Province to continue financial support for Calgary Stampede despite sex abuse settlement

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says the province will continue to provide financial support for the Calgary Stampede despite calls from a federal MP to pull funding from Ottawa in the wake of a sex-abuse settlement.

A partial settlement was reached this week in the class-action lawsuit alleging the organization allowed a performance school staffer with the Young Canadians to sexually abuse boys.

 

Smith noted at a press conference on Friday that the Stampede is the ‘premiere festival of Alberta’ and will continue to receive public funding.

 

At the same time however, she has asked the organization for evidence that it is taking steps to address the safety of children.

“It is our responsibility to make sure that kids are safe and that these protocols exist. They exist in other organizations to make sure that the children are protected,” Smith said.

“The issue about exploiting children and making sure children are safe is an issue Young Canadians has to answer and I can tell you what I hear from other youth groups is that they have in place protocols to make sure that there is a criminal record check for anyone who was involved in direct contact with children.”

Alberta Minister of Arts, Culture and Status of Women Tanya Fir also issued the following statement in response to a question from CTV News:

"Sexual assault and exploitation are reprehensible in all circumstance, but especially when children are involved. Children and youth must always be safe and protected.

"I will be meeting as soon as possible with Calgary Stampede and Young Canadians staff to ensure they have comprehensive policies and protections in place that guarantee the safety of children and youth participating in events."

'LOST PEOPLE'S TRUST'

Those remarks contrast from what Calgary-Skyview Liberal MP George Chahal posted to social media Thursday, noting that the Stampede has ‘lost people’s trust’ and that the federal government should halt all funding it provides.

After previously denying any wrongdoing, the Calgary Stampede accepted liability and negligence in the lawsuit involving three dozen plaintiffs, all of which were male students, employees, contractors or volunteers with the performance school.

The Stampede would pay damages that are to be worked out later this summer, pending the approval of the settlement from a judge at an upcoming court date on September 25.

Phillip Heerema was sentenced to 10 years in prison in 2018 for sexually exploitative acts related to six members of the Young Canadians, a performing arts group that stars nightly in the Calgary Stampede’s Grandstand Show.

Heerema was convicted for incidents that took place for more than two decades between 1992 and 2014.

Documents filed in the lawsuit, which was launched in 2017, also allege that Heerema’s abusive behaviour may have stretched back as far as 1987.

The lawsuit alleged that one of the victims, who was just 16-years-old at the time, approached a Grandstand Show executive in 1988 and reported being abused by Heerema.

'THERE NEEDS TO BE A HARD RECKONING’

Sara Austin is the founder and CEO of Children First Canada and has more than 20 years of experience advocating for the rights of kids across the country.

She told CTV News that it was encouraging to hear the Calgary Stampede take accountability and provide compensation, but was still deeply dismayed over the sex-abuse case.

“I think there needs to be a hard reckoning at all levels with the organization, with the board, with its management team, and with the volunteers that serve it and for our community as a whole,” Austin said.

“You know, this is an institution that our whole community in many ways rallies around and it plays a vital role in our economy, but what we're seeing here has been such a colossal failure to uphold their duty to protect children.”

Austin added that no amount of money will take away from the several years that victims have been waiting for justice and more work needs to be done.

“Organizations that work with children have a legal and a moral duty to do everything within their power to protect children that begins at the point of screening and ensuring that the staff and volunteers go through police checks” she said.

“But even more than that, there's reference checks that happen for character references, and there's training for all staff and volunteers around how to protect children and what to do if children experience abuse, how to record it and how to feel safe.

PLAINTIFF SUPPORTS REMARKS FROM CHAHAL

A plaintiff in the class-action lawsuit against the Calgary Stampede says he agrees with MP George Chahal’s statement, but doesn’t necessarily think withdrawing funding is the answer.

“Our goal is not to get the Stampede cancelled; we don’t think that needs to happen in order for justice to be served,” the plaintiff said.

“But you know at the end of the day, this is still only partially settled. I don’t think that the Stampede or the victims can fully put this behind us and begin to heal until there is a full resolution for everyone.”

The plaintiff noted that the wavering of accountability and responsibility from the Stampede is what really hurt him the most and that this case should be remembered as an example of the importance of protecting children.

Another plaintiff -- the main plaintiff in the case -- issued the following statement:

"On behalf of myself and the Class I would like to extend my appreciation for the outpourings of support that have been made following the announcement in Court earlier this week that there is a proposed settlement on liability." the statement read.

"The proposed settlement remains subject to input from Class Members and subject to Court approval. If approved, our goal going forward would then be to work to resolve damages and to take one step further in trying to obtain closure for those who have been affected. I am committed to working with the Stampede Defendants where possible to try to reach an agreement on damages and to seek the Court’s involvement where necessary.

"Many individuals in the Class have been carrying the weight of their abuse for decades and do not have the resources to access ongoing support. My hope is that the Stampede will recognize the urgency of this situation and take action to help us move on after all these years."

The office of MP Dan Vandal, the Minister Responsible for Prairies Economic Development Canada,issued the following statement:

"The Calgary Stampede’s recent admission of liability in the failure to protect young participants and employees of the Young Canadians School of Performing Arts for over 30 years is deeply upsetting.

"The Stampede must do everything in its power to support the victims, and show that concrete steps are taken to ensure nothing like these horrific crimes ever happens again. Our thoughts are with the victims and their families at this time.

"PrairiesCan has no future scheduled funding to the Calgary Stampede, and will assess any future requests. This is a very sensitive matter that demands our attention and discretion as we examine a path forward from this tragic development."

'WE TOOK IMMEDIATE ACTION IN 2014': CALGARY STAMPEDE

In a statement provided to CTV News by Calgary Stampede CEO Joel Cowley, the organization says it ‘hears and respects’ concerns raised about what it knew and when.

"We took immediate action upon learning of the allegations in 2014.With this settlement agreement, the Calgary Stampede takes responsibility and acknowledges that we should have known much sooner. For this, we are truly sorry,” Cowley’s statement read.

“While we can’t change the past, we remain committed to doing everything possible to guard against anything similar ever happening again and have taken many meaningful steps over the past nine years to enhance the safety and wellness of our youth participants.

The lawsuit is still before the courts. The settlement is expected to reflect agreement with the victims and we hope that outcome will help the victims and their families begin to heal.”

SUPPORT AND RESOURCES

Anyone in need of support regarding the traumatic impacts of a sexual assault or child abuse case is encouraged to call the Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-387-5437

Other resources include the Luna Child and Youth Advocacy Centre at 403-428-5300 or the Kids Help Phone at 1-800-668-6868

If you or someone you know needs help right away, call 911.