Canadian Heritage Committee on Nov. 20th, 2012

[The Chair, Conservative, Rob Moore]

Welcome to the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage.

We're very pleased to have our guests here. I understand Mr. Dubé has a motion. He's assured me it will take less than two minutes.

Mr. Dubé.

[Matthew Dubé, NDP, Chambly—Borduas, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

First, I want to thank my Liberal and Conservative colleagues for allowing me to introduce this motion. I will be very quick. I know that our witnesses' time is important. However, the topic is appropriate. We are talking about sports.

I would simply like unanimous consent on the following motion:

That the committee congratulate Canadian mixed martial arts athlete, Georges St-Pierre, for defending his UFC (Ultimate Fighting Champion) welterweight world champion title by winning his fight November 15, 2012 in Montreal.

Members of Parliament from all parties were at the Bell Centre on Saturday night. We are very proud of the victory of this great Canadian athlete, who is a good ambassador for us in the sports world. It is with great pleasure that I worked with my colleagues to seek the committee's support with respect to this motion. I hope the committee will support me in this regard.

[The Chair, Conservative, Rob Moore]

Mr. Dubé has moved a motion for which he asks unanimous consent. Does he have unanimous consent for the motion?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

[The Chair, Conservative, Rob Moore]

(Motion agreed to)

Okay, we want to welcome our witnesses to the committee. We met with you before the Olympics, and now it's wonderful to meet you after the Olympics. WIth us today are the Canadian Olympic Committee and Own the Podium. We're very pleased to have at our committee, Marcel Aubut, the president of the Canadian Olympic Committee; Christopher Overholt, the chief executive officer and secretary general; and Caroline Assalian, the chief of sports. From Own the Podium we have Anne Merklinger, the chief executive officer, and Joanne Mortimore, the director of planning and operations.

Welcome and congratulations to all of you. We look forward to hearing from you. We also look forward to having an opportunity to ask you some questions.

Committee members, we're scheduled to go until 5 o'clock with this portion of the meeting, and from 5 p.m. until 5:30 p.m. we'll be discussing committee business.

With that, I will give the floor to Mr. Aubut for his opening remarks.

[Marcel Aubut, President, Canadian Olympic Committee]

Thank you, Mr. Chair and honourable members of the committee.

We are pleased to be back here one year later. We had 17 incredible days in London, and here is an overview of what we saw there.

Let's start with a short video.

[Video Presentation]

This only begins to capture the energy, excitement, and pride of our team. Congratulations to Sebastian Coe, who was the CEO of the organizing committee, LOGOC, for having delivered fantastic games. Congratulations to the people living in London and to all the people living in Great Britain.

We saw with our own eyes, and our athletes told us, that there were excellent venues. The security was first rate. There was a very welcoming atmosphere by Londoners. Even traffic was acceptable.

The games were a real success with respect to the team's performance. We knew that what we hoped to achieve in the standings—our goal was to come in twelfth—was very ambitious and that it was not going to be easy. Our philosophy was to have ambitious goals, and that will not change.

Canada came in tied for 13th with 18 medals, which was two medals short of our goal of being in the top 12. With two more, we would have finished 11th. That shows you how tight it was.

Our athletes performed as expected, considering that they won 17 medals at the world championships just prior to London.

In London, all 279 athletes, 94 coaches, and the support personnel gave everything they had. The team had over 600 Canadian team members and over 100 volunteers, for a total of 700 people. The team showed the best of who we are as Canadians. They have earned the respect of all Canadians.

In fact, I am certain—and you will understand when I say this—that the real test for the team was not in how they reacted to victory, but rather to defeat. In other words, the results and medals aren't all that counts.

There is a much more than that in the Olympics.

Our athletes gave us so many memorable moments. We were on a roller coaster of emotions, for instance, in the heartbreaking women's soccer game against the U.S., and then the nail-biting bronze medal game against France, which resulted in Canada's first summer team medal since 1936, the first in 76 years. Of course, Canada's golden girl, Rosie MacLennan, delivered an amazing performance with a gold medal finish on the trampoline.

