Canadian Heritage Committee on Oct. 18th, 2016

[Marie-Hélène Thibeault]

Yes, I agree with the two points made.

There is an equal number of girls and boys among five-year-olds who play soccer. A lot of little girls of that age play soccer. I have also noticed the same thing in cross-country and downhill skiing.

In each successive age group, however, there are fewer girls. We really need look at the environment and girls' motivation in sports. What they are interested in is the social aspect, having fun.

When you asked earlier about what's going to bring them back, it's fun. If it's fun, if it's hip, if it's social, they're going to come.

As they mature, some of their fellow team members quit. The further they go in the system, the greater the demands. They have to qualify and reach quotas to stay on the team. Losing team members saps their motivation. The sport loses its social aspect.

[Dan Vandal, Liberal, Saint Boniface—Saint Vital, MB]

Thank you.

[Dan Vandal, Liberal, Saint Boniface—Saint Vital, MB]

Let's go to Geordie.

I'm intrigued by your presentation on recreational sport and lack of capacity. I live in Winnipeg. We have many community centres. There are over 70 in the city of Winnipeg, with heavy involvement by the municipal government.

Whose responsibility is it? I know it's our collective responsibility, but who should be taking the lead to address this lack of recreational capacity? Maybe “recreational” is not the right word. Who should be taking it? Is it the school system? Is it the municipal government? Is it the federal government?

[Geordie McConnell]

Thank you for the question.

As Elio talked about on multiple sectors, yes, the school system is very important. I have a member of my club who is a phys. ed. specialist. I was talking to her just the other day about this topic. She is now teaching grade 5. Last year she taught kindergarten. She said she will stand in a class, teaching, and she will see it already. She will see it in kindergarten. She will see a young girl leaning against the wall who has defined herself as not an athlete. It starts very early.

Personally, I felt there was a gap, so I went into it and created a social enterprise. It has been very successful, because there was a need for it. When my club goes to triathlons, we're really the only club around here that.... We're really the only triathlon club. There are some that are sort of triathlon clubs, but really they're built around the personality of the coach. It's a social organization.

The national sport governing bodies, and by extension the provincial governing bodies, need to promote this type of social organization more. I think that is happening, finally, in triathlon. But what you have to remember is that the national sport organizations are tied into the ladder, and that's not their priority. Their priorities have to change. They're the experts in their different sports. I think that's where change will happen.

[Dan Vandal, Liberal, Saint Boniface—Saint Vital, MB]

Thank you.

Do I have time left?

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

You have two minutes.

[Dan Vandal, Liberal, Saint Boniface—Saint Vital, MB]

We have two minutes left.

There's lots of information. Basically, what can we do as policy-makers, as federal representatives?

Let's start with Wendy.

What can we do as MPs, policy-makers for the federal government?

[Wendy Pattenden]

I would have Sport Canada ask the questions to the NSOs and collect the stats. We should all be reporting on our board composition and our staffing composition. In fact, because I was appearing before you today, I actually looked at my organization and at those stats, but nobody has ever asked me the question so I've never reported on it. I would say we need to start reporting on that—

[Dan Vandal, Liberal, Saint Boniface—Saint Vital, MB]

Accountability.

[Wendy Pattenden]

—and having some sanctions if people are not improving on those measures.

[Dan Vandal, Liberal, Saint Boniface—Saint Vital, MB]

Elio.

[Elio Antunes]

I would say the federal government has an opportunity to make this a priority. I think we need to ensure that Canadians value being physically active and participating in sport. It starts there.

We don't value being active, as a society. Until we do, I think interest in programs, and all of the other things, are down the road. Currently our society does not value being physically active as a way of life here in Canada. We need to put a priority and a spotlight on ensuring that Canadians are physically active.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

Thank you very much.

Mr. Vandal, you're very efficient with your questions. That's why you have so much time.

[Dan Vandal, Liberal, Saint Boniface—Saint Vital, MB]

I'm right on time and on budget.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

We're going to go to the second round. I think we are going to do a five-minute round each, but I'm going to ask you to be tight on this one.

Mr. Maguire is going to share his time with Mr. Kitchen.

[Larry Maguire, Conservative, Brandon—Souris, MB]

Thank you to everyone for your presentations today.

Last week we had a session here as well, and I want to refer to it in a minute.

I have a quick question in regard to the imagery that you brought up, Mr. McConnell. Anyone can get into this. You mentioned through your imagery.... Does that process involve education as well, of why to get into sport and how to get into sport?

I go back to the harmony that you mentioned, Ms. Lafrenière. It didn't hit me until you said it, but my daughter was involved in synchronized skating for years. There was a group of kids there, all girls, coached by a young lady who loved it. It went on into university. They all skated in university. They still make sure that all their kids are involved in sport. All those kids coming up are now six, seven, eight, nine years old.

