings of international reports and engage the voices of athletes and other members of the GymCan community.”
Gymnastics was one of several sports to complain to Canada’s Sports Minister Pascale St-Onge about toxic cultures and mistreatment in their sport in what St-Onge has called a “crisis” of safe sport.
Hockey Canada is the latest to make headlines after quietly settling a lawsuit last month after a woman, now 24, claimed she was assaulted by members of the 2018 gold medal-winning world junior team in a gala four years ago in London, Ontario. . None of the accusations have been proven in court.
“The problem of systemic child abuse in gymnastics deserves the full attention of the Government and by continuing to ignore our calls on it, it risks being perceived as complicit along with GymCan,” the gymnasts said.
“The Standing Heritage Committee has ordered an independent investigation into Canada’s hockey culture. Just as it would be galling for Hockey Canada to pay for its own investigation, it should also shock the conscience of the government and the public that GymCan is allowed to investigate itself without oversight or any guarantee of liability.”
Hockey Canada executives were questioned by lawmakers on Parliament Hill last week during a meeting of the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage investigating the matter. The national sports organization has lost government funding and several major sponsors due to its handling of the case.
In gymnastics, 11 former gymnasts, known as Bluewater Survivors, also publicly criticized GymCan’s handling of its abuse investigation against coaches Dave and Elizabeth Brubaker last month, saying they were re-victimized for their enforced silence. The 11 comprise the core group of athletes who pushed for a third-party investigation and testified in the 2020 disciplinary proceeding with Gymnastics Canada.
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According to the 11, who trained at Bluewater Gymnastics in Sarnia, Ontario, a March 2021 disciplinary trial found 54 counts of misconduct, including emotional, psychological, physical and sexual abuse, in the couple’s capacity as coaches over several years, up to and including the year of Dave Brubaker’s arrest in 2017.
Brubaker was charged with multiple counts of sexual abuse. He was found not guilty, but GymCan launched its own investigation after numerous allegations and Brubaker was banned for life in 2021. His wife Elizabeth was banned from 2019 to 2024. The Brubakers have denied all allegations.
Gymnasts for Change repeated its call for Sport Canada to intervene, saying the McLaren review is not independent as it has been “bought and paid for by GymCan”.
They said GymCan’s response “bears striking similarities” to the strategy adopted by USA Gymnastics following the Larry Nassar scandal. Nassar, an American medical gymnast, received life in prison after allegations of sexual assault by hundreds of women.
“By failing to invite a fully independent, transparent, binding and trauma-informed investigation, GymCan continues to refuse to acknowledge the systemic abuses rampant in this sport or to hold accountable those who have championed this toxic system for decades.” they said.
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McLaren said in its statement on Thursday that the cultural review roadmap will engage athletes and alumni at various levels, as well as provincial and territorial leaders, coaches, parents and others to identify key issues.
“It is imperative that Gymnastics Canada get it right, so we believe engaging the GymCan community will inform a best-in-class culture review and ideally build trust in the process,” McLaren said.
GymCan CEO Ian Moss added: “Despite our many efforts over the years to proactively address mistreatment, we strive to do better. We believe the culture review roadmap will provide us with the clarity we need to make the necessary changes to our system and build higher levels of trust.”
Among McLaren’s previous work, he was commissioned by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) in 2016 to investigate allegations and evidence of state-sponsored doping in Russia. The report was published in two parts in July and December 2016.
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