Jennifer Abel and Émilie Heymans, these extraordinary divers, gave Canada its first medal early on in the games. And Antoine Valois-Fortier is the first Canadian judoka to have won a medal in his category. He won silver. His coach, Nicolas Gill, did the same in 1992. I could go on at length telling you about these memorable moments.

With regard to our team mission, they are the team behind the team, and they were critical to the success. That includes our amazing chef de mission, Mark Tewksbury, and assistant chef de mission, Sylvie Bernier.

The mission team made sure the athletes had everything they needed, be it in the village, at the performance centre or outside the village, so that they would perform well.

Canada Olympic House was a true home away from home for athletes' families. What a success. An average of 1,200 people came through the doors every day.

Believe it or not, 19,000 people—parents, friends, sponsors and government representatives—visited the house during the games.

These families were well taken care of, because it is crucial for the athletes to focus on their performance. We see it now as a tool for Canada to help the athletes perform better.

The athletes and their families, as well as our partners and the media, told us that it was the best Olympic house ever.

It was the best Canada Olympic House ever according to everyone. Many national and international guests, including Prince Harry, government representatives, the CEO of the NSF, and such sponsors and sport partners as George Cope, the CEO of Bell, and Gordon Nixon, the CEO of RBC, all experienced Canadian hospitality at its best at Canada Olympic House.

Truly, this team was Canada's team.

We knew that Canadians were going to encourage us and be near us.

According to Canada's official Olympic network, CTV, 31.9 million Canadians watched coverage of the London games. That's quite remarkable.

Since the Olympic Games, the Canadian Olympic Committee hasn't stopped working for athletes and coaches. We promised our athletes that we would tell their stories 365 days a year, and we are. Since the games, we have had the Celebration of Excellence, which you heard about, in 2012, which included the famous heroes tour to Ottawa and Toronto. We visited three hospitals, 65 schools, and a Ronald McDonald House. We visited Parliament, where the Prime Minister of Canada gave Diamond Jubilee medals to the athletes, and we had a great lunch with members of Parliament. Then we took the train from Ottawa to Toronto.

In Toronto we had the Post Olympic Excellence Series, which is a conference for athletes to discuss their careers after sports. It was a great success.

Then there was the famous parade. Thousands and thousands of people from Toronto stood along the streets to applaud our athletes. It ended at Maple Leaf Square with 4,000 students. It was really amazing to see that. The famous gala was the same night, which was at the Air Canada Centre. The induction gala raised over $3 million net for the Canadian Olympic Foundation. It was a great and unforgettable night. Inductees, London 2012 athletes and coaches were at the heart of the evening and the event.

What does all this mean for the Canadian Olympic Committee and for all Canadians? It means that sport is important to this country and an asset to society. We have to remember, and we do that every day, and remind people that sport is the solution to many of our societal challenges.

For Canadians and the Canadian Olympic Committee, this means that, increasingly, people understand that sport has all the assets to solve problems in our society and that we can count on sport as a very important solution.

There is so much that sport can do for our country beyond excitement and pride.

First, it delivers economic, health, and social benefits in all communities.

Second, for Canadian athletes, sport is an asset for our society. Competing against the best in the world is crucial for our athletes; it is the opportunity to be in the Olympics, to really compete against the best, and to be ready for the great events. At the same time, they give so much visibility to our country.

Third, I would say the role model part is huge for the youth of our country, the youth who leave school too early, who have problems with drugs, or problems with alcohol.

It's something we hear often, that the athletes are role models for young Canadians. We saw it in London, and we will continue to see it in the future.

What about coaching? Coaching is the crucial part of the success of the athletes. It's absolutely essential. Coaching should be absolutely our priority. Great coaching means great athletes, which leads to great performances. We have to revitalize that function. That function is not well known, not well promoted, and we have to do that job to make sure that we have the best coaches, that we recognize them, that we value their job, and especially that we keep them in the country.

