Canadian Heritage Committee on Oct. 27th, 2016

[Mandy Bujold]

I took my certification levels throughout my career. I've continued to do some coaching on the side. A lot of the coaching that I did.... I do some corporate events in Toronto now, where I'm coaching people in the advertising and media industry in boxing. I'm more or less doing that type of coaching, or else I'm going into schools and just introducing people to the sport.

It is very difficult. A lot of people ask if, once I'm fully retired, I'm going to be a coach, and honestly, I think my answer is no. I want to go out and coach young girls and athletes, but there are no initiatives out there for females who are in a sport to transition over to the coaching aspect.

I've gone through a couple of different coaches. One coach in particular was a full-time employee somewhere else. He was a part-time coach, and he had a family. I was always in the gym alone and didn't really have the attention that I needed at that time, and that was really hard on me.

If I'm going to be a coach, I'm going to do it 100%; I'm going to be there for my athlete. And after dedicating my entire life to being an athlete, I'm not sure if I want to dedicate my entire life to being a coach and going through the same struggle of not having funding or whatever it is to be a full-time coach. I think that is very difficult.

I do think that's something that we need to work on, to keep our athletes somehow in the program, whether it be as coaches, board members, or otherwise.

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

Thank you both for being role models.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

Thank you very much.

Madam Sansoucy.

[Brigitte Sansoucy, NDP, Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot, QC]

Thank you, Madam Chair. My thanks to the two witnesses for their presentations.

You have both shared your objectives in terms of achieving greater participation of women and girls in sports. Could you share your suggestions with our committee on ways to improve federal programs at various levels and according to your areas of interest?

I would like to hear your suggestions on the issue, whether in terms of sport-family balance, the media coverage of female models in sport or the transition to coaching. We could start with Ms. Marchant. I will give Ms. Bujold, who just spoke, a short break.

So what are your suggestions for federal programs?

[Lanni Marchant]

The biggest issue we're facing still is funding. We have funding through Sport Canada, and as athletes, we seek out private sponsors. But in terms of programs and initiatives, from the federal standpoint it seems the money is going into a lot of talk. I commented earlier that it's not the intent behind the words, it's the effect. It's not the intent behind what we say we're going to do, it's action.

I'm very fortunate, and I'm very happy to be here speaking on this matter. But if we're just going to sit around and talk about it, then I don't understand what we're going to accomplish.

I went through university. I went through law school. We're told as women that we can have it all—we can be professional women; we can be a mom; we can have hobbies; we can work out. Nobody really told me it was okay to accomplish all those things and then walk away and be a professional athlete.

Young girls and women are not the same as boys. If a guy is halfway decent at hockey, he's going to go all the way and try to make the NHL. I saw with my collegiate teammates that it was perfectly acceptable for them to graduate, not pursue a secondary degree, and live in a house like frat boys while trying to make it on the running scene.

It's not been told to us as girls the same way it has been to boys, that it's okay to pursue a sport, and that in doing that, you are just as successful as a female.

I'm very fortunate; I'm very glad I have my degrees. But nobody told me I didn't have to do it that way.

I think if the federal government wanted to start sending out that message, that success can come through sport.... Because it's through sport that we end up with some great coaches, and we end up with our Minister of Sport. She said herself that she participated in this initiative years ago, and it introduced her to politics. We have a lot of female athletes out there who could turn into future ministers and future professionals, but the pressure doesn't need to be on us to be that first.

[Brigitte Sansoucy, NDP, Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot, QC]

Ms. Bujold, do you have something to add to that?

[Mandy Bujold]

I would agree 100% with Lanni.

I think the government should also be using the current Canadian national athletes we have. We have so many amazing, strong female role models in this country who can impact the community, so maybe we need to get them out there more doing more initiatives with young girls or just spreading the message even more than we are.

