Evidence of meeting #34 for Canadian Heritage in the 41st Parliament, 1st session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was london.
A video is available from Parliament.
NDP
Andrew Cash NDP Davenport, ON
What are some of the main aspects of this code of ethics that you're looking for?
President, Canadian Olympic Committee
Is there somebody who's an expert in that?
Chief Executive Officer and Secretary General, Canadian Olympic Committee
Sure. I can take some of that.
If you'd like, I'll go back and provide just a little more clarity around what has already been offered from a funding perspective.
The Canadian Olympic Committee is 98% funded by the private sector. The wonderful support that comes from the federal government flows as core funding to the sport community and is evidenced probably most publicly in the contribution they make to support high-performance sport in the Own the Podium program.
With respect to the conversation and the question around the private sector, the place you start when you're looking for partners is around values, right? That's probably the early place to look for resonance in terms of what your message is, as the Canadian Olympic team: that the Canadian Olympic movement stands for a certain measure of values, of course. So it has been our effort, in the time that this team has been together, to align ourselves with partners that share the values, that see strength and opportunity, and that have resonance with the values we represent.
Again, this was a plan that was started long before any of us came together. If you go back to the seven or so years before Vancouver, many of those partners that were attached to the VANOC effort are renewed with us and committed to staying with us for the future. Values are where that conversation starts. Then you look for identifiable opportunities where the two brands together can have the opportunity for change, whether it be to drive bottom-line profitability for their partners or certainly for the country.
NDP
Andrew Cash NDP Davenport, ON
I guess I'm curious, then, because we know that yesterday the CLC called for the Canadian Olympic Committee to sever its relationship with Rio Tinto in regard to the medals I think they've been contracted to produce. What's the position of—
NDP
President, Canadian Olympic Committee
Our position is not to get involved in any union relations problems. That's not our job. Our job is to be associated with the best. Rio Tinto, everybody acknowledges, is an incredibly good name in the world, but they were mixed up here vis-à-vis the fact that they were making the medals for London, and they have a union problem locally. I don't think we should get involved in any of those regular relations, which can be up and down in life. Our job is to win those medals, whoever makes them. Rio Tinto, for us, is a name we are proud to partner with.
NDP
The Vice-Chair NDP Pierre Nantel
Thank you very much, Mr. Aubut.
Thank you, Mr. Cash.
I yield the floor to Parm Gill.
Conservative
Parm Gill Conservative Brampton—Springdale, ON
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I want to thank our witnesses for being here with us, and also for the wonderful presentations.
I also want to congratulate you, Ms. Crooks, for your achievements in your life. They're incredible.
I have a question for you. Can you maybe share with us as to what's the best way Canadians can support their athletes in these games, from the athletes' perspective, and also from the perspective of the committee?
Five time Canadian Olympian and Olympic Silver Medalist, As an Individual
Thank you very much, Mr. Gill, for that question.
First of all, it would be by tuning in to watch these performances on our official networks, who are the supporters of the games, of course. Also, if athletes live in their communities, if there are ways to be part of some of the celebrations, whether they're going to the games or as they come back, I think that's also a way. But also, they can support some of the events that are across Canada where there are opportunities to meet athletes or support events where there might be some financial opportunities, or just to support them in principle for going and representing Canada. I think those are some of the small ways Canadians can support our athletes on an everyday basis.
There are also some other organized ways and some programs that the Canadian Olympic Committee and many of our partners are undertaking. Really, these athletes will be telling their stories, whether it's using new media to do that, or the interviews that you'll hear. The goal really is to make these athletes household names so that other Canadians can continue the inspiration, as we have talked about.
So those are some of the ways I would see as supporting our athletes.
Conservative
Parm Gill Conservative Brampton—Springdale, ON
Very nice.
Would you also be able to share with us some of the main strategies used in terms of promoting our athletes and the London games that are coming up? Is social media part of that?
Five time Canadian Olympian and Olympic Silver Medalist, As an Individual
I just joined Twitter a few months ago, and of course it is. It's a huge way of supporting that. The International Olympic Committee also has guidelines as to how athletes can use social media.
I know Chris and the team are working with communicating with the athletes on how to actually use social media in the context so there aren't breaches to some of our supporters. Chris may want to take that a little further.
