Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, it's an honour to be here with you today to discuss Canada's preparations for the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games in London.
In 2009 the International Olympic Committee selected rugby and golf as two new sports into the Olympic family. Rugby is not actually in the 2012 Olympics—we're in the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro—but that doesn't change the fact that we're equally as committed to winning a medal, both men's and women's sevens, in 2016.
We started that quest yesterday with a game on the Hill, where we invited politicians from all parties and media to prepare our athletes for 2016. Fortunately, we did that at the beginning of our preparation, and not at the end.