Thank you, Ms. Bessette.
You're addressing a very important issue. Mr. Dendooven can get the figures for you while I respond. Our emergency funding for amateur sports served the same purpose as the funding for the arts, culture and heritage. To put it plainly, a percentage of the emergency funding was given to organizations. This funding was also allocated to sports organizations through our usual mechanisms and partners, such as the federations or the provinces we work with to distribute the money.
We also increased funding for the athlete assistance program. As you so rightly pointed out, the work of Olympic athletes is the work of a lifetime, which culminates in an Olympic year. The pandemic struck when these athletes were at their peak. The postponement by one year has resulted in a double cohort. We couldn't start separating the wheat from the chaff by telling the people who missed the Olympics that they could continue, but the people who hoped to reach the Olympic level that they would pay the price.
We increased the funding for athlete assistance to take into account the additional constraints caused by the pandemic.
In terms of amateur sports, we wanted to maintain and even increase the funding to ensure the sustainability of the organizations, once again. That way, when things pick up again, everyone will be ready to continue.
Mr. Dendooven, were you able to find the total amount of funding for athlete assistance?