He met in his offices at Groupe Yvon Michel in Old Montreal, and seemed uncomfortable commenting on the events leading up to the departure of the man who had been the high-performance manager of the National League since 2008.
Daniel, assessing everything that happened, considered it better for him personally and for Boxing Canada, for athletes, for the program, to resign. We (the board of directors) accepted his resignation
first said.
Called to explain why we came to this conclusion, Yvonne Michel merely recalled the observation made by the administration in the face of the many voices raised in the face of the administration of Daniel Tribanier.
” Since there are reports or allegations, Boxing Canada has taken matters into its own hands and made the needed changes. But at some point, you had to think about the structure to assess whether it was a good deal for him to keep going. »
Without going into details, he talked about the many encounters that happened over the weekend. However, he noted, members of the council were, as of Saturday, the echoes of Trepannier’s intentions to leave.
If we are confident of the comments made by Yvonne Michel, it is clear that Boxing Canada wants to turn the page as quickly as possible to appoint new managers to fill the positions of high-performance manager and national coach separately.
At no time, during his interview with Radio Canada, was there any question of an internal or independent investigation that would allow for a better understanding of what led the federation to the embarrassing situation that has been denounced by more than 230 boxers and coaches, present and past.
Yvonne Michel says he doesn’t know why Daniel Tribunier’s situation persists.
For a long time, Canada, between 1980 and 1997, we got many international medals. We were No. 1 at the Commonwealth Games. We had Olympic medals every time. Something happened that took us in another direction, but I think we now have what it takes to raise the bar and bring the (national) program back up to the potential of the athletes here.
He said.
Limited Powers
Of course, questions remain as to what allowed Daniel Tribunier to remain in office for so long. In this regard, Yvonne Michel stressed the limits of the powers of the Boxing Canada board of directors in the face of the management of the elite program.
The Administration Office issues the policies and regulations that are applied by members of the community. We have a general manager at Ryan Halpern. After that, it is left to the initiative of the people we put in their place. All board members are volunteers.
” We receive reports regularly. But since the majority of our Board of Directors are not technical, they are only there to provide general guidance on all of Boxing Canada’s policies. »
When questioned about Daniel Trepannier’s alleged tactics and schemes and his impunity, Yvonne Michel preferred to talk about the excellent relationships the resigned had with government decision-makers and the management of Own the Podium.
Because that would be the crux of the problem. From what has been learned over the past few days, the fear of losing $600,000 a year ‘own the podium’ funding to the national team has been on the minds of several board members in connection with having Danielle Tribanier in the high-performance director’s seat.
We must take and leave much of what has been said lately. This is the past. It happened. Now we have to find someone to replace Daniel as a high performing director. We don’t have a national coach, we have to find a coach
Michael said.
Canada first
To this end, it is essential for him that employment takes place here in Canada, rather than resorting to foreign expertise, as has been the case in recent years.
We have to look within the county associations for people we believe can influence the development of our programs.
While noting that this process will move forward quickly to select the perfect person in the shortest possible time, Michel insisted.
Yvonne Michel talks about the ideal conditions that a boxer must restore to achieve his Olympic ideal.
Regardless of the identity of Daniel Trepannier’s successor, Yvonne Michel believes it is necessary to restore the confidence of all members of the national team by appointing the best possible people, through their supervision and support to bring everyone together towards a common goal. .
Among the demands expressed by the signatories to the letter sent to Canadian Sports by boxers and Minister Pascal Saint Ong last week was a clear separation of powers between the high-performing manager and the national coach.
This was also part of an analytical report presented in 2014 by À nous le podium and a copy of which was obtained by Radio-Canada Sports.
It also addresses issues of leadership, governance, transparency in the national team selection process, performance culture, and clear weaknesses in everything related to the training of athletes.
However, six years later, this report is sleeping and gathering dust somewhere on the shelves of Own the Podium and Boxing Canada.
Yvonne Michel reiterates the importance of setting goals to achieve so that each boxer can measure his progress and understand the path to follow to achieve his dreams as an athlete, Olympic or otherwise.
” It is important to do this in professional boxing. When an athlete finishes a fight or competition, he should know immediately where to go. You don’t have to ask yourself any questions. You have to know what you have to do, in a very transparent and clear way, to be able to make it to the Olympics. »
We will make sure we have all that enthusiasm and all this knowledge so that the athletes can perform to the best of their abilities.
Last March at the Pierre Charbonneau Center in Montreal, the Canadian Amateur Championships, which was canceled due to COVID-19, was tentatively scheduled to be rescheduled this fall. Should we expect to see a clear change in their progress?
Yvonne Michel is quick to point out that there hasn’t been a Canadian championship in two years.
It’s because of COVID and not because of wrongdoing by anyone
said Michel, ignoring the passing of alleged nepotism cases brought up by Danielle Tribunier.
This has to be done on a case-by-case basis and I don’t want to dwell on that. I think we have good standards. Now it’s all about having the right people to apply it
is done.
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