Canadian Olympic Committee officials have issued an urgent plea for more funds for a national sport system they say is “stretched unbearably thin,” warning that Canada’s athletes will continue to struggle on the international stage without further investment.
David Shoemaker, the COC’s chief executive, struck an unusually grave tone on Sunday at the organization’s final press conference of the Milan-Cortina Games. It took eight days for Canada to win its first gold medal in Northern Italy, and the country finished with its lowest medal total at a Winter Olympics in more than two decades.
“This is not the result — especially in the Winter Games — that we aspire to have,” he said. “We know we can do better.”
He suggested a straightforward solution: More money.
“We’ve asked for a sliver of what other countries are giving to their Olympic programs,” he said, “where billions of dollars are being invested by competitors.”
What happened on Sunday?
As is custom, Canada’s Olympic leadership convened a news conference inside the main media centre for a debrief on the final day of competition. What made it unusual this year was the tone and the dire warning of a system under financial duress.
Canada had won a total of 20 medals heading into the gold medal game for men’s hockey (five gold, six silver, nine bronze), leaving it in a tie for eighth overall with The Netherlands, which counted half of its medals as gold. Milan-Cortina is Canada’s weakest showing on the winter sports podium since the 2002 Salt Lake City Games (17).
“Canadians deserve a sport system that is properly funded,” said Shoemaker. “National sports organizations are stretched unbearably thin and are forced to make impossible choices; to cut essential sports staff; cut training camps; cut participation in international competitions.”
Canada increased funding for high-performance sports leading into the 2010 Vancouver Games. Own The Podium, a not-for-profit created to offer targeted funding for athletes — providing help for those who seemed likely to succeed — was launched in 2005, with an initial investment of $110 million.
“Core funding for national sports organizations has not increased in 20 years,” Shoemaker said. “It needs to.”
Why is funding an issue?
On Sunday, the COC highlighted stories of athletes who have been forced to pay team fees out of pocket, along with private coaching and other supports necessary to compete on the international stage.
Jenn Heil, the three-time Canadian Olympian volunteering as chef de mission in Milan, told a story of a young Canadian athlete struggling to eat properly while competing. Asked why they did not have vegetables in their grocery cart, she said they responded they couldn’t afford the more expensive products.
On average, she said Canadian athletes are paying $25,000 out of pocket just to represent Canada at these Games.
Shoemaker said about three-quarters of the athletes in Milan-Cortina are in their 30s, and many are into their second or third Games.
“These are the beneficiaries of two decades of adequate investment in the system,” he said. “The money’s dried up. The bench is not deep.”
What is the COC asking?
Shoemaker said the national sports system receives around $220 million in funding from the federal government each year. He said the COC is asking for an additional investment of $144 million.
The money would not go to the COC, he said, but to the 62 national sports organizations that deliver the programming and services to athletes. (Not every organization is facing a financial crisis, he said, because of broader commercial success — which would include organizations such as Hockey Canada.)
“This isn’t just about sport,” said Shoemaker. “It’s about nation-building. It is, to borrow a phrase, about what makes Canada strong.”
“Personally,” said Heil, “I want to live in a Canada where every kid who dreams of being an Olympian has an equitable chance.”
What has been the government’s response?
Shoemaker was named CEO of the COC in 2018, and he said one of his first acts of office was to interview the leaders of Canada’s various national sports organizations. Funding was a common challenge.
The COC began to lobby the federal government on their behalf.
“To this point,” Shoemaker said, “we have not been successful.”
He was asked, in an era when affordability is a major concern for Canadians, if increasing funding for sports could be a difficult political argument.
“There’s no question that, for the government, this is about competing priorities,” said Shoemaker. “This is nation-building at its finest, at a very modest expense when you compare it to pipelines and ice-breakers,”
What is their supporting argument?
“The pride in country we get from these incredible performances is overwhelming,” said Shoemaker. “We win together, we lose as a country. And at this moment in the world, more than ever, it’s worthy of our attention, our investment and our support.”
Heil pointed to the high cost of competing at the grassroots level, which thins the potential pool of athletes.
“For me, it’s a question of values,” she said. “A pay-to-play system, I don’t think, is a Canadian value. I want all kids to dream of excellence.”
Eric Myles is chief sport officer for the COC.
“With everything that’s going on with the economy, the political situation, it’s not the time to have our head down and to back up,” he said. “It’s the time for Canadians — for all of us — to be strong and solid.
“Sport is a strong way to express this as a country.”
