Canadian Heritage committee  The only thing I'd add to that is there may be an opportunity for looking specifically at matching up sport brands. I mean, for us the reality is that Canada is not a huge market for consumption of biathlon, but Europe is. And if we have Canadian companies dealing exclusively wit

Canadian Heritage committee  Yes, as it says in the notes, we have stadiums of 30,000 people, and more out on course, in Europe. One of the things I've always enjoyed about our sport is that it's got a fair amount of drama in it. It's not just watching someone ski off into the trees and then reappear after

Canadian Heritage committee  Yes, I would certainly second all that; I agree with all of that. I think that from the perspective of a sport that has less broad participation and needs to focus on participation a little bit more, doing things to support provincial initiatives for regionalized training centres

Canadian Heritage committee  I completely agree. We've had good preparation going in, but the planning to be able to get results at an Olympic games has to start twelve and eight years out.

Canadian Heritage committee  The funding models in Canada are based primarily on two things: there is general participation across the country, and there is high-performance success. In sports such as ours, which are focused primarily on competition at the high end, we inevitably have fewer people who compet

Canadian Heritage committee  Biathlon is an interesting situation, because it really only exists in a competitive arena at this point. We have participatory programs at the low end, both through cadets and on the civilian side, whereby we are providing challenges beyond cross-country skiing that are effecti

Canadian Heritage committee  I'm doing really well with my time today, am I not?

Canadian Heritage committee  The cadet program, which is run by the military, is a huge source of exposure to biathlon. Cadet units across the country have the opportunity to do biathlon as one of their optional fitness activities each year. The cadet program is not terribly good at telling us how many peop

Canadian Heritage committee  Chairman and honourable members of the committee, thank you for this opportunity this morning. A biathlon is a sport that receives very little attention in Canada. Elsewhere in the world biathlon is a major spectacle that fills cold stadiums with 30,000 plus animated spectators.