Stephen Owen

[Supply, November 16th, 2004]

Mr. Chair, I did make the point that the athlete assistance program is tax free to the recipients. There is an addition to that of up to $10,000 per year for tuition for high performance and developmental athletes who are training and participating in sports at universities.

[Supply, November 16th, 2004]

Mr. Chair, I apologize to my hon. friend. He asked a number of questions in his last address and I did not answer the question in terms of the Canadian sport hosting policy.

This fiscal year we are spending $27 million on hosting some 40 international events in this country, multiple sports as well as individual sports, including world championships, which provide the very important opportunities for our developing athletes who may not yet be at the stage where they will be at the Olympics, the Pan American Games or the Commonwealth Games yet need that sharpening of their performance through international competitions. Therefore the international hosting policy of events in Canada is a very important part of our policy.

Let me just say in response to the first question that, yes, the government, in its wisdom, did provide $30 million extra this year to attempt to address the very question that the hon. member raised in terms of developmental and high performance funding. Under this policy, in Whistler, B.C. in 2010 we will come first in the world with a minimum of 35 medals.

[Supply, November 16th, 2004]

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.

[Supply, November 16th, 2004]

Mr. Chair, first let me congratulate the hon. member for his presence in the House and also for his contribution to Canadian sport through the development of the recognition of mountain biking and broader cycling activities into the Olympic Games, as well as into high performance sport. I think his contribution to this development in Canada is well recognized. It gives me great pleasure to work with him on an issue that is so important to both of us.

The hon. member raises a very good point about the estimates and the $50 million that is shown for this particular item to be reduced in the budget next year. The reason for that appearing in the estimates at this time is that the $50 million was a three year sunsetted program which ends this fiscal year and so the extra $50 million must be restored in next year's budget. I would like to assure the hon. member that I am making representations that this will be continued as a very important support for our sport system in the country.

I would just like to say one other thing in terms of the inspiration that the hon. member has made in his sport's career along with other high performance athletes and reflect on Athens and our Olympic team. I talked a little bit previously about our Paralympic team but the Olympic team had 264 members and 80% of those world champions came in the top eight in the world in the summer Olympics in Athens. This was extraordinary.

I think on a per capita basis there are very few countries in the world that had such a large Olympic team. The funding question that was asked is very important. Funding is essential to ensuring that at the end of the day we have high performance athletes who can perform as world champions, which they are, as I mentioned earlier.

Another indicator of the level of development of a country is the ratio between men and women on their Olympic teams. I am proud to say, although it gives me some misgiving, that there are more women on our Olympic team than men. So, gentlemen, start your engines.

[Supply, November 16th, 2004]

Mr. Chair, I am immensely grateful to my hon. colleague for asking that important question, but also I am extremely pleased to be able to welcome him to the House. He clearly makes a great addition to the important policies of this government, taking them forth for the benefit of all Canadians.

Sport and participation in physical activity is of course one of the ways in which we enjoy the quality of life in this country, which probably is unrivalled anywhere in the world.

I was very pleased to hear of the very in-depth knowledge my colleague has of the importance of sport, from participation in our everyday life through physical activity, games, school sports and community sports, but also of the long development time people take to reach a really high performance level for international competition. Of course those athletes have to be assisted in their development. Also, when they reach that high level they must have access to the best coaches. They must have expenses covered for international competitions and international competitions must be hosted in Canada, something that is immensely important.

We have to do this together. The Government of Canada cannot fund all of this itself, but it is the largest funder of sports and athletic activity in Canada. That is even before we added $30 million in this year's budget to assist our athletes in reaching the highest performance and becoming the inspiration that they are to all Canadians, so that even if they do not reach a podium themselves, they will understand the advantages of healthy living and the joy of sport.

Even with all this extra funding, it has to be understood that the expense is really not very much compared to the advantages we Canadians get from it. It is relatively inexpensive for the benefits we get. It is fun. It is value based. It is rules based. It promotes collaboration, playing by the rules, gender equity and respect for each other. This is an extremely important aspect of the quality of life of all Canadians.

I have been asked a very specific question. As well as responding generally to the importance of the expenditures that the Government of Canada makes in sport, I would like to give a bit of detail on the extra $30 million in this year's budget, which we have been able to add, and since the budget, frankly, and which has been announced over the last two months.

This extra $30 million, which takes our total budget this year to $120 million, includes an extra $4.6 million to the athlete assistance program for the year. The athlete assistance program assists developmental athletes and high performance athletes by giving them a monthly stipend, tax free, to enable them to meet the tough conditions of training to the very highest degree but still be able to live in an effective way.

The 1,400 carded athletes in Canada, as they are called, these high performance and developmental athletes, if they are at the high performance level, the highest level, they now are granted, tax free, an increase of $4,800 a year. These 1,400 athletes include Paralympic athletes and this is immensely important. Canada is the only country in the world that treats its high performance Paralympians in exactly the same manner that it treats its Olympic athletes.

If I may digress, to underline the importance of this funding and this extra funding now, an extra $400 a month on top of the $1,100 already received tax free equals $18,000 a year tax free for our Paralympians and other high performance athletes. Let us reflect on the results of the Athens Paralympic Games. We had 144 Paralympians from Canada in those games. This is one of the largest numbers. Not only were all of those people participating in the games, but they achieved number three status in terms of gold medals in the world. This is extraordinary.

