Pierre Trudeau

1
Pierre Trudeau and the Canadian Sport System
Required Bruce Kidd, The Philosophy of
Excellence, in Pasquale Galasso (Ed.)
Philosophy of Sport and Physical Activity
(Toronto Canadian Scholars Press, 1988), pp.
11-31.
2
A rough periodization ofFitness and Amateur Sport

• 1961-68 The enabler period
• 1968-70 The turn to high performance
• 1970-76 Making the Canadian Sport System
• 1977 Ministerial status
• 1978-83 Consolidating the system
• 1983-88 Best ever and the Calgary WOG
• 1988-93 BJ, Dubin and the gospel of order
• 1993-00 Unraveling the Canadian sport system
• 2000-02 Towards a new national sport policy
• 2002-03 The Canadian sport policy and the
  Physical Activity and Sport Act

3
The enabler period

• Government took direction from the National
  Advisory Council
• Equal emphasis paid to sport and fitness
• Focused upon enabling existing organizations,
  especially the national sport governing bodies,
  provinces and universities, to realize their
  objectives
• 50 of the monies were devoted to shared-cost
  programs with the provinces

4
But by the late 1960s

• Little improvement in international performances,
  while increasingly the federal politicians were
  blamed
• The agreements with the provinces did little to
  enhance high performance sport, and the
  provincial politicians took the credit for
  federal spending on mass participation
• The volunteer, amateur systemwhat was called the
  kitchen table approach, because sports leaders
  administered programs out of their own homeshad
  become a bottleneck to change

5
The crisis of the 1960s kitchen table
administration

• Volunteer sports administrators, often lacking in
  training, experience and continuity, were
  inefficient and ineffective
• Volunteer coaches and officials, often lacking in
  scientific knowledge and experience, could not
  provide excellent opportunities
• With self- or private funding, there were few
  resources for technical and administrative
  assistance and modern communications government
  funds for national and international competition
  only increased the burden
• Amateur athletes, with little time for training,
  were falling behind competitors who were
  increasingly paid to train

6
For the athlete

• Activities self- or privately financed
• Amateurism still strictly enforced
• National teams chosen at previous national
  championships representatives in team sports
  were club champions from previous year. No
  team-in-being until David Bauers hockey team
  of 1964.
• Major awards made by NSGBs, e.g. AAU of C.

7
A convergent national crisis

• During the late 1960s, many Canadians questioned
  the leadership of the federal government and the
  future of Canada, in the face of growing
  Americanization, Quebec separatism, western
  Canadian alienation, resurgence of organized
  labour, reassertion of aboriginal peoples

8
Into these crises stepped

• A new Prime Minister, Pierre Trudeau.
• Trudeau was first elected in 1968.

9
Trudeau believed

• in a strong federal government which provided
• Equality before the law for all citizens
  regardless of their class, gender, ethnicity,
  sexual identity, province/region or
  ability/disability
• Full access to public services in both English
  and French (bilingualism)
• Supportive policies for Canadians of other
  ethnicities (multiculturalism)

10
Trudeau also believed that

• Successful sport teams in international
  competition symbolized pan-Canadian unity sport
  can give Canadians a strong sense of themselves.

11
The Trudeau Government

• Withdrew from provincial agreements
• Discontinued National Advisory Council
• Strengthened the links between amateur sport and
  pan-Canadian unity
• Sub-divided the Fitness and Amateur Sport
  Directorate into a large sport branch, Sport
  Canada, and a tiny recreation and fitness branch,
  Fitness Canada
• Created the Canadian sport system to increase
  the focus upon and investment in high-performance
  sport

12
Making the Canadian sport system

• The adrenalin
• The IOC awards Montreal 1976 Olympics
• Success of other countries, particularly the
  Soviet Union and GDR
• The dynamic of Pan-Canadian nationalism against
  the rising challenge of Quebec nationalism, etc.,
  etc.

13
The Canadian sport system

• State control Sport Canada direction, financial
  support and control, with professional leadership
  at senior levels
• NSGBs become NSOs, with offices in National Sport
  and Recreation Centre in Ottawa, with
  administrators salaries, program costs, and
  other expenses heavily subsidized by Sport Canada
• National coaches, technical directors paid by
  grant from Sport Canada
• National teams semi-permanent, financed by Sport
  Canada
• Program budgets largely financed by Sport Canada
• Athletes enjoy Sport Canada financial support
• State plays a major role in awards

14
New institutions

• To strengthen administration National Sport and
  Recreation Centre
• To strengthen coaching Coaching Association of
  Canada and National Coaching Certification
  Program
• To strengthen development Canada Games
• To assist athletes Athlete Assistance
• To promote fitness ParticipAction
• To promote programs/combat media bias Sports
  Information Bureau

15
Elevated status

• In 1977, the FAS Directorate becomes the Ministry
  of State for Fitness and Amateur Sport, with
  Cabinet status