Good afternoon, Madam Chair and honourable committee members.
The resource constraints that Canada Soccer has created for itself through the CSB deal have forced Canada Soccer to make choices about where it allocates funding. Those choices invariably favour the men's program. Canada Soccer's long-standing narrative has been that we should be grateful for what we receive. This has even translated to our operational budget. We are asked to simply make do with less.
We have now had to cut not only training days in camp but also full camp windows, which gives us fewer of the crucial opportunities we need as players to play together as a team leading into major international tournaments. We have had to cut the number of players at camp as well. That means not having enough players to run drills on the field. We've had to bring in staff members to just have enough bodies to run a full field scrimmage. We have had to cut the number of staff members at each camp. That compromises our training, our rehabilitation and our preparation. It means that we as players sometimes have to make choices about which medical treatments to receive when staff physiotherapists are stretched.
In 2021, the year our team won Olympic gold, Canada Soccer spent twice as much on the men's national team as it did on the women's national team, despite their not having a World Cup or Olympic Games. In fact, according to Canada Soccer's audited financial statements, it has spent more on the men's national team than the women's national team every year since at least 2019. The disparity between the treatment of the men's and women's national teams is glaring. It shows that Canada Soccer views the women's program to be of secondary importance to the men's program.
This disparity is even more shocking when you account for the fact that approximately half of the women's national team funding comes from Own the Podium. Own the Podium is a performance-based investment that provides funding to Canadian programs in order to deliver Olympic medals. This is money coming into Canada Soccer that is earmarked specifically for the women's team. We have been told as players that it is essential to achieve a top-three finish in the Olympic Games in order to keep enough funding to be able to run a program. Both coaches and players have been fearful that without repeated Olympic success, our program would no longer have enough resources to function.
Despite all of our success for over more than a decade, we have had to fight for every incremental step in playing conditions, treatment and compensation. Both the men's and women's national teams are committed to continuing to move the sport forward and achieving equity. However, in order for this to be possible, immediate steps must be taken to address the equality of treatment between our programs.