Canada. Commission of Inquiry into the Use of Drugs and Banned Practices Intended to Increase Athletic Performance : The Commission of Inquiry into the use of Drugs and Banned Practises to Increase Athletic Performance was established in 1988. According the Order in Council, the mandate of the commission was to inquire into and report on the facts and circumstances surrounding the use of such drugs and banned practises by Canadian athletes who were to, or did compete in the Olympic Games in Seoul, South Korea, and to inquire into and to make recommendations regarding the issues related to the use of such drugs and banned practises in sport (Order in Council P.C. 2361, 5 October 1988, as amended by P.C. 2536, 31 October 1988), as appointed under Part I of the Inquiries Act (R.S.C., 1985, CI-11). The commissioner was Charles L. Dubin and the Secretary was Elizabeth Cummins Seto.
According to the report of the Commission, cheating in international competition dates back to the early history of the Olympics. Recently, the method most commonly used by athletes has been the use of drugs, as well as other banned practices, intended to give athletes an advantage over their competitors. The International Olympic Committee and international federations banned doping in international competitions and prescribed penalties for those who violated the rules. One of the most popular banned drugs used by athletes to enhance their performance has been anabolic steroids. Its use by athletes in international competition appears to have been discovered in 1954. The only practical means of detecting its use in sport is by a urine analysis, but it was not until the mid-seventies that laboratories were able to analyse a urine sample effectively. Even so, testing of the athletes was for the most part limited to tests on the day of the competition.
There was widespread use of anabolic steroids in the 1983 Pan American Games in Caracas. In response, in December 1983, the Government of Canada, through Sport Canada, established its first doping control policy. Its purpose was to eliminate cheating in sports being funded by the government and as a response to concern about the health of those using banned drugs or engaged in other banned practises. In 1985, the policy was revised to increase the penalty for those athletes who violated their contractual obligations and the doping rules. The revision imposed a lifetime ban from funding but the policy was for the most part ineffective. The testing was confined, for the most part, mainly to in-competition testing. In the period 1983 to 1988, notwithstanding the stringent policy of Sport Canada, several Canadian athletes were disqualified for using anabolic steroids.
In 1988, four out of seven weightlifters selected to represent Canada at the Seoul Olympics were disqualified after testing positive for anabolic steroids prior to their departure for the competition. Moreover, on 26 September 1988, Canadian sprinter, Ben Johnson, was stripped of his gold medal after winning the 100 yard dash at the Seoul Olympics because he tested positive for stanozolol, an anabolic steroid. He was banned from competition for two years. On his return to Canada, Johnson requested a public inquiry as to the circumstances surrounding his disqualification. As a result, on 5 October 1988, a royal commission was established into the use of drugs by Canadian athletes. The inquiry also was to recommend ways to rid athletes of drugs and banned substances. It concentrated on those sports receiving direct funding from the government - especially on weightlifting and track and field (Preface to the Report of the Commission of Inquiry into the Use of Banned Practises Intended to Increase Athletic Performance). The report of the commission was tabled in the House of Commons on 27 June 1990. RG 33/156 General Inventory
