Mr. Speaker, the Liberal Party is proud to support all Canadian athletes. In the next two weeks, thousands of young athletes from across Canada will be competing in the hope of reaching the podium at the Canada Games.
As the largest multi-sport competition in Canada for young athletes, these games represent an important step on the road to becoming future Canadian Olympic champions. These talented athletes, who have dedicated themselves to their sport for years, are role models for all young Canadians and an inspiration to everyone.
They certainly deserve our support. However, the Conservatives have frozen the athletes assistance program fund for top competitors at 2004 levels. That means these young people are less and less able to manage the costs of training and competition. They have asked the government to close this growing support gap, to no avail.
Canadian athletes are struggling while large profitable corporations are getting yet another tax holiday. Please give our future champions a break.