Hello, Mr. Chair and honourable committee members. I'm here to share the athlete's voice, and specifically the realities of Canadian athletes today.
I grew up in Stittsville, Ontario, just down Highway 417 from here, and I relocated to Calgary, Alberta, to train with the Canadian national wrestling team when I was 18 years old. For many years I was living on AAP, the athlete assistance program, as I accumulated student debt and earned a degree at the University of Calgary.
In the first summer I moved to Calgary, I worked two jobs while I represented Canada at my first junior world championships. There I came 14th.
My first sponsor came a number of years later, and it was a local restaurant that offered to give me free meals. It was huge.
Two years before the Rio Olympics, I received my first financial sponsor, who committed to support me with $1,000 a month in the lead into Rio. I went from living off my carding cheque, which was $1,500 a month to cover rent in a big city, food, clothing, and everything, to making $2,500. That was huge for me. I felt rich. That's the reality of many Canadian amateur athletes today. Through that small, impactful amount, I was able to make the decisions that allowed me to walk out onto the mats at the 2016 Olympic Games and leave no stone unturned. I had committed everything to preparing for that moment, and singing O Canada on August 18 on top of the podium is something that I will never forget.
Olympic moments like mine inspire the art of the possible in all Canadians, but often it becomes so much more than that single moment of inspiration. Since the Rio Olympics, among many things, I've visited the Canadian Armed Forces in Kuwait, done wrestling clinics in Iqaluit, worked with refugees in Ottawa, and spoken to over 20,000 youth across our country. Without private sponsorship, I don't know if I would have had that moment and that platform to inspire all Canadians. Private sponsorship was essential for me, and it is essential for the athletes across Canada just like me who may face the reality of chasing their dreams on a shoestring budget.
Bill S-228 as currently drafted would mean a substantial drop in private sector contributions to sport at every level, from grassroots to high performance. This in turn would mean cutting off support programs to thousands of children and youth right across the country, and it would substantially marginalize the financial sustainability of an already underfunded Canadian sports system. These obviously would be unintended and opposite effects of what the legislation is intended to do, but they are very real considerations. If the goal is to develop healthier kids, then the government should remove the barriers for youth today to access physical activity opportunities. It should also encourage more private sector sponsorship in sport in Canada, not less.
Thank you.