Canadian Heritage Committee on Nov. 26th, 2013

[JD Miller]

Well, again, going forward, we have to decide what our objectives are. Will the objectives of Canada be to produce gold medals, or will the objectives of Canada be to produce medals? I'm not opining on which is the appropriate objective. I can tell you without equivocation that the way you go about preparing for each is quite different, and how you would deploy money and expertise is quite different. This is why once and for all deciding what our objectives are is fundamental to moving forward and bringing all stakeholders together so that we can use our investments wisely and efficiently and have the best outcome.

[Ray Boughen, Conservative, Palliser, SK]

Thank you.

Christopher, you mentioned that there's a chance that 30,000 people would be involved in biathlon at one stage or another of the sport. How do we attract 30,000 people to that sport in Canada?

[Christopher Lindsay]

Yes, as it says in the notes, we have stadiums of 30,000 people, and more out on course, in Europe.

One of the things I've always enjoyed about our sport is that it's got a fair amount of drama in it. It's not just watching someone ski off into the trees and then reappear after an hour. Every Olympics you get to see someone cry. It's quite exciting in a way, as long as it's not yours.

One of the initiatives we have always wished went further to support our sport is getting more access and more time for amateur sport on TV. I think this goes for all of our amateur sports. The more coverage we can get, the more private corporate sponsorship money will be available to us, and that can leverage the resources the government is putting in. Certainly, serving hot wine to the people in the stands doesn't hurt either.

[Ray Boughen, Conservative, Palliser, SK]

Right.

Steven, I'm looking at what you said about the challenging environment and my thinking is, has the environment changed much from Canada to Russia or...?

[Steven Hills]

If you are speaking specifically about the Sochi landscape, Russia is a very interesting country. Although most of Russia or a good part of Russia that we see on TV—look at Moscow and St. Petersburg—is very European, Sochi-Adler and that area is not. It's a very long way to go. From my home in Squamish to Sochi, door to door, takes 30 hours, 22-plus hours in the air and a couple of planes. People and the service and the food is quite different. Our athletes are used to travelling around the world and competing everywhere. Sochi is going to be one of those very probably unique experiences for everyone.

I was there a month ago and it provides unique demands unlike any other place in the world, and the Canadian Olympic Committee and others will attest to that. As far as they're concerned, this will be the most complex mission the Canadian Olympic Committee has put together in terms of getting their stuff there, getting it organized, and working with the locals on the ground. The Russians are fiercely competitive. They're not always as helpful as they should be under the IOC rules, I can say that candidly. It's going to be a tough environment.

[Ray Boughen, Conservative, Palliser, SK]

Thank you.

I'm wondering if each member of the panel might react to this question. How can we help JD get more private-sector involvement in fundraising for the Olympics? What are some thoughts you have on that, any and all?

[Steven Hills]

I think JD is doing a very good job as he spoke to the business approach. A key part of business is having a purpose and a network of supporters. As the success of B2ten expands, those people who are involved, I believe, will continue almost organically, internally to create and attract more support for the cause. As it proves successful, as the athletes and the programs...and support that B2ten provides is proven to be a necessary add-on, I think its success will beget more success.

Outside of that, the traditional sponsorship model is changing in Canada. The Canadian Olympic Committee has done a very good job of collectifying its brand and has drawn a lot of resources into that piece. And to be fair, it is at the expense of the smaller properties, products, brands, NSOs that are out there.

It's going to take some consolidation and some brand-building to attract more corporate support and/or the network of believers that JD has brought together, in my opinion.

[Ray Boughen, Conservative, Palliser, SK]

What do you think? Do we have time?

[Christopher Lindsay]

The only thing I'd add to that is there may be an opportunity for looking specifically at matching up sport brands. I mean, for us the reality is that Canada is not a huge market for consumption of biathlon, but Europe is. And if we have Canadian companies dealing exclusively with sales in Europe, Central Europe especially, I think we could be quite a help to them in increasing their exposure.

[The Chair, Conservative, Gord Brown]

Thank you.

We have five minutes left for this round.

Mr. Nantel.

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

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I invite you all to wear your earpiece as all our team have many questions. They are going to be short ones.

Mr. Miller, I know you understand French well. I have just one question for you.

