Embattled Rowing Canada signs with OSIC on heels of damaging independent study

Canada's Mike Evans, from left, Will Dean, Julien Bahain, Martin Barakso, Tim Schrijver, Conlin McCabe, Kai Langerfeld and Will Crothers celebrate after winning the gold medal in the men's eight rowing competition at the Pan Am Games, Wednesday, July 15, 2015, in St. Catherines, Ontario. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

Rowing Canada has signed an agreement to join Abuse-Free Sport, three weeks after an independent report Olympic champion Marnie McBean called "shocking" revealed a toxic environment in the sport.

The national federation will be able to access the new Office of the Sport Integrity Commissioner following a transition period that will end no later than Dec. 13.

"The sport community is in need of a consistent national safe sport program and this is a great step forward for everyone involved in sport in Canada," said Jennifer Fitzpatrick, Rowing Canada's director of partnerships and sport development. "We look forward to working with the (Sport Dispute Resolution Centre of Canada)."

Canada's women's eight crew rowed to gold at the Tokyo Olympics, continuing the tradition of excellence in Canadian rowing. But athletes complained about a toxic environment beneath the surface, prompting a third-party investigation by Rubin Thomlinson LLP.

McBean, a three-time Olympic gold medallist, quoted some of the report's findings in an Instagram post: Over 50 per cent of people surveyed describe their experience with RCA's high-performance environment as negative; over 85 per cent of people surveyed witness, experienced or heard maltreatment; and over 25 per cent of those surveyed wouldn't report maltreatment.

"These results should be a clear indicator to RCA board members that rowing is not being managed well by its leadership and that change is needed immediately," McBean wrote. "When are they going to accept the evidence that has been presented to them?"

A member of Canada's Olympic team told The Canadian Press she was recovering from an eating disorder caused by her unhealthy relationship with former national women's coach Dave Thompson, who was fired in February 2020, five months ahead of the original start date of the Tokyo Olympics. The dismissal came after a 2019 complaint filed against him under Rowing Canada's Prevention of Abuse, Harassment and Bullying Policy.

Thomlinson's scathing report on its investigation, released Oct. 3, found that Thompson's negative affect on the program, and the lack of transparency from RCA around his dismissal, was one of the biggest issues and left a lasting blow.

Katie Edwards, past president of Row Nova Scotia and president of the Canadian University Rowing Association, said she was struck by the fact Rowing Canada hasn't done anything to retain, promote or develop female coaches, which was addressed in the report.

Michelle Darvill was out of a job after coaching Canada's women's eight to Olympic gold. She now coaches the Dutch women's team, which won seven medals at the recent world championships.

"There are coaches who would lay down in traffic for you, and (Darvill is) like that, and the women on that team would do anything for her," Edwards said. "She came back from the Tokyo Olympics on the plane with the women jobless."

Rowing Canada's announcement Friday came on the heels of another embattled federation, Gymnastics Canada, announcing it had signed on with OSIC.

Canada's first sport integrity commissioner, Sarah-Eve Pelletier, began receiving and addressing complaints of maltreatment in sport on June 20. Canada's sport minister Pascale St-Onge has given national sport organizations until April to sign on or risk losing federal funding.

Edwards said we need to stop viewing maltreatment cases in sport as anomalies.

"It is so common for people to have negative experiences in sport, but it's also equally common for people not to speak about those negative experiences, or even to recognize them as negative or abusive," she said. "So, is rowing above that? No. And I think any sport organization is only reflective of the people at the helm."

Rowing took another hit last week when the sport was dropped from the Canada Games program for 2025.

"Rowing Canada seems convinced that we're going to be able to get back in for 2029, but that's in no way a certainty," said Edwards. "And still, that means that a generation if not two of young rowers won't have Canada Games."

The funding for many provinces is tied directly to the Canada Games, Edwards added.

"So, what we're seeing already in B.C. is that the provincial coach no longer has a position," she said.

RCA said it has adopted the Universal Code of Conduct to Prevent and Address Maltreatment in Sport (UCCMS), which is a requirement before it can become part of the Abuse-Free Sport program, and that the transition period will include "continued updating of our safe sport policies."

Rowing Canada said that prior to Dec. 13, participants who have experienced or witnessed abuse can access third-party services through Lisa MacLean of Wiser Workplaces.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 21, 2022.