The Emergence of an Elite
Sport Formation in Canada,
1943-2004
December 2, 2004
To understand sport policy & shifts in priority we
must place development in the wider political & social
changes that have occurred in Canada
World
Expositions
(1851)
To understand sport policy & shifts in priority we
must place development in the wider political & social
changes that have occurred in Canada
Olympic
Games
(1896)
World
Expositions
(1851)
To understand sport policy & shifts in priority we
must place development in the wider political & social
changes that have occurred in Canada
Olympic
Games
(1896)
The Duke
of Edinburgh
(1959)
World
Expositions
(1851)
To understand sport policy & shifts in priority we
must place development in the wider political & social
changes that have occurred in Canada
Olympic
Games
(1896)
The Duke
of Edinburgh
(1959)
Expo ‘67
World
Expositions
(1851)
To understand sport policy & shifts in priority we
must place development in the wider political & social
changes that have occurred in Canada
Olympic
Games
(1896)
The Duke
of Edinburgh
(1959)
Federal Election
(1968)
Expo ‘67
World
Expositions
(1851)
To understand sport policy & shifts in priority we
must place development in the wider political & social
changes that have occurred in Canada
Olympic
Games
(1896)
The Duke
of Edinburgh
(1959)
Federal Election
(1968)
Expo ‘67
World
Expositions
(1851)
Summit
Series
(1972)
To understand sport policy & shifts in priority we
must place development in the wider political & social
changes that have occurred in Canada
Olympic
Games
(1896)
The Duke
of Edinburgh
(1959)
Federal Election
(1968)
Expo ‘67
World
Expositions
(1851)
Summit
Series
(1972)
To understand sport policy & shifts in priority we
must place development in the wider political & social
changes that have occurred in Canada
Montreal
Olympics
(1976)
Olympic
Games
(1896)
The Duke
of Edinburgh
(1959)
Federal Election
(1968)
Expo ‘67
World
Expositions
(1851)
Summit
Series
(1972)
To understand sport policy & shifts in priority we
must place development in the wider political & social
changes that have occurred in Canada
Montreal
Olympics
(1976)
Calgary
Olympics
(1988)
Olympic
Games
(1896)
The Duke
of Edinburgh
(1959)
Federal Election
(1968)
Expo ‘67
World
Expositions
(1851)
Summit
Series
(1972)
To understand sport policy & shifts in priority we
must place development in the wider political & social
changes that have occurred in Canada
Montreal
Olympics
(1976)
Ben Johnson/
Dubin Inquiry
(1988-90)
Calgary
Olympics
(1988)
Olympic
Games
(1896)
The Duke
of Edinburgh
(1959)
Federal Election
(1968)
Expo ‘67
World
Expositions
(1851)
Summit
Series
(1972)
To understand sport policy & shifts in priority we
must place development in the wider political & social
changes that have occurred in Canada
Montreal
Olympics
(1976)
Salt Lake City
Hockey
(2002)
Ben Johnson/
Dubin Inquiry
(1988-90)
Calgary
Olympics
(1988)
Olympic
Games
(1896)
The Duke
of Edinburgh
(1959)
Federal Election
(1968)
Expo ‘67
World
Expositions
(1851)
Summit
Series
(1972)
To understand sport policy & shifts in priority we
must place development in the wider political & social
changes that have occurred in Canada
Vancouver
(2010)
Salt Lake City
Hockey
(2002)
Montreal
Olympics
(1976)
Ben Johnson/
Dubin Inquiry
(1988-90)
Calgary
Olympics
(1988)
http://www.cbc.ca/story/sports/national/2004/11/29/Sports/coc041129.html
Olympic
Games
(1896)
The Duke
of Edinburgh
(1959)
Expo ‘67
Federal Election
(1968)
World
Expositions
(1851)
Summit
Series
(1972)
To understand sport policy & shifts in priority we
must place development in the wider political & social
changes that have occurred in Canada
Vancouver
(2010)
Salt Lake City
Hockey
(2002)
Montreal
Olympics
(1976)
Ben Johnson/
Dubin Inquiry
(1988-90)
Calgary
Olympics
(1988)
Factors Inhibiting Early
Government Action in Sport:
•
Protestant values
•
Jurisdiction
•
Issues of autonomy
Canadian Sport
Policies for Analysis:
1943
- National Physical Fitness Act
1961
- The Fitness & Amateur Sport Act
1969-73 - Towards Sport Canada
1979
- Towards a New Sport Policy
1980
- Policies and Programs in the 1980s
1998
- The Mills Report
2002
- An Act to Promote Physical Activity & Sport
-1943-
National Physical Fitness Act
• Considered a Wartime Act
• In-line with objectives of the Canadian
Welfare State in post-Depression years
• Defined ‘fitness’ as “the best state of
health…necessary for a life of service to
one’s family & country…”
• Primary emphasis was on mass
participation
-1943-
con’t
National Physical Fitness Act
Retraction of the NPFA:
• King government quietly pulled back
from its ‘Green Book’ promises for
postwar reconstruction
• Act was officially repealed in 1954
-1961-
Bill C-131
The Fitness and Amateur Sport Act
