Canadian Olympic Committee CEO and Secretary General David Shoemaker, second from left, admitted he was surprised that the federal government met its request for funding on Tuesday.DARRYL DYCK/The Canadian Press
Two months ago, at the closing news conference of the Milan-Cortina Olympics, the Canadian Olympic Committee asked for money.
They’ve been asking for money for almost 20 years, but in the Canadian way. Pulling out their pants pockets and making a sad face, but never bothering to say a number.
In Milan, they announced their number – $144-million more per annum, on top of the $220-million they get already.
On Tuesday, the federal government promised them almost that exact amount. An additional $755-million in funds, spread over five years. Of that, $660-million will go to the national sports organizations who oversee individual Olympic sports.
Keep this approach in mind the next time you find yourself in audience with a prime minister.
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Speaking by phone after the spring economic announcement, COC CEO David Shoemaker was grateful – “We feel heard” – and a bit surprised.
How long have you been asking for this money? “As long as I’ve been here.”
So what’s changed? It’s not the government, and it’s not us, and it’s definitely not the athletes. All the principals are the same. What’s changed are the stakes.
The Olympics used to be a party we went to every two years that they wrapped around beer ads. Winning or losing was not the judge of Canada’s accomplishments. Being liked was the true test. We were everybody’s unthreatening Olympic friend, even after we started winning.
Canada’s Olympic funding from the federal government comes at a time when gold medals and triumphing over our neighbours means more than it ever has. Ivanie Blondin, Isabelle Weidemann and Valerie Maltais felt that rush this winter in Milan when they won the gold medal in the women’s team pursuit speed skating.Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press
Going forward, the Olympics are once again a test of national vitality. Are we or are we not as well put together as Australia? Because that’s the baseline. It’s going to be hard for everyone to take us seriously if we can’t get Uzbekistan in an Olympic headlock.
Shoemaker cited our “geopolitical moment” as a reason he thought the money hose has suddenly been turned back on.
“I cannot think of a time when cheering for Canadians in sport has meant so much for me, and I assume for all Canadians,” he said. “I’m not just talking about the Olympics. I’m not even a Habs fan and when I watched Tampa fans chanting ‘U-S-A,’ it made my blood boil.”
As everyone knows, the blood of the average sports executive only boils at the sort of temperatures it takes to melt tungsten.
That’s the level this relationship is at now, all of the time, even amongst the people who are paid to keep an even keel. Not mildly infuriated, or genuinely baffled. Blood boiling every time they speak. They say that the best indicator of a divorce is contempt. We’re already there.
So who’s responsible for this sudden interest in a robustly funded Canadian Olympic outfit? Like everything else under the sun, it’s Donald Trump.
Every time he said something about his beloved 51st state, the potential offer to Canadian high jumpers doubled. Every time they rubbed double Olympic hockey gold in our faces, a ski-cross snowboarder was earmarked for new, state-of-the-art wings.
This money comes with a very specific target.
What’s the most impactful Olympics in Canadian history? Vancouver, I guess. Montreal, in a bad way. Los Angeles ’84 stands out to me, but maybe I was at the impressionable age.
Push all those to one side. Now it’s L.A. 2028. That’s where Canada will make its stand.
How the public handled the Olympic curling controversy of Sweden claiming Canada was double touching its stones is indicative of the nation’s mentality in 2026, Cathal Kelly writes.Misper Apawu/The Associated Press
It is reasonable to talk about this country becoming a leading figure in the middle power pack, but it isn’t hopeful. Nobody gets excited about moderate gains leading to sustainable growth. They’ll take it if that’s what’s on offer, but they won’t be excited about it.
We need excitement somewhere, and the only place you’re going to get it is amidst the rings.
I don’t think most Canadians care any more who wins, or how they win, short of outright dirty tricks.
You saw that during the (hilarious) double-touch scandal at Olympic curling in Milan. Ten years ago, Canada would have been falling over itself to apologize. Now, we shrug: ‘We cheated? That’s your word for it, not ours. And anyway, who cares?’
So what did the Canadian Olympic set-up just get funded to do – win. Not try. Not hit a personal best. Win.
There are different sorts of winning. Some countries win at the Olympics via the style with which they present themselves. Canadian athletes have that knack. They need more of it now, and we just paid for some.
In the coming years, democracies will jockey to see who can best exemplify a global counterpoint to American narcissism. Knowing them so well, being so like them and resenting them so much, Canada should already be leading that race. We just bought some of that, too.
L.A. in two years time will be a gong show. You can feel that coming from miles away. Once the upcoming World Cup produces a few American-based outrages, as it must, the anticipation of Olympic disaster will begin.
That will be Canada’s chance – a chance to show everyone else that we’re the sane one, as well as an opportunity to prove that in this atomizing world, our prospects are looking up. You don’t accomplish that at an economic forum. You can only do it at the Olympics.
The yet-to-be-provided specifics of exactly where this new money will be spent, and how soon, will determine how much impact it has on the next Games.
Shoemaker is hopeful – “This should have an immediate impact on the competitive balance of Team Canada going into L.A.”
It better. In this new world, if you take the money, you are promising an outcome. That doesn’t mean a certain number of medals, which no amount of money can guarantee.
It means that Canada must leave L.A. having made certain that our opponents’ blood is the one that’s boiling, and not ours. However you want to manage it, just win.