I believe if we all think together about what indicator of the level of development of a society could best show that this development is high and people are respected, it is the way that people are able to access all of the aspects of a quality of life, including physical education and competition and being supported to the very highest levels of competition.

Our Paralympians won 72 medals. I hope this extra money will get even more medals in the next Olympics and Paralympics in Turin, in Beijing and of course in Vancouver-Whistler.

I have only begun to talk about how far this extra $30 million this year is going to go for our Paralympians, our other Olympic athletes, our developmental athletes and the people who are inspired by their performances right across Canadian society. As they improve their health, they have fun, they learn to live by rules and rules based systems, and they enjoy the quality of life of this country.

[Sports, November 1st, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, I congratulate the hon. member for his position as sports critic. I know of his eminent sports background himself.

The developmental athlete assistance has been increased from $500 a month tax free to $900 a month tax free this year. This is an extraordinarily important increase. I hope we can build on that both for direct living expense assistance such as this as well as more assistance for coaching, equipment, sports science and hosting of international events, so these young athletes can get more exposure to high competition at an earlier stage in our country.

[Sport Canada, November 1st, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, I know the voters of North Vancouver are immensely pleased with their enhanced representation in the House.

All Canadians are immensely proud of our Paralympians and Olympians for their courage, their pursuit of excellence, overcoming their personal challenges and their success in Athens. The Government of Canada is the largest funder of sport in this country and has increased that funding by $30 million in this year alone, which will ensure that success is enhanced in future Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Mr. Speaker, I know all members of the House look forward to your remarks on behalf of our Olympic and Paralympic champions.

[Supply, May 13th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the hon. member's request for sentiment, but the most sincere sentiment is action. That is why the former Ambassador to Denmark is the former Ambassador to Denmark. He was recalled from his duties. He came before the public accounts committee.

If the hon. member thinks the continuation of that committee at this stage, to the exclusion of all else, will get any further, why did the members not get the answers from him when he was before them? They have been useful in getting contradictory evidence from the head of CCSB in terms of how involved that minister was at the time. Therefore, we know there is clear evidence of political activity. That is why we are going ahead. We are finding answers, and that is all to the good.

I am certainly sorry about the fact that things go awry, but I am extremely satisfied to see that we are getting to the bottom of it and people are being held to account.

[Supply, May 13th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, I do not need to check the report of the International Management Development Institute. It is the most recognized judge of competitiveness in its annual report, globally.

However, let me just reflect for a moment on the management of an economy. In 1993 this government inherited a $42 billion deficit. I invite the hon. member to do some arithmetic around what $42 billion a year is on a daily basis. I suggest that $42 billion a year was about $115 million a day bleeding out of the country on an annual basis by the former Conservative government. The Liberal government had to clean up, mainly through the leadership of the current Prime Minister when he was finance minister. It is extraordinary that the member could suggest in any way the government and the Prime Minister are anything but extraordinary fiscal managers of this economy.

Mistakes happen. We are not running away from them. We will leave no stone unturned, as the Prime Minister has said. This is an unprecedented series of processes, inquiries and actions to get to the bottom of this. However, let us keep it in scale and in context.

[Supply, May 13th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, that was quite extraordinary coming from the member for North Vancouver. I would like to respond to a couple of points he made.

As I described in my comments, these processes and holding people to account is narrowing, starting with the $250 million. The overwhelming amount of that money went toward funding valuable and treasured community cultural, sporting and other events. We know there were problems with the commissions that were paid. The program has ended. We are focusing on and narrowing down where the fault may be.

That member made a wild statement about the mismanagement of public funds and yet every single reputable international institution which looks into economic issues has described Canada as being the best fiscally managed country in the world. I am talking about the WTO, the IMF and the OECD. I am also talking about distinguished international business journals such as the Wall Street Journal and The Economist . They all describe Canada as being the best fiscally managed country in the world.

A report came out just last week from IMD, the Institute for Management Development in Switzerland, that identified Canada as being the third most competitive economy in the world only surpassed by the United States. We know how competitive the States has become with a $500 billion deficit and 44 million people without health insurance. The only other country is Singapore which is about the size of the constituency of the hon. member for North Vancouver and is not particularly a democratic government. Canada stands at the forefront of the fiscal management of a democracy in the world.

Let us put that into context. We are talking about a lot of money and that is why we are taking it so seriously. That is also why the Prime Minister has said that we would get to the bottom of it, and we are. Heads of crown corporations have been fired. Processes are being followed.

Those members have said that when the Prime Minister was finance minister he should have been aware of this. Canada has a budget of $180 billion. The finance minister is responsible for setting taxes, arranging the budget, and overseeing very generally the finances of the country. The fiscal management of this country is supreme and largely because of the efforts of the current Prime Minister.

However, $180 billion a year is $500 million a day. Anybody who knows anything about the workings and administration of government knows that the finance minister does not have the responsibility nor is it his role to oversee the expenditure of that $500 million a day, let alone a program that was spending $40 million a year with proper controls that were being circumvented and which we are getting to the bottom of.