Mr. Speaker, it has now been revealed that Ottawa-Hull won the 2001 francophone games after the federal government sweetened its bid by offering free air fare at a cost of several million dollars to athletes coming from competing countries.
At the same time I regularly receive correspondence from Canadian athletes who do not receive one thin dime for their travel to participate in olympic and world events representing Canada.
Could the minister tell our Canadian athletes why we are paying the travel costs of foreign athletes to come to Canada when we are not able to support our Canadian athletes participating outside Canada?