Scouts Canada says it must change how abuse cases are handled

OTTAWA, Ont. – Police across the country are investigating 65 new cases of sexual misconduct within the ranks of Scouts Canada, where the information was not shared with police.

This comes as the chief commissioner of Scouts Canada says a new forensic review shows his organization has to fix some serious problems in its procedures for handling sexual misconduct.
 
At Scouts Canada headquarters in Ottawa, Steve Kent says a seven-month KPMG review of six decades of records suggests there was no malicious coverup, but there are problems.

“We chose to make that decision to bring in a forensic auditor and we invested considerable time and money to ensure that no stone was left unturned, and that every possible record that we had in our posession was audited,” he told reporters, Monday.
   
The Scouts asked KPMG to go through all its records after a CBC investigation last fall uncovered dozens of confidentiality agreements covering victims over the years.
   
Kent says in the past, sexual abuse allegations were occasionally not reported to authorities, either at the request of the victim or because of a breakdown in procedure where staff was unsure how to report the incidents. Often, staff members weren’t sure if the actions of the volunteers were criminal in nature.

However, he said this will never happen again.

“We will invest time and resources on a continuing basis to offer the best possible training, the best possible education programs to all of our volunteers, to all of our scouts, to all of our parents,” he said.
   
Kent adds that Scouts Canada is beefing up its screening, changing the way records are kept and offering counselling to victims, but he also says the audit shows a need for the federal government to create a national child abuse registry.

“Did our systems fail in the past or [were] policies and procedures not followed at times? Absolutely, and that’s unacceptable. That is why we entered into this process – to fully understand that and expose that and confront that, but also to ensure that we can address those gaps.”