When we go back to role models, I want to know if role models play any part in that. Whether it's Hayley Wickenheiser in hockey, or Eugenie Bouchard, or Brooke Henderson, there are lots of different role models out there today. We've just come through the Olympic side of it as well with Isabela Onyshko, in Brandon, in gymnastics, in my own area. I wonder if role models play any part in the younger people getting into it.

The education part comes from the fact there are amateurs versus professionals. Getting spotlights in the media in Canada is a little tough when you have baseball on the TV every night right now. The media tends to cover the professionals and not the amateurs, even at the Olympic level. That's my point.

Can you comment on the importance of that?

[Geordie McConnell]

Here's a brief example of this. I was watching television the other day, CBC, of course, and there was a commercial for some Olympic sport-related thing. It showed the kids; it showed the Olympic athletes. It showed the kids; it showed the Olympic athletes. Fantastic, very motivational, feeding the ladder....

Why don't they show Simon Whitfield paddle-boarding in his free time as well? Why don't we mix that in? Why don't we find the other retired elite athletes? I know Simon personally. I know he plays a lot of soccer. Why don't we have that imagery as well? Why do we stop at the Olympics?

[Marie-Hélène Thibeault]

Perhaps I could add something on this concept of imagery.

I have a photo here of a girl taking part in a Fast and Female event. This is Kelsey Serwa. She's a ski cross Olympic medalist from Kelowna. She's with one of the Fast and Female participants.

What do you think that type of connection has for this young participant? She gets to bond directly. She gets to sweat with Kelsey. Kelsey is going to take her through an agility course. Kelsey is going to talk to her about her experiences growing up and the challenges. Kelsey was actually a ballet dancer and chose the athletic route of becoming a ski cross athlete.

For an eight- or nine-year-old who is questioning what is going to be her pathway in sport, to hear that story first-hand is transformative. We get letter after letter from parents. Julie, I haven't seen letters from you yet, but maybe they're coming. The parents acknowledge that after a Fast and Female event, after their daughter has spent a half a day with an Olympian, she goes to school, puts on her Fast and Female T-shirt and feels fierce. They're going to school with an attitude they've never had before. That just speaks about the power of bringing our Olympians to that grassroots level.

Obviously, we can't do this every day. We need to find that scalable factor. That's where the media kicks in. How do we really make our Olympians and our female role models accessible, human? Humanize them, not sexualize them. Again, that's not a theme we've talked a lot about. That representation of female athletes as strong and confident, and what that speaks to in their leadership capacity, and how they're transferring that to our female youth, that, to me, is really huge.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

Mr. Kitchen, you have one minute.

[Robert Gordon Kitchen, Conservative, Souris—Moose Mountain, SK]

We have multiple sports. I think that leads into where you say the media tends to key in on, hockey, soccer. These are high profile. There are multiple sports. We all know that. There are sports out there that aren't Olympic sports that people participate in, martial arts, etc., those types of activities. You say paddle-boarding, etc. Those are things that people need to do—canoeing—Canadian things. I'm glad to hear you talk about that.

I have a sports injuries background, so I've dealt with a lot of sports injury. There is not a lot of emphasis on sports injury. Sometimes there's that fear that I'm going to get hurt, therefore I will not play.

Is that stressed in your organizations, and if so, how do you do it?

Lorraine.

[Lorraine Lafrenière]

Yes, in fact, it is. Wendy can certainly speak to this as well. It is part of coaching education, with the advent of very formalized sports sciences and the role of the coach at the high-performance level.

There is training for the community coach on fundamental movement skills and management and what to watch for, but I would suggest that it's still the psychology of the person.

Could I offer two comments on your imagery point? We need to do report cards.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

We have to wrap up. I'm so sorry, but we have to fit into the time we have left.

Mr. O'Regan, for the Liberals.

[Seamus O'Regan, Liberal, St. John's South—Mount Pearl, NL]

I actually wanted to expand on the question Ms. Dabrusin had. She has put an awful lot of time into this study and an awful lot of passion and leadership. I think her question dealt with time allocation in sports facilities. Who would you like me to direct that to?

[Julie Dabrusin, Liberal, Toronto—Danforth, ON]

I think Ms. Lafrenière would be a good place to start.

[Lorraine Lafrenière]

Every time we host, and we have the legacy of the Pan-American Games in Toronto in 2015, the biggest challenge we have is what I would term the total cost of ownership. That means not just keeping the lights on but maintenance, management, safety, protocol, and policy.

What does the total cost of ownership mean? It means that folks are trying to find money to keep the lights on and run all these things. It's chargebacks for facility space. It's increasing costs. It's managing it for the highest bidder, somebody who pays more. If you look at the facilities across the country, that is absolutely a dynamic that drives the facility owners in terms of management and access.