Athletics Canada CEO David Bedford facing complaints over Twitter posts

The CEO of Athletics Canada is apologizing for a series of sexually suggestive Twitter exchanges made over a number of months and posted to his personal account.

Dave Bedford posted the tweets as replies to nearly a dozen different Twitter accounts. The tweets have since been deleted.

"It's my personal account. It's not like I was sending out photos or tweets myself," Bedford told CBC Sports. "In this day and age with all we have been going through, I found some of these things funny so I commented. It's apparent others didn't feel the same way so I removed them."

In his personal Twitter bio, Bedford identifies himself as the CEO of Athletics Canada and provides a link to the publicly funded organization's website, which — as the national governing body of athletics — represents thousands of elite and amateur athletes across the country.

After receiving a number of internal complaints over the weekend, Athletics Canada's board chair Helen Manning spoke to Bedford who then deleted the offensive tweets and locked his account.

Emergency board meeting

Athletics Canada will hold an emergency board meeting Monday night to decide next steps. Board chair Helen Manning said confidence in Bedford's ongoing ability to lead will be a central point of discussion and didn't rule out asking for Bedford's resignation.

"There are certainly concerns that have been expressed by some of our membership," Manning said. "Those types of comments are not something that is in keeping with the policy of how we see our people in the public domain."

Manning said the organization has done a lot of work with Safe Sport, which aims to eliminate sexual harassment as well as physical and mental harassment among athletic organizations.

"We have spent a great deal of time and effort focused on trying to ensure the safest and most welcoming environment for our athletes and all of our members," Manning said.

Audrey Giles, a professor at the University of Ottawa and a member of Athletics Canada's Safe Sport Committee, said Bedford's behaviour brings his judgment into question.

'Raises questions'

"If he felt that that sort of public behaviour was acceptable, it raises questions about if he is the right person to be leading an organization through this era of safe sport," Giles said. "I think it's just like the hypocrisy of talking about having to hold coaches to a higher account, having to make spaces that are safe for athletes. Yet being somebody who engages in this, frankly, creepy online behaviour with women?

"I recognize that people can have a very diverse and exciting sexual lives. But when you are a leader of an organization, I think that the standards are higher."

Bedford was hired by Athletics Canada in 2019 and has worked in a variety of leadership roles across Canadian sport, including the Canadian Olympic Committee and the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League.