• Enacted under Prime Minister Diefenbaker
in 1961
• Officially committed the federal government
“to encourage, promote, & develop fitness
and amateur sport in Canada”
• The National Advisory Council was
established by the Act to oversee the
implementation of the program
-1961-
Bill C-131
con’t
The Fitness and Amateur Sport Act
Key Events and Agents associated with the Act:
1) Administrative structure & personnel
2) Federal/provincial cost-sharing agreements
3) Grants to sport governing bodies
4) The Canada Games
5) Scholarships & research awards
-1961-
Bill C-131
con’t
The Fitness and Amateur Sport Act
Weaknesses of the Act:
• Its broad scope meant that expectations were
often distanced considerably from the reality of
implementation
• By 1968, conflicting government views between
mass & elite sport were clear
• Issues arose concerning cost-sharing programs
• Questions of national unity & nationalism
-1969-1973-
Towards Sport Canada
1969 – Federal Government Task Force on
Sport for Canadians
• Reported on the governments scant
involvement in sport (elite sport)
Forces that Shaped Government Sport Directions
in the 1970s:
• The National Unity Crisis
• Sport Transformation
• Sport and National Unity
-1969-1973-
con’t
Towards Sport Canada
1970 – A Proposed Sports Policy for Canadians (The
White Paper)
• Emanated from the Report of the Task Force on Sport
for Canadians
• Emphasis was on the improvement of Canadian
performance in international competition & the
development of elite athletes
-1969-1973-
con’t
Sport Canada
1971 – Sport Canada and Recreation Canada
• The Proposed Sports Policy for Canadians, the
national unity crises, & Montreal’s successful bid
for the 1976 Olympics helped to build momentum
for increased federal involvement in sport
• In 1971, Munro announced that two separate
directorates were to be created:
-1969-1973-
con’t
Sport Canada
Sport Canada: Dedicated to elite sport &
improve Canadian performances in
international competitions
Recreation Canada: Provided Canadians with
opportunities to participate in physical
recreation & to improve fitness levels
con’t
Sport Canada (1970s)
• Sport Programs & Direct Government Output:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
1976 Montreal Olympics – ‘Game Plan’
National Sport and Recreation Centre
Hockey Canada
ParticipAction
Coaching Association of Canada
Canada & Arctic Winter Games
First Minister of State for Fitness and Amateur Sport
-1979-
Towards a New Sport Policy
• Canadian improvement in international
amateur sport events (Montreal)
• Federal failures in recreation
• Growth in the amateur sport bureaucracy
in Canada & bias to elite sport
• Trudeau’s unifying vision supported
-1977-1979-
con’t
Towards a New Sport Policy
The Green Paper (1977)
• A proposal paper
• Highly controversial – dealt exclusively with sport
• Criticisms justified with the separate Green Paper for
Recreation
The White Paper (1979)
• Proposal for legislative change
• Dealt exclusively with sport
• Campagnolo justified this focus by acknowledging the
provinces & municipalities as the appropriate
administrators of recreation
-1980s-
Policies and Programs in the 1980s
•
•
•
•
•
•
1981 – Regan White Paper
High-Performance Sport Centres
Hosting Policy
Athlete Assistance Program
“Best Ever ’88”
CAAWS
-1998-
The Mills Report
•
First Government initiative to examine the
‘industry of sport’
Mandate of the Sub-Committee:
1) Measurement of economic impact of sport on
a national and regional basis
2) Contribution of sport to the cultural sphere –
sport’s impact on national unity
3) Potential scope of, & rationale for, federal
involvement in sport
• Overall, the impact of sport and recreation
sector on Gross Domestic Product was $8.9
billion
-2002-
Bill C-54
An Act to Promote Physical Activity & Sport
-2002-
Bill C-54
An Act to Promote Physical Activity & Sport
• Replace and modernize the Fitness and Amateur
Sport Act
• Responds to the complexities of the modern world
of sport
• Supports the development of the Canadian sport
system
• The term “fitness” would be replaced with
“physical activity”
• The term “amateur” is removed from the Act
-2002-
Bill C-54
An Act to Promote Physical Activity & Sport
Measures to pursue the objectives:
•
•
•
•
•
•
Encourage the promotion of sport
Under-represented groups
Co-ordinate federal initiatives
Encourage provincial & territorial governments
Encourage the private sector
Encourage an alternative dispute resolution
Sport and the National
• Privileged place of sport in the
construction of national identity (press)
• Inclusion and exclusion of populations
• National images to support political &
social agendas (Confederation)
• Sport of hockey
• Vancouver 2010
Sport and the National
THE END