Chief Executive Officer and Secretary General, Canadian Olympic Committee
Sure. The question was what are we doing to promote our athletes, I gather, in their run-up to London. Certainly you've seen evidence of it today. The initial video that we shared with you is part of the core to our brand campaign. The way we think of our position next to all of that is that it's our job to heighten the conversation around sport in this country. It's certainly our responsibility to help tell our athletes' stories and to connect Canadians to those stories as sources of pride and inspiration. We do that in a number of ways, and we do it with a number of partners, so some of the things that have already been mentioned, whether it be through social media—Twitter, Facebook, certainly our website—have all received renewed attention in the time our leadership team has been together.
We work with important partners who help us get the message out, like our brand campaign. There were so many private sector supporters there in the media, as part of the creative process that went into that. And then there are our many marketing partners, of course, who not only help us tell those stories, but help us develop programs again for athletes in support of their journey toward the Olympic Games, and in support of their families' journeys, as has been referenced a couple of times today.
Conservative
Conservative
Parm Gill Conservative Brampton—Springdale, ON
Your excellency, what sort of experience can Canadians travelling to London for the Olympics expect?
Andrew John Pocock
I'd be appalled if it wasn't. London is a huge cosmopolitan capital. I think in addition to the games, whether people have tickets or not.... And by the way, there will be huge open screens all around Olympic Park. Even if people don't have tickets, they can watch individual events.
The whole country is at their feet. The United Kingdom is a splendid mix, in a small area, of incredibly diverse populations and history.
I would hope that people would have, first of all, the glorious and well-renowned British summer. It is completely reliable, as you know. It never rains in the summer in the U.K. I would hope they would have a very positive experience.
Just to give you a sense of what the country is feeling at the moment, we have two big events, as you know. One we share with Canada, the diamond jubilee. The weekend coming up is part of that. There's a festive atmosphere in the U.K., which might be a little counterintuitive, given the economic difficulties that Britain faces, and indeed that Europe faces. Nonetheless, there's a sense that the diamond jubilee is an extraordinary and unique occasion. Indeed, for our generation, so are the Olympic Games. People are looking forward to this. They're looking forward to welcoming the world.
We have a particularly warm relationship with Canada at every level, so I hope the Canadian visitors to London will have a very warm and positive experience—and will tell me personally if they don't.
NDP
Liberal
Lise St-Denis Liberal Saint-Maurice—Champlain, QC
Mr. Aubut, I have a question that is not easy. Is Canada helping developing countries become part of the Olympic Games? Is that considered? Is it ever discussed? What can be done about that?
President, Canadian Olympic Committee
Are you asking me what is being done to ensure that developing countries participate in the Olympic Games?
Liberal
President, Canadian Olympic Committee
I think that the International Olympic Committee and the Pan American Sports Organization are working very hard to help developing countries establish real national Olympic committees, get organized and obtain some of the revenues from a system, a solidarity fund that actually stems from the success of the Olympic Games. Thanks to that fund, countries that want to create a national Olympic committee in Africa, or across the world, have the opportunity to do so and to bring athletes to the games.
Actually, when we go to the Olympic Games now, we are surprised to see the names of many countries we may have never heard before. It is a nice feeling. Then we see that a tremendous amount of work goes into providing countries with the opportunity to come to the games and have at least a team of athletes who will give it their all. I think that is very much in line with Olympic values. I think that is very good for the whole world. Great efforts are invested into making the games accessible.
Liberal
Lise St-Denis Liberal Saint-Maurice—Champlain, QC
Bravo!
Let's look toward the future. How can we improve the way the Olympic Games are planned and prepared? What can we hope for?
President, Canadian Olympic Committee
It's very much a matter of making the Olympic Games accessible. Their organization has become so expensive, and they are so big. We are talking about 14,000 athletes, as it was mentioned earlier. The event has become so big and requires so much infrastructure!
We are becoming increasingly aware of the fact that the number of athletes and sports must be limited. The Olympic Games must stop their endless growth. Countries that would really benefit from hosting the Olympic Games must be able to pay for them. A tremendous amount of effort is being put both into winter Olympic Games and summer Olympic Games.
That was actually just discussed at a big meeting in Moscow that was held for all the Olympic committees from around the world. President Jacques Rogge is working very hard on that. He often talks about it. He said that he would like to leave behind an Olympic monster whose growth has been stopped, so that the Olympics can always be accessible. He is thinking about that. He spoke in Quebec City last week, as you know, and that was part of his speech.