I would like to thank the federal government, and Mr. Harper personally for the investment to date. You are the one funding partner for sport in Canada. We thank you for the $64 million to Own the Podium, OTP, and the approximately $200 million for high-performance sport.

Thank you for continuing to provide funding despite the austerity measures in place. We would particularly like to thank the Prime Minister and the Minister of State for Sport, Bal Gosal.

Through your investment, the message is that the Government of Canada values sport, values athletes, and values excellence.

You are not alone. The private sector also sees the value in sport, in athletes, and in winning. That's why at the Canadian Olympic Committee we line up corporate Canada to do its share in that investment with the Government of Canada to make sure that we improve our capacity of winning, getting medals, and putting more athletes on the podium.

Through our private sector partnership, as you heard last week, we have announced an almost $100 million investment in high-performance sport over the next four years, which is a record.

We're talking about $100 million thanks to our partnerships with the private sector, and that was announced earlier this week. This $100 million will be invested in high performance for the next four years to guarantee our athletes financial support that will help them improve.

This is close to double the COC overall investment in sport. Our athletes are not standing still and neither are we, as you can see. Our summer athletes are already preparing for Rio 2016. Our winter athletes are just thirteen and a half months away from performing at their best in Sochi. They are ready.

We have already started preparing for Rio, and we are finalizing preparations for Sochi.

This is not to mention preparing for our home Pan Am Games in Toronto in 2015.

These games will be held at home. So we need to be proud of that and be a great success so we can convince the officials to bring other events to Canada in the future.

I am confident that for our athletes, coaches, and Sport Canada, the best is yet to come.

I am convinced that the future is very promising for our athletes, our coaches and everyone who works in sport in Canada.

Thank you for your attention and for giving us the opportunity to speak to you. I hope you have learned a little bit about what we did in London.

[The Chair, Conservative, Rob Moore]

Thank you.

Next, from Own the Podium, we have Anne Merklinger.

[Anne Merklinger, Chief Executive Officer, Own the Podium]

Good afternoon.

Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. The opportunity to meet with you is very important for us at Own the Podium.

It's of enormous importance to Canada's athletes to know that the Government of Canada and you as the elected politicians care about how they perform. The mere fact that we're here in front of this important committee is a testament to the value that you place on high-performance sport in Canada, and the fact that we're having a post-mortem reinforces again just how much you care about Canada's athletes. On behalf of Own the Podium, let me say that we can't thank you enough for your support.

Let me acknowledge, as Marcel has, the important role that the Government of Canada played in high-performance sport going into London. The federal government is the single largest contributor to high-performance sport in Canada and has been for a number of years. That is the primary reason that Canada's athletes and coaches have enjoyed the successes they have on the world stage to date.

I'm going to focus on three main areas in my remarks. The first one is to look at how Canada performed relative to other countries in the world. The second one is a closer look at how sports targeted by Own the Podium performed. The final one is about some key findings and lessons learned going into 2016 and beyond.

How do we stack up as a nation against the rest of the world? As Marcel said, we finished with 18 medals, at 13th overall, two medals out of a tie for 11th place. Since 2004, there has been a positive trend in terms of our performance relative to that of the rest of the world. We placed 19th overall in 2004, 15th in 2008, and 13th in London. Certainly, that's a positive trend in terms of our overall performance.

There were three nations that were ahead of Canada in 2008 and placed behind us in London, and there was only one nation that was behind us in 2008 and passed us in London in 2012. That nation was the Netherlands; they actually won four more medals in London than they did in 2008.

Several nations had significant drops in their medal tally. We spend a lot of time as an organization looking at how other nations are performing and at what they're doing in terms of their investment strategies to try to win more medals. The most notable ones in terms of nations that fell behind were Australia, which dropped 11 medals, which is significant, from 2008. Cuba was down 10 medals, and France, Belarus, and Ukraine were all down seven medals.