You often mention that Canadians will have to choose which sports they prefer. When you seek out private sponsorship, are there certain sports you have trouble selling and others that everyone wants to support? A brief answer would be appreciated. Thank you.

[JD Miller]

Is that for me or everyone?

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

For you.

[JD Miller]

Hockey aside, some sports are more popular than others, but to be frank, I'm not all that involved in sponsorship. When we go looking for contributions from corporate Canada, the focus is more on matching a company with an athlete's personal story, their courage and perseverance.

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

Thank you.

[Irene Mathyssen, NDP, London—Fanshawe, ON]

I'll be very quick because Monsieur Lapointe has some questions.

My first one is in regard to snowboarding. Biathlon seems to be more male dominated. What provisions are there to encourage women in terms equal funding?

Second, I'm intrigued by this idea of the goal of encouraging physical literacy, and that question would be to Mr. Miller.

Could I have two quick answers to those?

[Steven Hills]

I can say very proudly regarding female participation in snowboarding that certainly as to the overall number of snowboarders as participants, it's pretty well split. Over 53% of our Sport Canada-carded athletes are female. More than half of our athletes receiving Sport Canada funding who are on our national team—pardon me, 45%. More than half of our national team are women.

Of our coaching staff, it's slightly less. Our coaching staff is 21% female, and increasing. Of the five medals in Sochi, three will likely be for women.

[JD Miller]

I'd like to address both in 30 seconds.

I don't view any issues with women. Women are roaring in Canada. They're winning the majority of medals at World Cups, world championships, and the Olympic Games. Men should be picking up their socks.

As to physical literacy, we view sport as a pyramid and we're talking today about the apex, the very top of the pyramid. One of the reasons why all of us are concerned is that sport participation rates are dropping dramatically in this country. Due to diabetes, obesity, screen times, and lack of physical education in schools, which is not an element under federal jurisdiction, we face a very skinny future a short 15 years down the road if we do not champion the cause of physical literacy through public-private partnerships.

We've gotten into it strictly out of necessity. It's so far away from being at the very top, but after Vancouver, it was clear to us that if someone doesn't try to activate corporate Canada in the area of physical literacy, we face a terrible human, financial, and social cost a generation down the road.

[François Lapointe, NDP, Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup, QC]

My question is for Mr. Hills.

Mr. Henwood, of the Canadian Sport Institute, told the committee that what often happens when we become a leader in a particular sport, such as short track speed skating, is that other nations catch up pretty quickly.

Right now, we're a world leader in snowboarding. What can the federal government do to keep us at the top well into the future?

[Steven Hills]

Is your question specifically about who is on our heels in snowboarding?

[François Lapointe, NDP, Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup, QC]

We were told by Mr. Henwood that very often we were the leaders in a sport like speed skating and that we're being caught up by other countries. Right now we're the world leader in your discipline. How can we make sure that we stay the world leader for Olympics to come?

[Steven Hills]

As I said in my earlier responses, we continue to invest in the high-performance group that is ready to go to Korea, but we must invest in the next generation, in the provincial level of athletes, and that's an eight-year project so that we can keep them involved in competitive snowboarding so that they can manage school. This is why the sport-études program in Quebec is so important. Programs like that elsewhere in the province are necessary. Our athletes in snowboarding at the top of the world are quite young.

They are able to find a way to compete, have fun, enjoy, and get their education at the same time so they don't have to make that choice and leave the sport prematurely because of those planning for after sport.

[François Lapointe, NDP, Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup, QC]

And you have to make them interested in the sport very young.

[The Chair, Conservative, Gord Brown]

Thank you very much.

That's going to have to be the last word.

I'd like to thank our witnesses for your contributions.

We will suspend briefly to bring in our next round of witnesses.

Thank you very much.

[The Chair, Conservative, Gord Brown]

We're going to call this meeting back to order.

We have our next round of witnesses, and we have, from Speed Skating Canada, Ian Moss, chief executive officer. From Skate Canada, we have Daniel Thompson, chief executive officer, and Elizabeth Manley-Theobald, who of course is an Olympic silver medallist. We appreciate your coming today.

By video conference—I think we're just having some minor technical difficulties today—we have Tim Farstad, executive director of the Canadian Luge Association.

What we're going to do is we're going to go ahead, and we'll start with Mr. Moss for eight minutes.