Scholars call for independent inquiry into sports in Canada – Halifax | globalnews.ca

Canadian and international scholars have written a letter To Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, calling for an independent inquiry into the Games in Canada.

“There has to be something that digs deeper and looks more on the preventive side of things,” says Mac Ross, a professor at Western University.

Ross led Scholars Against Abuse in the Canadian Sport Letter, saying Canadian athletes deserve better.

“We have human rights experts, law experts, board experts, sociologists, historians. People are looking at this through different lenses than the government, and clearly coming to very different conclusions than the government.

He says it was important to bring all those voices together and put them side by side with the survivors.

“We have no shortage of reasons or examples of why this is important right now,” says sports sociologist Cheryl McDonald.

The letter was signed by 91 individuals from 47 institutions.

It highlights how the Office of the Sport Integrity Commissioner (OSIC) is failing athletes who are being treated unfairly.

“The government should appoint a third party to conduct a proper, thorough, trauma-sensitive inquiry into the systemic failure of the nation’s sporting system,” the letter read.

Ross says it’s important to have an independent judicial inquiry that can dig in and tease out some of the more complex cases that he doesn’t think OSIC will be able to do.

“Maybe they’re a little too close at the moment, and in this specific case, maybe it’s time to expand a little bit more and get a different perspective,” McDonald says.

Ross says the purpose of the investigation should be to prevent rather than simply respond to abuse.

While there has been no direct response from Prime Minister Trudeau, other lawmakers have reached out to Ross to offer their support.

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