Liberal sports secretary says IOC's new gender screening rules are 'going back in time'

OTTAWA — Canada’s top federal sports official says he’s “concerned” about new eligibility rules limiting Olympic women’s events to biological females, but says the changes are unlikely to stop Canada from trying to host the Olympics in the future.

Secretary of State for Sport Adam van Koeverden told reporters in Calgary on Monday that he was worried about the International Olympic Committee’s plan to roll out mandatory genetic screening for all athletes competing in the female category.

Van Koeverden said the IOC’s new gender eligibility policy was a step backwards.

“I’m quite concerned that going back in time 30 years, to a time when (gender verification testing) was commonplace, will be harmful to sport, and specifically women’s participation in sport,” said van Koeverden.

Van Koeverden was in Calgary to announce new funding for high-performance athletes, including Olympic hopefuls.

The IOC recently announced a sweeping ban on transgender and intersex athletes from participating in all women’s events at future Olympic Games. All female athletes must take a one-time chromosomal test to compete in their sport.

The announcement ended a 26-year hiatus on universal gender screening for female Olympic athletes. It follows moves in jurisdictions like Alberta to curtail the involvement of transgender athletes in women’s sports, on the basis of concern for the fairness and safety of biological females.

Van Koeverden said “he’d leave it up to female athletes” to lead the conversation about whether gender verification testing is a “dignified approach to selection in sport,” adding that he was ready to “advocate for them” to the IOC and other international sporting bodies.

Nevertheless, van Koeverden said he doubted that the gender eligibility rules alone would dissuade Canada from putting in a new bid to host the Olympics.

“I had not considered whether or not the IOC’s recent update would have an impact on a bid process. I would say that ‘no,’ it would not,” said van Koeverden.

Van Koeverden, a multi-time Olympic medalist in kayaking, admitted that he was eager for Canada to host an Olympics.

“I’ll reveal my hand, as an Olympian myself, I would love for Canada to host a summer or winter Olympics in the future,” said van Koeverden.

Michele Krech, a professor at the Lincoln Alexander School of Law at Toronto Metropolitan University says that the IOC’s new gender eligibility rules are illegal under Canadian law.

“The Genetic Non-Discrimination Act is the most obvious place to look, but the rules could also run afoul of Canadian human rights legislation or the Charter,” said Krech.

Krech said that hosting the Olympics would put Canada in a legal grey area.

“The question is how do you actually bring a case against rules that are made by transnational bodies that affect people all around the world?” said Krech. “What court do we go to to challenge these?”

National Postrmohamed@postmedia.com

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