Our performance objective, as Marcel mentioned, was to finish in the top 12 in 2012. We knew it was an ambitious, lofty target. While we were one place shy, we certainly held our own in, as I've described, an increasingly competitive environment. We also held our own in an environment where many nations are investing significant resources, both public sector and private sector resources, in high-performance sport. We really feel it was a significant performance for Canada.

Our investment in summer sport as a nation has been relatively short: for three years the Government of Canada has made incremental investments in summer sports specifically. It increased from $12 million to $36 million over the last three years. When we compare that to what happened going into Vancouver, we can see that the investment is relatively short. In Vancouver, it was a five-year investment of $11 million from the public sector, matched by $11 million from the private sector. In that three-year period of time, again, compared to the five-year period of time in terms of the investment in summer compared to winter, we're still doing reasonably well.

Importantly, we're also one of the few nations that invests in both winter and summer Olympic Games. Remarkably, we ranked seventh overall in total medals if you combine our summer and winter Olympic rankings.

The second area I'd like to address is an assessment of how sports that were targeted by Own the Podium performed in London. The core element of our investment approach is really focused on sports that have the potential to win one or more medals.

There were nine sports in this bracket that we focused on seriously. Of these nine sports, eight won medals. That's a pretty good success rate, from our perspective. Of the nine sports, five were targeted to win two or more medals, and four of those five sports did exactly that. They won two or more medals. Again, it's a terrific result in terms of our public and private investment.

There are eight sports in which Own the Podium's investment was one that we refer to as a higher strategic risk, or more of a strategic approach. They maybe don't have as much medal potential going into the games at the start of the quadrennial as the top two brackets I spoke of. Only two of those eight sports won medals, so we've learned that we need to be more cautious in taking those strategic risks, making those strategic investments, as we move towards Rio.

Own the Podium also invested in individual athletes. One of those three individual athlete investments delivered a medal. It's a relatively small financial investment, but it delivered one medal, which was very positive.

Own the Podium predicted 20 medals going into London, and 18 were won. That equals a 90% conversion rate from our organization's perspective.

There are some important observations to share with you that tell a story over and above the performance metrics. There is the incredible accomplishment of the women's soccer team, the first medal in summer team sports in 76 years. That's a long wait for a summer team sport medal. The impact of that bronze medal on Canada was profound on all Canadians, in much the same way as the impact of Vancouver's performance in 2010.

More Canadians participate in soccer than in any other sport in the nation. Virtually every community in our great country participates in soccer. The medal won by these female athletes was a bronze medal, but it had a gold lining. Every member of that team serves as a role model and a heroine for our communities across our country.

Swimming and canoeing won three medals each. That was a terrific performance. That's six medals, a third of our total medal tally, so great gains were made in those two sports.

Canada won medals in 11 sports. That's the greatest number of sports we've won medals in since 2000 in Sydney. It's up one from 2008, when we won medals in 10 sports. These are all very positive trends. The Government of Canada two years ago made a deliberate, specific investment in a longer term strategy for summer team sports, trying to be more successful in our team sport approach. It's only been invested in for two years, but we saw some initial dividends, including a great performance from the women's basketball team, which finished eighth.

These are some of the good news stories. Of course, there were also some misfortunes, which every competitive, high-performance sport environment brings with it. I'd like to share a couple of those so that you understand just how fragile and vulnerable the high-performance sport world is for athletes and coaches. It's something that all of us as witnesses live, eat, and breathe every day, 24/7, 365 days a year.

These misfortunes begin with a great horse named Hickstead. I'm sure all of you know Hickstead's tragic story. He passed away just over a year ago. That tragic death resulted in the loss of two potential medals for the Canadian summer Olympic team.

We all lived the unfortunate story of Jared Connaughton and the 4 x 100 metre relay team. For a moment there, he and his teammates and the entire nation, and everyone in London were on their feet, knowing that we had surpassed our medal tally from Beijing, which was significant. It was so unfortunate that this happened.

