Good morning, Mr. Chairman, committee members. On behalf of Canada's national team athletes, the board of directors of AthletesCAN, our chief executive officer, and myself, thank you for this opportunity to sit with you this morning to share our collective concerns and feedback regarding Bill C-47.
AthletesCAN is the collective voice of national team athletes in Canada, and we represent over 2,500 active national team athletes, including Olympic, Paralympic, Commonwealth Games, Pan-American Games, and aboriginal athletes. We work diligently on their behalf to provide these athletes with programs of leadership, advocacy, and education to ensure a fair, responsive, and supportive sports system.
AthletesCAN has extensively reviewed the content of Bill C-47 and consulted with our athletes and partners, and as a result we are here today to support the government's efforts to better high-performance sport in Canada.
We recognize the need to support the sponsors and licensees who have contributed and will contribute significant resources to the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games. However, we bring to the committee's attention the need to entrench athlete rights within this bill.
The opportunity to create and foster an environment for sponsors and licensees that protects their right to associate themselves with the Olympic and Paralympic Games is a great step forward for the Canadian sports system. However, we need to address the direct legislative implications that this legislation will have on the individuals who are central to our country's sporting success: our athletes.
We believe it is possible to create an environment that protects both the rights of the sponsors and licensees and the rights of the athletes. It's our recommendation to the committee that the protection of athletes can be provided under Bill C-47 with the adoption of a simple amendment, which we have identified as the protection of identity for Olympians and Paralympians. Olympians and Paralympians are those athletes who have competed at Olympic and Paralympic Games. These athletes have earned the right to refer to themselves and their sponsors as Olympians and Paralympians.
However, there is concern among the athlete community that their ability to foster relationships with businesses and communities could be adversely affected by this legislation, as this type of support and endorsement could fall under the commercial parameters of this legislation.
Unlike companies that use the Olympic and Paralympic marks for ambush gains, athletes who are successful in garnering the support of businesses and communities do so to support the significant costs of training and competition at an international level. We've looked to the committee to provide provisions within Bill C-47 to protect the rights of athletes. In Australia, where similar legislation exists, provisions were made to protect the rights of athletes. Canadian athletes deserve this same right.
It is the recommendation of AthletesCAN that Bill C-47 include a provision by way of amendment to protect the rights of athletes to identify themselves as Olympians and Paralympians who have participated at past Olympic and Paralympic Games, to be able to speak to their accomplishments, and the right to reference as factual experience to either promote themselves or be promoted by their sponsors without penalty.
We would like to thank the industry committee for this opportunity to provide the collective concerns of Canada's national team athletes and offer a simple suggestion that could be easily implemented to protect the rights of athletes.
Thank you. I welcome the opportunity for questions from the committee.