Evidence of meeting #68 for Canadian Heritage in the 44th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was soccer.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Conservative
Martin Shields Conservative Bow River, AB
That's great.
If you think of others, please don't feel shy about sending them to us, because we would follow up on it.
Conservative
Martin Shields Conservative Bow River, AB
The other thing I would go back to is understanding how sports work in the development of our youth. I've been a coach of many different sports through my life, and I know how critical youth development is when I see my 12-year-old son playing soccer for the first time.
I coached a lot of high school and community sports. Where they get that grounding and interest in the sports is critical. When you say “lasting change”, what's an example of the lasting change we really need to ensure happens?
Player Representative, Canadian National Soccer Team Player, Canadian Soccer Player's Association
What comes to mind when you ask about lasting change is that one of the avenues of revenue for the CSA is player fees across Canada. Those absolutely cannot be raised in order for Canada Soccer to profit. It has to be affordable for people to play this game and for kids to participate. That's my first one.
Second, we have to take care of our youth teams in the sense of giving them camps to be seen by national team coaches, to be given the same opportunity we were. I've played with Quinn since the age of 18 through the youth program. We wouldn't have been teammates if it weren't for that. You gain camaraderie and lasting, lifelong friendships through those youth teams.
When you look at other women's teams across the world, let's say in England and France, they have youth programs set up and youth academies set up through domestic leagues. Girls are playing in pro environments at 14 or 15 years old, some even younger. You see those players start to come through the system and make the national team at 17 or 18. They're pushing out the players who are elders, because that's how the game is supposed to work.
I'm not talking about you, Christine.
Player Representative, Canadian National Soccer Team Player, Canadian Soccer Player's Association
When Sophie says she believes we're going to see the impact of that very soon, I completely agree. Our youth are not being taken care of. That's not only from the national team program, but it starts with the national team, because our federation, as a countrywide federation, has the power to implement better academy systems across the country.
We look forward to Project 8 being implemented across Canada for a professional women's league. We hope that can create academies to enable young girls who are super talented to be playing in professional environments by 14 years old.
Conservative
Martin Shields Conservative Bow River, AB
To finish up, one of the last things I would ask is that when we're talking about what happens a year or two from now, this is a committee that will continue to exist. We're not going anywhere. The members may change, but we will continue to exist. The opportunity to come back is something that we would offer you.
If you believe you need to come back to see us, to tell us that things have changed, to give us good news or to give us reports or whatever, do not be shy about contacting this committee. It will still exist. We need to know if change has occurred, whether change has occurred in government or change has occurred for you one way or another. Don't feel hesitant about contacting us to come back.
Player Representative, Canadian National Soccer Team Player, Canadian Soccer Player's Association
We appreciate that. Thank you.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Hedy Fry
Thank you very much, Mr. Shields.
I will now go to the Liberals and Chris Bittle.
Chris, you have five minutes.
Liberal
Chris Bittle Liberal St. Catharines, ON
Thank you so much, Madam Chair.
To echo my colleagues, thank you for being here and telling your story. I know it's not easy.
I was hoping you could remind me of your team's FIFA ranking. What place are you ranked at?
Player Representative, Canadian National Soccer Team Player, Canadian Soccer Player's Association
What are we right now? Eight, maybe, or six....
Liberal
Chris Bittle Liberal St. Catharines, ON
If you know off the top of your head, what ranking does the men's team have?
Player Representative, Canadian National Soccer Team Player, Canadian Soccer Player's Association
Are they in the 40s, or...?
Liberal
Chris Bittle Liberal St. Catharines, ON
That's an excellent question, I think that goes to show. That's fair enough.
There was some discussion about the new acting president. I see they're negotiating online. Has the acting president reached out to anyone since her appointment? No. Has there been no consultation in regard to improvements in programs or trying to undo the damage that's been done?
Player Representative, Canadian National Soccer Team Player, Canadian Soccer Player's Association
Player Representative, Canadian National Soccer Team Player, Canadian Soccer Player's Association
No.
Liberal
Chris Bittle Liberal St. Catharines, ON
Are there any countries we should be looking to? You just mentioned England and France in terms of on-the-field improvements that can be made. Having friendships and seeing other athletes go through similar struggles, I'm wondering if there are any countries you've looked at and said, wow, they do an exceptional job in terms of governance and increasing women's participation in the game and improving the sport overall.
Are there any that you could point us to, or is it just dismal across the board?
Player Representative, Canadian National Soccer Team Player, Canadian Soccer Player's Association
Yes, I think there are a lot of countries you can look towards. I wouldn't say there's one that has everything right, because I'm sure they're all going through their trials and tribulations, but I think there are a lot of countries that have reached incredible CBAs over the past five years, both with pay equity and with the standards of their players.
As well, looking at the development side, you have countries that are putting huge resources towards the development of soccer in their country. That's being shown through the performance of their senior teams. I think you're seeing this across the world, from Australia and New Zealand to a lot of countries in Europe, to even countries like Mexico. You're seeing huge developments in their youth pathways through their professional programs, and in their equitable treatment of their senior programs as well.
Player Representative, Canadian National Soccer Team Player, Canadian Soccer Player's Association
Purely because of the work that the women's senior national team did following their Euro 2022 win, just days ago England implemented a strategy to make soccer available to young girls across the country by writing a letter to the government asking for equal opportunity for young girls in schools to participate in football. That was granted by their government almost immediately, and that was a very important change for that team. We have similar aspirations for our youth in that we hope we can continue to push the standard for the sport in our country.
Liberal
Chris Bittle Liberal St. Catharines, ON
I know people have mentioned, in terms of the work of the committee, that we can shed light, call witnesses and ask for certain documents, which we are in the process of looking at. I too would like to see this business agreement, and I'm sure you all would like to as well. Canada Soccer is an independent organization. It's not an organization of the Government of Canada, but is there advice you can give us? Ultimately we're going to have to do a report and make recommendations. What would you like to see the Government of Canada do to help in terms of soccer? Even beyond that, would you have any recommendations?
Player Representative, Canadian National Soccer Team Player, Canadian Soccer Player's Association
I'll start off on this one. Canada Soccer is a charitable amateur athletic association, so just from a player's perspective, we shouldn't have to be begging them for finances, and granular finances. They shouldn't just be giving funds to us, but it should be public for everyone to see, and I think that's a bare minimum starting point that we would encourage you to have.
Liberal
Chris Bittle Liberal St. Catharines, ON
Not to belabour the point, but is there anything other than transparency...? I think everyone around this table is committed to helping you achieve that goal, but in terms of the relationship between Sport Canada—the Government of Canada—and you, the athletes, what can we do as a government to better improve things beyond transparency?
You can always get back to us, as Mr. Shields has said.
Player Representative, Canadian National Soccer Team Player, Canadian Soccer Player's Association
I know this is a point on transparency, but it's around pay equity. Transparency goes beyond the pay equity of even us, but also into our staffing and our coaching. I'm not sure what that looks like, but I believe that's another point that needs to be addressed. I think federally regulated public and private sector employees are covered under the Employment Equity Act, so I would like to see similar things with our sports organizations.