I think funding would go a long way in making that happen. I think right now as athletes we struggle on a day-to-day basis to be full-time athletes, so we have to do things like get an education and try to work and make it work so that we can actually compete for Canada. I think if there was a way funding was increased it would help us so we don't have to be out applying for grants and trying to do all those things. We can actually give back to the community and try to encourage the next generation to be out there and get involved in the sport to make a healthier contribution to this country.

I see other programs in our schools in Ontario. We have to do 40 hours of volunteering. That's amazing. It gets people out there and volunteering, but maybe there is some way we can introduce a physical activity component into that. Maybe we do 10 hours of physical activity or whatever it may be to just get more people interested and focusing more on physical activity and sports.

[Brigitte Sansoucy, NDP, Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot, QC]

Ms. Marchant, you said that there are few women in leadership roles, whether as coaches or in sports associations or organizations.

In your presentation, you said that we must do something about that, but what can be done?

[Lanni Marchant]

In my experience, I've been privy to conversations where yes, the jobs might be opened up to men and women, equally, but then I've overheard conversations where it's been, if we give the job to her we can pay her less. I think we're still dealing with wage gaps and wage issues to get these roles.

I went to school in the NCAA system. I went to UT Chattanooga and UT Knoxville, which is, as everybody knows, a big university in Tennessee. Their women's basketball coach was making pennies compared to what the men's coach was making and her team was winning NCAA title after NCAA title. I think that's paralleled often in our sporting environments here in Canada, whether it's basic level coaches or other. If it's on a volunteer basis that they're given a bit of a grant or funding, it might be higher if it's for a male coach.

If you look at the title positions in Athletics Canada, Equestrian Canada, Canoe Kayak Canada, when these jobs come up—I admit I haven't seen the postings—I often wonder if they are posted or if they're posted equally where women are going to see that these jobs are available when the spots come to be filled.

It seems very much like we hire within our own and because it's been so male dominated, we keep hiring men. I think we need to cast a wider net.

[Brigitte Sansoucy, NDP, Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot, QC]

Ms. Marchant, you said that your funding will end in 2017. We understand that it's a great deal more difficult for women to obtain sponsorships in sport. Why is that so?

[Lanni Marchant]

Yes, to clarify my Sport Canada funding, my carding, will likely end. The list will be out tomorrow, so I can't comment exactly, but I was given a restriction on my funding that I had this past year and the restrictions were only given to those athletes who were over 30, and the majority of those athletes were women. We had to perform on a certain basis at the Olympics to be eligible for funding going forward.

It doesn't matter that my age puts me perfectly in the window to be a finalist in the 2020 Olympics. It doesn't matter that I'll stay in the sport another four years. As a woman over 30, I had to perform and to be in the top 15 in the 10,000 in Rio to be eligible for funding going forward. I was 25th and then I turned around two days later and I was 24th in the marathon and that doesn't warrant anything.

In terms of private sponsorships it is more difficult for women and I don't have a good answer why. I know I'm a very vocal Canadian runner in Canada. I'm sponsored by ASICS Canada, but I know that my ASICS male teammates make more than me. Again, I don't know if it's because our history in sport has been so short that the companies don't necessarily buy into what we're selling, but I know that when I've hosted community runs 20 people will show up and they'll have a brand new pair of ASICS shoes on their feet.

I know I have that power to reach people and I know that with my background in education, and coming from a large family with a single mother, I have an interesting story, and we have so many women with these amazing, interesting stories, but the companies are still looking for the Wheaties box and typically on the Wheaties box we have men.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

Thank you.

Mr. Samson.

[Darrell Samson, Liberal, Sackville—Preston—Chezzetcook, NS]

Thank you very much.

I have to say that I'm very impressed. We have with us two real athletes. I don't know if you knew each other there or if you met there or whatnot, but it's very nice to see both of you, having competed.

There's no question that girls in sport, women in sport, with the successes of the last Olympics, is going to be something special that we're going to build on. I think there's momentum and we need to build on that momentum.

My first question is for Mandy. Are you seeing some, as many, or more young girls now in boxing, in the ring and whatnot?

