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Quebec’s sports minister has tabled a bill to strengthen protections for young athletes and create a new role to investigate complaints.
Isabelle Charest says Bill 45 would create a recreation and sport integrity ombudsperson to receive abuse and harassment complaints, launch investigations on their own and make recommendations.
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The bill, which amends an existing law on safety in sports, guarantees protections for complainants and removes a 120-day limit to file a complaint.
Charest says the ombudsperson role will replace the office of the independent complaints officer, set up three years ago to deal with abuse cases.
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The bill would also tighten police background checks for anyone working with minors or who is in regular contact with them.
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A recent report from the Education Department identified problems with the criminal background verification process.
In a social media post, Premier François Legault said that volunteers — coaches, referees and other professionals — should be applauded for their work in youth sport. But he added that the government wants additional tools to protect young people from a “few bad apples.”
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