Mr. Chair, the member is absolutely right. It does take six, eight or ten years for an athlete to develop into a worldclass standing and that level of high performance. We do have a long term development strategy, which has been instituted in partnership with the national sports organizations, and it is receiving extra funding.
We are also appointing a Canada sports council of experts to work with us and to work with this long term development program with the national sports organizations to ensure that for each particular sport and for a more generic approach to high performance athletes that we are working together and having the very best advice and best practices identified in the country to work together. That deserves and is receiving funding and attention, as it must.
I had the opportunity three weeks ago to meet with a consortium of high performance institutions and organizations in the country that have presented a plan called “Own the Podium”. It goes forward in the way the hon. member mentioned, to look into the future for six, eight, ten years to ensure that, with respect to the 2010 winter Olympics in Canada, that we will come first in the world. That is their target. They presented a very interesting array of recommendations, which we are considering and we will be responding to soon. Of course it includes extra funding but, more than ever, it includes determination, long term planning, sharing of strategic advice and to ensure that the Coaches Association, the Vancouver Olympic Committee, AthletesCan, SportsCan, all of the groups together with the federal government come together in this long term plan.