[Mandy Bujold]

Actually, I think worldwide we're seeing more, but in Canada we're seeing fewer. When I first started in boxing we had really strong senior teams, junior teams, and youth teams. Then we thought, when the Olympics happened, that would increase, but I think it increased more on the fitness side of things. There are more people getting involved in knowing about women's boxing, but as far as getting involved is concerned, the rest of the world sort of caught up. We were always in the top three at the world championships for our senior women's team, but the rest of the world just started to catch up, and we didn't do what we need to do to stay there. Now we have trouble filling our junior and our youth teams. I actually don't even have full junior or youth women's teams. All over the world, our international committee has put in place continental championships, world championships, so these girls have the opportunity to get the experience that I never had the opportunity to get. Canada is falling behind because we're not developing these young girls, so when they get to the senior level, they're already so far behind all the other countries over in Europe and Asia that it's just too hard to compete at this international level.

[Darrell Samson, Liberal, Sackville—Preston—Chezzetcook, NS]

Could both of you quickly comment on this? Do you believe that the coverage is well-balanced between men and women in events such as the Olympics or any national competition that you've participated in?

We'll start with Lanni.

[Lanni Marchant]

I would have to say no. I think our women's team did very well in Rio, so we received a lot of attention for that, because they were doing so well. I think in the events where there weren't medal contenders, medal hopefuls, or medal winners the coverage was lacking.

As someone who spends a lot of time in the U.S., I'll say the Canadian coverage is fantastic. We cover way more than what you'll see in other countries.

However, when there was coverage on the women too, we also dealt with the comments on our bodies and our appearances, and what our lives are like outside of sport. So in response to your question, I would have to say no. I would have to say that if we had a less successful women's team, we probably wouldn't be praising the media coverage that we had.

[Darrell Samson, Liberal, Sackville—Preston—Chezzetcook, NS]

That's a good point.

Mandy.

[Mandy Bujold]

I absolutely agree. I think someone did a bit of research recently on what female athletes are asked in interviews versus male athletes. It was actually kind of funny to watch the questions. When Genie Bouchard wins a match, it's not about “How did you perform in that match?” it's “What are you wearing?” or “What skirt is that?” or “Can you do a twirl for us?”

Sure, we're getting media coverage more and more, but I think it's for the wrong reasons. We have to go out there and show that we can be strong and beautiful, but we are here to compete. I want to be respected for what I'm doing in my sport, number one, for all media.

[Darrell Samson, Liberal, Sackville—Preston—Chezzetcook, NS]

Lastly, you made the point about funding of athletes over the age of 30. I find that very sad when you think it's about time, it's not about age. We will take note of that, of course, in our report, but also, in my opinion, athletes should be writing to the federation as a group and indicating that it's unacceptable.

[Lanni Marchant]

Yes, and in a perfect world, that would work, but as I mentioned, being vocal about my desire to double at this past Olympics, I was sent a threat of a sanction. That's why we're here to speak to you. You need to come in on our behalf. The COC and Sport Canada need to come in on our behalf, because it's the athlete versus the federation, and everybody else looks the other way. It's the athlete who faces retribution and retaliation.

[Darrell Samson, Liberal, Sackville—Preston—Chezzetcook, NS]

Good. We have that in our report. Thank you.

I don't know if you want to go—

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

You have two minutes if you wish.

[Darrell Samson, Liberal, Sackville—Preston—Chezzetcook, NS]

I want Julie to have a couple of questions.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

All right, but I'm going to have to cut Julie off because we're cutting down time if we want a second round.

Julie, you have two minutes.

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

I want to stay on the part about media coverage, because we're going to be looking at that a bit more carefully as well.

Yesterday I was at the same lunch and learn about women in sports. One comment was that different stations have difficulty putting on women's sports because they don't have a high enough viewership. I'm putting it out there because one thing one commentator said was they need stories about female athletes to help sell the sports.

I was wondering what your thoughts are about that, because that's an issue that keeps coming up, getting more representation of women in sports.