The final one was a very controversial judging decision for a young boxer from Atlantic Canada who everyone felt had won the fight, but at the end of the day it didn't go his way.

Misfortune comes with sport, and it can seldom be controlled. That said, I think there were some sports that may have underperformed in our assessment. As an organization, our standards are pretty high, and underperformance is not good enough. We are working very closely with those sports to identify what went well and what didn't. We are learning from our mistakes. We believe the top 12 target was attainable, even though it was ambitious and lofty. Our present assessment is that, with a few more successes, we would have made the top 12. As an organization, we're never going to be satisfied if we even think there was one medal left on the table. That's our job, and that's what you, as the Government of Canada, and our funding partners, have entrusted us to be accountable for. At this very moment, our technical staff are in the midst of meeting with each and every summer targeted sport to determine what shifts they need to make going into Rio.

The third and final area I'd like to look at is the key findings and lessons learned for 2016 and beyond.

First and foremost, we need to place a much greater focus on building a deeper pool of podium potential athletes. Canada's athletes have ranked in the top five and top eight, and have really flatlined since 1996. In order to not be as vulnerable and fragile, we need to develop a much deeper pool.

That means we need to look at the system of high-performance sport across the country and work with all of our partners, the Canadian sports institutes, the Canadian sports centres, provinces and territories, to really strengthen that system going forward.

We will be launching a national talent identification and development framework that will look closely at how we identify the next generation’s athletes and ensure that they're in the best environments possible.

As an organization, we need to continue to make some very proactive and early interventions. We made a few of those going into London and they were very successful. There were a couple that we could have made and been a little more aggressive on, but we didn't and it probably cost us a couple of medals.

We also anticipate a greater degree of targeting of sports going forward. When we look at the profile of other nations that are very successful in the summer Olympic Games, winning more sports, more medals from a smaller number of sports, what we call multiple medal sports, where they win three or more medals, is certainly a key strategy.

Marcel mentioned the important role of the coach and technical leaders. Recruiting, retaining, and developing the best coaches in the world continues to be a high priority. Without great coaches, we aren't successful in developing podium potential athletes.

We must increase the accountability measures for the investment both from Own the Podium to sports and from Own the Podium to our funding partners. That's top of mind within our organization each and every day.

Finally, the latest research indicates that winning medals in sport is important to Canada and to Canadians. A whole new generation of heroes emerged from London, and we have been able to celebrate those with the great work of the Canadian Olympic Committee each and every day since then. We will continue to celebrate those great heroes.

There's a renewed culture of winning and of excellence in high-performance sport in Canada, and it really maintains the momentum that was established in Vancouver. With each medallist crowned, we need to work with these heroes to go back to their communities and reinstate the importance of sport and physical activity, of living a healthy lifestyle, of building communities. We don't talk enough about what that really means and the value of winning medals to Canada.

Canadian children need Olympic heroes and positive role models whom they can emulate and aspire to be like. Success in high-performance sport truly does build communities. It develops our future leaders, builds civic pride, and instills a belief that we can win, that it's okay to win, and we will win.

OTP became a not-for-profit organization in March, 2012, and it was a very important occasion for our organization. We continue to be a model that is highly regarded around the world and within other sectors in Canada.

On behalf of all of Canada's athletes and coaches, I'd like to thank you once again for the tremendous support you have provided in our quest to help more Canadian athletes win more medals at the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Knowing that you care, that you believe in them, and that you support these athletes in their pursuits means a great deal to them as Canada's leading athletes. Knowing that they have an entire government and a country behind them can truly make a difference in their performance longer-term.

Thanks so much.

[The Chair, Conservative, Rob Moore]

Thank you, Anne.

Now we will go to our question and answer rounds. The first up is Mr. Young.

