(Ottawa) “I implore you, I implore you: you must initiate an independent judicial inquiry.” Judge Rosemarie Aquilina, who presided over the trial of medical abuser Larry Nassar, on Monday urged the Canadian government to move forward to end “the murder of the souls of athletes” who suffer abuse.
The outspoken magistrate – when sentencing physician Larry Nassar to up to 175 years in prison in 2018, she told him, “I just signed your death warrant” – testified before the committee parliamentarian looking at the safe practice of sport in Canada.
In her opening statement, she told elected officials that young Canadian athletes had come to her asking for help. “How come they have to reach out beyond your borders to demand an end to the abuse of minors in sport? “, she launched.
“Your Canadian athletes are asking you for the 100% they are giving you… Their health, safety and well-being are in grave danger. It is at risk every day that they perform with coaches who are untrained, insensitive, and whose philosophy of winning at all costs, “insisted the Michigan judge.
As a sign of the warm welcome she received, New Democrat Peter Julian called her a “heroine”. Liberal MP Lisa Hepfner also expressed admiration for his work, but pointed out that a public inquiry was not the equivalent of a trial.
True, agreed Rosemarie Aquilina. But a public inquiry would free the voices of suffering athletes and give them a “safe space” in which to do so. And Canada, by creating a public inquiry, would become “a world leader” that would inspire “the whole world”, including the United States.
Federal Sports Minister Pascale St-Onge pledged last May to set up a public inquiry “quickly”. In the meantime, she has unveiled the outlines of her reform to transform the “toxic” culture brought to light by a series of scandals in several sports federations.
At the end of the meeting, Bloc Québécois MP Sébastien Lemire spoke to the media to take stock of the progress made, welcoming the “spirit of collaboration” between parties in this file, but also saluting “the courage” of the many athletes who have spoken in the past year.
The elected member of the Bloc Québécois had adopted in June 2022 by unanimous consent a motion calling for the holding of a public inquiry. It took several months before Minister St-Onge indicated that she intended to go in this direction.
His office did not provide a timeline on when the exercise might get under way.
The scourge of abuse in amateur sport has been studied by the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage and the Standing Committee on the Status of Women. Gang rape allegations at Hockey Canada, which surfaced in May 2022, were the trigger for this work.
As the meetings progressed, many athletes pleaded for the opening of a public inquiry.
Larry Nassar was found guilty of having abused, between 1996 and 2014, at least 265 gymnasts for whom he was responsible as a doctor for the American Gymnastics Federation. At the end of the trial, Judge Aquilina allowed her victims to address their attacker. One hundred and fifty-six did. Among the victims of the ex-doctor are Olympic champions Simone Biles, Gabrielle Douglas and Aly Raisman, who sued USA Gymnastics for failing to protect them from Larry Nassar. The case was the subject of a documentary broadcast on Netflix, Athlete A. – Mélanie Marquis, La Presse
