Canadian Heritage Committee on Nov. 27th, 2012

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

I believe I asked the same question when you joined us before the Games. Now that we are taking stock of the experience, we have the results of the Games in mind.

Could we actually do more in terms of innovation to make the equipment of the participants more accessible and less costly? Have initiatives been launched or can they be launched? Can the government and we, as members of Parliament, help in some way to promote innovation?

[Henry Storgaard]

Absolutely. We are currently working with Own the Podium as well as a number of universities across the country. The Université de Sherbrooke, which is not all that far from your riding, is one we're working with in all kinds of equipment innovation. You can imagine that if you can innovate a sit-ski or a sledge hockey piece of equipment and get it lighter and faster, it will be a great advantage for the team.

We experienced that with Michelle Stilwell. We were able to purchase, with OTP, a $30,000 wheelchair. She went out and broke three world records with it before London, and ended up with a gold and a silver in London.

We are working with our partners in looking at equipment innovation throughout the country.

[Anne Merklinger]

We're also trying to bring equipment to their daily training environment so that they can train by themselves right in their communities, for example, the developing wheelchair basketball players or wheelchair rugby players, sending them rollers that they can train with on a daily basis in their homes or in their local communities.

We've had to be more innovative, but that's what's required for us to be more successful in Paralympic sport in the longer term.

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

What about installation? I tried out the sledge hockey equipment. You need to have quite the upper body strength to be able to use it. It's not just the individual's equipment, there's also the installation.

Is there more that can be done, build a tailored gym, for lack of a better term, to build in that strength so you can properly use the equipment? It's hard to use it properly if you don't have that strength.

[Henry Storgaard]

I'm sure you didn't have any problem with that.

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

It was surprisingly challenging, I will say.

[Henry Storgaard]

Yes, we are working, as was mentioned earlier, with the Abilities Centre and Variety Village, all the Canadian sports centres across the country with specialized equipment and specialized personnel who understand the needs of various athletes with different disabilities, to ensure that there are training programs, training facilities, accessible equipment, whether it be pool time or gym time, all of these things.

[The Chair, Conservative, Rob Moore]

Thank you, Mr. Dubé.

Mr. Calandra.

[Paul Calandra, Conservative, Oak Ridges—Markham, ON]

I want to go back to broadcast rights, but not necessarily to focus only on the Canadian broadcasters.

The IOC is the one that sells the broadcast rights. It's my understanding that it has become so expensive that the private carriers in Canada aren't all that excited about carrying the Olympics because they lose lots of money on them.

The IOC talks a really good game about how important sport is, the youth, etc., and the president goes there and gives a great little speech at the beginning of the games, all of that.

Doesn't the IOC have somewhat of a responsibility to live up to the standard to which it holds the athletes, to make the broadcast rights affordable so that when the broadcasters are competing for them it makes sense, so they can actually afford to broadcast the games?

On the one hand, it's so important. If you're not broadcasting, you're not developing. People aren't seeing you. I shouldn't have to watch the Olympics to see the gentleman from South Africa because he ran in the Olympics. Now everybody knows who he is, and they make such a big deal. It's great. The broadcasters showed that over and over again. Yes, great, but that happens every single day at the Paralympics.

I don't know if you can answer, but I find it passing ridiculous that the IOC isn't helping to develop the Paralympics as well. I don't know if you can comment on this without getting yourself into trouble, but people are going to stop broadcasting the games because they can't afford to buy the rights to the games.

How do we shame the IOC? That's what it comes down to, shaming the IOC into making the games affordable so that broadcasters can afford to broadcast them and not worry about taking a massive hit to their bottom line. That includes the CBC. The taxpayers want value from the CBC as well.

What can we do to shame the IOC? I guess it's more us than you.

[Henry Storgaard]

In a friendly sort of way, the Olympics are considered to be the corporate games and the Paralympics are considered to be the family games.

It's hard for me to comment on the broadcast rights of the IOC, other than to say, like you, I'm an interested observer and all of that. The price points have gone sky high, for sure.

[Paul Calandra, Conservative, Oak Ridges—Markham, ON]

Let me ask you this, then, because I know it's hard for you to answer.

If there were more coverage of the Paralympics, do you believe more people would know about it, more people would get involved, and that this would help build the pool of athletes? Just give me a yes or no.

[Henry Storgaard]

Yes.

[Paul Calandra, Conservative, Oak Ridges—Markham, ON]

Okay.

[Henry Storgaard]

And I'm dying to say something else.

[Paul Calandra, Conservative, Oak Ridges—Markham, ON]

Well, go ahead.

[Henry Storgaard]

Very quickly, not only would it do that, but I think just as importantly it would change society. It has that social transformative aspect to it.

[Paul Calandra, Conservative, Oak Ridges—Markham, ON]

It's annoying, in the sense that you hear the IOC president at the beginning of the games talk about the spirit of the games and so on and so forth, and then they let down those athletes by not making it affordable. They're making a lot of money on the one end, and not doing their job in helping to promote that on the other end.

I know you can't say it, but I can certainly say that maybe they would like at some point to start living up to the ideals they presume to be.... This will never change unless the IOC starts making the cost to broadcast the games reasonable.

Anyway, I'll leave it at that. I know it's hard for you to answer, and I'll leave it at that.

[The Chair, Conservative, Rob Moore]

Thank you, Mr. Calandra.

Mr. Nantel, this will be the last question.

[Pierre Nantel, NDP, Longueuil—Pierre-Boucher, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Actually, I think it's a very good closing angle that we have here with Mr. Calandra's question.

I am wondering about one thing. Really, do the countries that have the best performance in the Paralympic Games deal better with the fact that disabled athletes are different? Do they have a better relationship with disabled people in general in society?

We have talked a lot about sports and all that, but the truth is that our relationship with people with disabilities is not easy. People do not feel drawn. People already feel uncomfortable, so are they going to watch those sports on TV?

For instance, should we not come up with an initiative where you have a person with two legs and a person in a wheelchair play basketball against each other, until one of them gets their butt kicked, if you will pardon the expression, gets beaten? Isn’t that what we should look for?

However, the main question has more to do with figuring out if, in general, on a daily basis, the performance of a disabled person is more accepted in the countries that had a good performance in the Games.

[Henry Storgaard]

The answer to that, in one word, is yes. We were looking at best practices internationally, and some of our preliminary research would indicate that where there is the best broadcast coverage in a country of Paralympic Games, they coincidentally have some of the best teams internationally.

The broadcast coverage drives corporate sponsorship. It drives public awareness. It drives the familiarity, which you spoke of, with the public. The athletes become heroes and spokespeople on behalf of the country. It is one of the key things that will advance and accelerate the Paralympic movement in this country, almost more than anything else. I can tell you that.

Whatever pressure we have in this room to encourage our friends at CBC to get behind this—and I'm not saying they are not behind us; it's just that there's no deal. There's a deal for the Olympics. There's no deal done yet with the Paralympics, and we're 14 or 15 months away.

[Pierre Nantel, NDP, Longueuil—Pierre-Boucher, QC]

But the question that I am asking you is this. Do people in countries that do well in the Paralympic Games have a better relationship with disabled people in society?

[The Chair, Conservative, Rob Moore]

Excuse me, Mr. Nantel, once the bells are ringing, I have to interrupt you. With unanimous consent you can finish your question. Is there consent for Mr. Nantel to finish his question and a quick answer?

[An hon. member]

Sure.

[The Chair, Conservative, Rob Moore]

Okay, go ahead.

[Pierre Nantel, NDP, Longueuil—Pierre-Boucher, QC]

Thank you, guys.