Honourable committee members, my name is Lindsay Hugenholtz Sherk. I am from Ottawa. I'm the senior leader for the Sport Matters Group, which advocates on behalf of over 80 national sport organizations. Thank you for the invitation to participate today.
I am accompanied by two of our celebrated Olympians, who will take a few minutes to outline our recommendation for budget 2019.
Neville Wright is a three-time Olympian who participated in the sport of four-man bobsleigh. Prior to bobsleigh, Neville competed for Canada internationally as a track and field athlete. He's from Edmonton, is the father of two young children, and works as a massage therapist and performance coach.
Marc Kennedy is a two-time Olympian. He has a gold medal from the 2010 Winter Olympics and is a two-time world curling champion. Marc is from St. Albert, is the father of two daughters, and works as a real estate agent here in Edmonton.
We would like to highlight the recommendations submitted in our brief asking for a 25% increase to the sport support program. This increase will allow national sport organizations to hire the right people, develop the right programs and build the policies we need to keep kids active and make sure Canadians of all ages, backgrounds and abilities are able to access the benefits of values-based sport.