Kristin Raworth: Kirsty Duncan was an MP, a Cabinet minister, and a Canadian hero
She told me she would fight for change, and she never stopped fighting
By: Kristin Raworth
I want to talk to you about my friend Kirsty.
Not about her death or about the disease that took her, but about who she was.
She became a Member of Parliament for the Toronto riding of Etobicoke in 2008. After that she won four more elections. She did that because she had an ability to connect that was almost unrivalled in politics. Connection that was rooted in kindness and humanity.
In 2019 she became Minister of Science and Sports. This happened at a time when the sports world was being overwhelmed by stories of sexual or physical abuse. High-profile athletes had gone public with such allegations, but they extended into the reaches of amateur sport, where the power imbalance was much greater.
After Kirsty had only been on the job for a few weeks, CBC News released a report that showed at least 222 coaches involved in amateur sports over 20 years had been convicted of sex offences on more than 600 victims under the age of 18.
Kirsty was walking into a very difficult portfolio with a lot of institutional change required. The first time we met was in 2019, as I was advocating for athletes demanding change. As a survivor myself, I reached out to her on then-Twitter now X, to ask how as a Minister she would address the calls for changes to protect athletes. What I didn’t know was that Kirsty herself was a former gymnast and had also experienced emotional abuse as a child athlete. She responded to me almost immediately. She asked for my phone number and imagine my surprise when five minutes later my phone rang. Kirsty told me that she would fight for this and, listening to the passion in her voice, I believed her.
Because of her a series of initiatives were proposed, including establishing new policy for national sports organizations, funding the Sport Dispute Resolution Centre of Canada to create an investigation unit, and setting up a toll-free confidential tipline for athletes and witnesses to call if they experienced abuse. She fought for creating a code of conduct with sanctions and finding a way to prevent coaches or officials from freely moving to another province or club after allegations of abuse had been levied.
When the Trudeau government did not act on these recommendations she publicly admonished them in a way only Kirsty could, with kind firmness. Soon after she took medical leave from government, but despite her personal medical battles that didn’t change her focus on this issue. She regularly supported and mentored supporters, especially Gymnasts for Change, as they came to government committees fighting for the alterations that she had proposed. Her passion and commitment to see changes that would protect children in athletics never faltered.
They tell you never to meet your heroes, but I met mine and I am so blessed. Before cancer touched either of us she was a hero to me and as I watched her fight her battle she became even more so.
In 2023 I was diagnosed with cancer. One of the first people to reach out was Kirsty. She called, she texted, she DM’d. I cannot tell you how many hours I spent on the phone with her after my diagnosis. I later realized that she did this regularly. She took care of others even when she was hurting. The day my father died, the first person who messaged me was her. That’s who she was.
She fought for everyone, and she showed up for everyone. If you have seen the flood of social media tributes to her you will see how beloved she was, regardless of where you sat on the aisle. She was a beloved wife, an incredible friend, a committed public servant and watching her swim laps during cancer treatment pushed me, not to swim, but to go outside and enjoy life when I was at my lowest. She was an inspiration.
We often shared this prayer and I can’t think of anything to describe her better. We both shared a Catholic faith. We spoke frequently about the difficulty of faith in the face of disease, but I know it gave her peace and I know she felt this in her last moments. We were lucky to know her, to have her for 59 short years, and I know I will always feel blessed for her friendship.
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace:
where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
where there is sadness, joy.
O divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console,
to be understood as to understand,
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
Rest in peace my friend.
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That was beautiful. Thank you for writing and sharing that.
Peace Kristy, and thank you.