[Terence Young, Conservative, Oakville, ON]

Thank you everyone for coming here today and for the two excellent presentations. The video presentation reminded me of how exciting it was. How proud we all were to see the athletes, not only in their performance but also in the opening and closing ceremonies, and even when they were on each other's shoulders, cheering. They were so well behaved and friendly, and were wonderful ambassadors. I enjoyed every minute of it. I want to mention Diana Matheson because she is from my riding of Oakville, and she got the winning goal. It was a source of pride for us in Oakville too.

Your presentation, Anne, was really fascinating for me. I had a question ready for you, which you answered in your presentation. Are you satisfied? You said that no, you were never satisfied if there's another medal left on the table, which I appreciate.

You talked about doing things differently. Could you expand on that? Specifically, how do you get what you called podium potential athletes? How will you find them? I guess you're on it already. How do you find them? How do you develop the coaches? You mentioned a national talent framework. Is that all part of the process?

[Anne Merklinger]

Thank you very much. Those are great questions.

Since Own the Podium was created in 2003, our focus has been very much what we would call a short-term-gains approach. We've really been looking at the upcoming set of games. It's a four-year window. We invest in those athletes who are identified four years out. For example, for Sochi coming up in 2014, we looked at the athletes that emerged post 2010. We are working with the sports organizations to support those athletes over the upcoming four years.

In order for us to build the pool of podium potential athletes, we need to expand that investment approach to five to eight years out. We've gone from one to four, and now we need to go to five to eight.

[Terence Young, Conservative, Oakville, ON]

You definitely need to use kids in some cases.

[Anne Merklinger]

Well, they wouldn't be kids. Every sport is a little different, frankly. To use rowing as an example, it's a late-maturing sport, so your investment in them might be when they are a little bit older.

That's one very deliberate approach we will be taking. We'll really be looking at an eight-year investment. We don't have sufficient resources to do that with every targeted sport, so we will have to pick those we feel give us the biggest opportunity for a return. That's the first piece.

The second piece is what you referred to in terms of the talent ID and development framework. We have had some success in identifying talented athletes, but it's really been by accident. It hasn't been a deliberate and intentional approach, one that involves all the partners in sport. That involves the provinces and territories, the clubs and regions, Canadian sports institutes, and Canadian sports centres. A number of key partners are involved in high-performance sport.

Those two pieces, we believe, will have a significant impact on our ability, as a nation, to develop a larger pool of podium potential athletes.

[Terence Young, Conservative, Oakville, ON]

How about the coaches? How do you get great coaches?

[Anne Merklinger]

First of all, we mentioned retaining the ones we have. We are making sure that we are doing everything possible to create the best environment for coaches. Sometimes it's not always about the compensation. We need to make sure that they have the best environment, that they have the services, equipment, quality support, and expert providers working with them. We also know there is a high demand for the world's best coaches, and there is a market rate for coaches that can be pretty steep. For us to make sure that we hang on to our world's best coaches, we need to provide every possible opportunity for them to stay. That is shifting sand in Canadian high-performance sport, but we know for sure that we need to respond to it.

Longer term, we're working very closely, again, with all the partners to make sure that we develop our own Canadian world's best coaches. It's a both ends approach: keep the ones we have, hang onto them, and identify the ones outside the country and recruit them. At the same time, we will develop our next generation of great Canadian world-leading coaches.

[Terence Young, Conservative, Oakville, ON]

With regard to the summer games, looking ahead, I'm sure there are some things you'll be doing differently. Are those the things you just told me about, or is there anything else you'll be doing differently?

[Anne Merklinger]

I talked about the third category of sports that are more of a strategic investment. We will be narrowing that a little more thoughtfully, perhaps, going forward. Rest assured that every podium potential athlete identified between now and Rio will be supported. If a sport does not have a pool of podium potential athletes, we'll be taking a tougher line on that and making sure that if there are no athletes, there is no investment. We were perhaps a little broader in our approach going into London, but we'll be narrowing it going forward.

[Terence Young, Conservative, Oakville, ON]

I understand that Oakville has the highest number of young people playing soccer of any city in North America. There are 12,000 athletes and coaches. I don't think it's any accident that Diana Matheson came out of Oakville, so I understand the long-term investment and how it makes sense.

