Jean-Luc Brassard's threat to quit over COC's Aubut decisions is a positive step
The sexual harrassment scandal that prompted Canadian Olympic Committee president Marcel Aubut to first step down and then resign in October is still having its effects felt inside Canada's Olympic organization, and it could have an impact on preparations for the Rio 2016 Olympics this summer.
Jean-Luc Brassard, the former freestyle skier who competed for Canada at four Olympics, won gold in 1994, and is now the 2016 chef de mission, told the CBC he's contemplated resigning over the COC's handling of the Aubut saga and may still do so if the organization doesn't provide answers as to why complaints about Aubut were ignored for years:
"During the last four years, red lights were lit on a number of occasions, and, intentionally or not, they were ignored. I want to know why. We're not talking about budgetary mistakes or financial issues, we're talking about human feelings," Brassard said.
Brassard said he believes it's vital to act quickly to prevent these incidents from happening again.
The COC fired three people in the wake of the allegations against Aubut, but other people in the organization may have had knowledge of the alleged harassment and stayed silent, Brassard said.
"It's not the moment to put your head in the sand," Brassard said in a later interview with CBC News. "It's time to face the situation."
The COC has made some progress since Aubut's departure, with former rower Tricia Smith taking over first as interim president and then being elected as full president in November. Smith vowed to be "a champion for creating a safe and inclusive environment for our employees and all those involved in the Olympic Movement in this country," and she has changed some things already. Days after a three-month independent review in January found "the majority of staff interviewed 'experienced or witnessed harassment both sexual and personal' during former president Marcel Aubut’stenure," the COC dismissed executive director of operations Judy Crute, chief of sport officer Caroline Assalian and human resources manager Robert Cousin.
Brassard told the CBC he thinks Smith has the organization heading the right way, saying "She's making changes, she's put in place procedures, and she's being very receptive to my call for greater transparency." Smith also told The Canadian Press Friday that the COC is working to address Brassard's complaints:
"Jean-Luc Brassard is an incredible Canadian and an incredible Olympian," said the four-time Olympic rower. "He is passionate about the Olympic movement like I am.
"I have spoken to him recently. He is very trusting and said he has faith in what I am doing. We will make sure the steps are taken to be sure we have a safe and healthy environment for all our staff and anyone in the Olympic movement."
There are still, however, plenty of questions to be answered about how Aubut's alleged harassment went unpunished for so long, as that independent report by employment lawyer Christine Thomlinson found there were plenty of complaints from staff that went unacted on.
Staff believed “the board and the (senior leadership team) were aware of information that suggested harassment was occurring in their workplace and they were unable or unwilling to take steps to address it,” states the report, released Wednesday afternoon.
The review also uncovered instances where managers or senior staff had information about harassment but did nothing about it because (a) they didn’t see it as “legally problematic” or didn’t know what to do; (b) took steps to mitigate the problem for the employee without trying to stop the harassment from occurring; (c) or passed the information on to someone else without knowing if it was ever acted upon.
It’s a terrible summary for any modern day organization.
This bears some similarities to the Penn State sexual assault scandal, as a key issue in both wasn't a lack of reports, but inaction on those reports from senior employees and board members. The personnel changes the COC has already made may address some of that, but the review seems to implicate far more than three people. In particular, the actions (or lack thereof) from the board deserve plenty of scrutiny.
The COC has a large board of directors, including 12 elected members and 7 ex-officio members. (It's worth noting that Smith played a key role on that board during this time, as she was a COC vice-president from 2009 until taking over Aubut's role as president in 2015.) It's unclear how much information the board as an entity or individual members of the board had, but that report that staff believed they had it certainly doesn't look good for them.
Brassard told the CBC he wrote a letter to the board last weekend asking them to explain "What happened during the five years these allegations were known about?" We'll see if answers to that question ever become public (it's notable that Smith promised greater transparency, but only released the 16-page summary of the review, not the full review), but they may determine if and how much further housecleaning is needed.
It's worth noting that one of the major problems with Aubut's regime was just how much control he had. As Kerry Gillespie of The Toronto Star wrote last month, "Before his dramatic and swift fall from power, the 68-year-old had effectively taken over the organization dedicated to supporting Canadian Olympic teams to the point it was often dubbed the 'Marcel Show'." Aubut did some good things for the COC, helping to bring in plenty of government and corporate sponsorship in particular and helping to instill a focus on high achievement, but he never should have had the level of power he did; there need to be checks and balances on any sort of leader, and there clearly weren't enough at the COC."
Perhaps part of the problem is with the board; it's a large one, but one that doesn't seem terribly empowered, and the size may have its members with too little individual influence. Or perhaps the issue is with how the president deals with the board; during the Aubut era, the power was in the president's office, with the board often just approving his actions. More balance there and a more strictly-defined role for the president might help. There seem to be some significant structural issues at the COC, both with harassment reporting in particular and with the relationship between the board and the president in general, and those need to be addressed.
Brassard's threat to resign if the situation isn't fixed may play a key role in pushing the COC to take further action. The chef de mission role is an important and high-profile one in any Olympics, working to coordinate logistics for athletes (not easy for an event that takes place across three weeks and 28 sports in a distant country), get the various sports federations to work with the COC, talk with the media, and deal with corporate sponsors. Trying to fill it at this late date could be disastrous; current assistant chef de mission Carol Huynh could be elevated, but picking up the main role midstream would be tough, and Brassard's absence would leave a void. Also, if Brassard resigns because the organization wouldn't fully address the Aubut scandal and work to prevent another such instance, that's going to create a maelstrom of bad publicity for the COC. This is a valuable ultimatum from him, and his reasons for making it are strong:
"I don't want to have a team that is in ruins behind me. It will be hard to celebrate our accomplishments when some employees are hiding their pain," he said.
Brassard said if nothing changes, he would consider resigning as chef de mission.
"If I have the impression I can't do anything for the employees who are still hurt by this, I would consider that a failure, and I might have to distance myself," he said.
We'll see what happens here, but hopefully the COC will listen to Brassard, answer his questions about how Aubut's behaviour went unaddressed for so long, and work with him and other reform-minded members to create a better structure going forward so this doesn't happen again. Brassard has an influential role, and an influential voice. His decision to use it to advocate for reform here seems like a smart one, and one that might be ultimately very beneficial for the COC.