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OTTAWA — The Liberal chair of the parliamentary heritage committee says she plans to canvass members about whether they should investigate allegations of spying by Canada’s national soccer teams, which have been unearthed at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Hedy Fry, who represents Vancouver Centre, said in a recent email she intends to contact the committee to “gauge” their interest and availability. The House of Common is on a summer break until September, although committees can be reconvened at any time.
Controversy has embroiled the Olympic women’s soccer team after an analyst was caught using a drone to spy on New Zealand’s practice before their July 25 game, which Canada won 2-1.
An analyst and assistant coach were sent home and Canada Soccer suspended head coach Bev Priestman, saying it will investigate the matter.
Canada unsuccessfully tried to appeal a six-point penalty it received from FIFA for the team’s use of drones, which are prohibited. That attempt resulted in the release of an email Priestman sent back in March to an external human resources consultant where she said using drones to spy on the practices of other teams was “the difference between winning and losing.”
At issue at the time was the fact an unnamed analyst wasn’t comfortable with being asked to spy, which Priestman in her email referred to as “scouting.”
She wrote that doing so “was something the analyst has always done,” adding “there is a whole operation on the men’s side with regards to it.”
Priestman’s lawyer has said she will cooperate with the investigation.
After the initial scandal broke, Bloc Quebecois MP Sebastien Lemire, who serves as the party’s critic in Parliament for sports, posted on the social media platform X that federal Sports Minister Carla Qualtrough should launch a probe into the matter.
Reached for comment on Friday, her office did not directly address the calls for a probe. Staff instead pointed to an earlier statement the minster made where she called the incident an “embarrassment for Team Canada,” saying she will wait to see the outcome of the Canada Soccer investigation, which the government will watch closely.
“Using a drone to surveil another team during a closed practice is cheating. It is completely unfair to Canadian players and to opposing teams. It undermines the integrity of the game itself,” Qualtrough said.
“There is a deeply concerning pattern of behaviour at Canada Soccer. We must, and will, get to the bottom of this.”
The heritage committee previously undertook a high-profile study of safe sport in Canada after it was revealed in 2022 that Hockey Canada settled a lawsuit out of court on behalf of a group of players who were accused of sexual assault, which led to Ottawa freezing its funding.
Earlier this week, NDP heritage critic Niki Ashton said in a statement the revelation in Priestman’s email “reinforces the need for accountability.” She plans to call on Canada Soccer and other team officials to testify to “ensure this never happens again.”
“The email itself raises many questions. One of which is how many other employees were pressured into cheating. And subsequently what happened to the employee who said they refused to be part of cheating.”
“Looking ahead, it is doubly important that we follow up with what happened at the level of the officials and the organization as we prepare to co-host the 2026 Men’s World Cup,” Ashton said.
The Conservatives did not respond to a request for comment.
Canada Soccer spokesman Paulo Senra said in a statement Friday that given the independent investigation into the allegations is underway, “it would be inappropriate to comment further.”
“When we have more to share, we will communicate it publicly.”
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