I'd like to ask Mr. Aubut a question about the games themselves. Could you please tell me what your three main goals were going into the games and what challenges faced you in achieving those goals?

[Marcel Aubut]

Of course, the goal in 2012 was to be number one. Second was to lead the best group ever, the 700 people I mentioned to you before. It was important. The reputation of the country was on the line, not only the reputation of the athletes, but the reputation of the whole country.

We have an incredible reputation in the world for preparation for the games, for making every detail a priority, for making sure that the environment is absolutely perfect for the athletes to perform. Madam Assalian led the whole preparation. You just look to get there and keep that reputation, even in hindsight, as being the best in the world for game preparation and the mission team. That would have been my second one.

The third was the need to have fun, too, and to make Canada Olympic House the best one ever. To be at Trafalgar Square and have the opportunity to make all Canadians who came through the door of Canada House feel like they were at home was what we were expecting, and we were rewarded accordingly.

Those three were really what I was expecting. Maybe my colleague could add something.

[Christopher Overholt, Chief Executive Officer and Secretary General, Canadian Olympic Committee]

I would only add that, from the perspective of Canada Olympic House, that was one part of an overall strategy, which was to connect Canadians to our athletes. You've seen some of the video that we've shared today. Much of that result was a really strong effort to start to tell our athletes' stories in a meaningful way in the time leading up to the games, and then to continue to work with all of our partners and with the media, of course, to connect the athletes to Canadians. We're a national sports franchise, and we have the potential for 34 million fans, and if we don't tell that story, then no one will, so we take that very seriously.

Canada Olympic House was certainly an opportunity for us to connect on the ground in London with all of our Canadian fans and those of the athletes, but it was part of a larger strategy to do just that in the months and weeks leading up to the games.

[The Chair, Conservative, Rob Moore]

Thank you, Mr. Young.

Mr. Dubé, go ahead.

[Matthew Dubé, NDP, Chambly—Borduas, QC]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

I want to thank our witnesses for being here, and I also want to congratulate them. To echo what Mr. Young said, beyond the discussion on the number of medals, the behaviour and athletic performances was something to really be very proud of, since the decision often comes down to just a few centimetres.

Ms. Merklinger, I appreciate your candour about moving forward, because I think any athlete will say you always want to do better. That's a sports mentality to have.

Furthermore, last year, Canadian Heritage did an evaluation of Sport Canada's programs. In that context, Sport Canada was willing to work with us, namely with Own the Podium, to evaluate the London games.

If I correctly understood the answers you already gave, that has already been done. Do you want to tell us a little bit about that evaluation? Where are we at? Are we going to be able to create some kind of summary?

[Anne Merklinger]

Certainly. Sport Canada is in the midst of finalizing the evaluation tool and they've worked very closely with Joanne and me in terms of designing that evaluation. It will go out to every targeted national summer sport organization and the individual athletes that were targeted. It will look at every aspect of Own the Podium's technical operations in terms of how we partner with the sport organizations, what technical guidance we provide them, and what the review process is. They will evaluate every component of our technical operations. That will be shared with all of our partners and will be a very important tool for us going forward.

Last year we did conduct our own third party external evaluation, which was very similar to what Sport Canada is evaluating, given the Government of Canada's investment in Own the Podium. This fits perfectly into our overall need to be accountable as an organization for the public investment.

[Matthew Dubé, NDP, Chambly—Borduas, QC]

Has working with Sport Canada been adequate so far and will it allow for an evaluation that will help us get a good return on our investment?

[Anne Merklinger]

Absolutely. It couldn't be better. They are working very closely with us, seeking our input in terms of whether we are sure that this third party evaluation will meet our needs.

In many respects it enables us to use this as the external evaluation framework entirely, as opposed to us having to replicate it and do it again. The cooperation we've had with the entire Sport Canada staff has been terrific.