Meh. Hockey games. Olympics. I like watching them as much as the next Canadian does, but let's be honest - the whole thing is a spectacle. I have nothing against the athletes and coaches, just the whole pretence of the Olympics somehow being critical to our national pride. If it is, that speaks to our national inferiority complex, particularly with regards to the United States.
I (really, really) wanted the Canadians to beat the Americans in hockey, but they didn't. I've been as conditioned as the rest of you that Canadians are somehow better if they did beat them. The reality - both the mens and womens team played as well as could be expected, but both fell short - and it doesn't really matter to the lives of individual Canadians.
Whatever happened to 'it was a good game'; we lost. Oh well. Moving on...
Other Canadian athletes came close to winning medals, but did not.
Oh well, they did their best. Moving on.
Unpopular opinion - we do not need to spend any more public money on elite athletes in an effort to gain more medals in a misguided attempt to boost our national pride. I really couldn't care less what other countries spend on their elite Olympic athletes.
We should refocus the public money spent on elite athletes to build quality facilities and coaching for athleticism at the local level in Canada - let's get more YOUNG Canadians off their damn screens and becoming active and healthy through athleticism, encouraging them to be the best they can be - not to win medals for Canada (though that will eventually come), but rather to teach them they can improve themselves through consistent, steady effort. That ethic goes way beyond athletics and pays dividends in REAL LIFE, which will improve life in Canada for all.
The Olympics are fun spectacle, but in reality they are a worldwide public money draining scam run by the IOC and national organizations around the globe that are beholden to them. We should stop buying into the scam - the sooner, the better.
I think you're right on the money. I'd much rather see a national call to increase kids' health and fitness across the board, rather than prioritizing elite sports where many are called, but precious few are chosen.
While I'm still not a fan of government spending beyond its strictly regalian functions, that's something I could get behind.
I suspect this would have a much greater impact on Canadians than focusing on winning olympic medals, which are, by definition, elusive.
Imagine the impact if every kid in the country took up at least one sport.
But aren't the Games themselves the hook that gets kids to put down their screens and go, "Why not me?" Sports are mostly cruel, but that quest for glory is intoxicating. The Olympics are its greatest and most-watched showcase. Yes, the IOC has massive issues, both short and long-term. It's about so much more than medals. Whether it can save itself remains to be seen.
If we spend public money at the bottom of the athletic cycle, that will create athletes at the top end. Kind of like how you're supposed to build an economy.
> But aren't the Games themselves the hook that gets kids to put down their screens and go, "Why not me?"
No. They're not.
Seriously, do you go out for a run thinking "I'm doing this so I can be just like Usain Bolt"? Of course you don't. Virtually no one who does a sport recreationally because they watched the Olympics and thought "hey, that could be me up there on TV".
We'll agree to disagree. There are a whole lot of kids out there playing hockey and dreaming of scoring the Cup-winning goal. Where did that come from? Expose kids to sport, and there's no telling what dream germinates from it. Now, I'm an old fart, but today, I'm dying to head off to the nearest ski hill, rent some equipment and do something I haven't done in a decade. That came from just one thing.
You have no idea what you're capable of until you invest time and effort in it. It starts with the first step.
Your second paragraph is exactly my point. I get your first point, but as public $ are limited, I'd rather support the youth athletics than the elite ones. The corporations can sponsor the elite ones as a tax write off.
This is not the only call since yesterday's loss that has been made for public funding of athletic programs in the hopes that it would yield more medals at future olympics, as if olympic hopes were a right.
Sport, especially expensive ones like hockey are a privilege and not a right. If one wants to fund sport programs, there are ways to raise money that don't involve taxpayers' money.
I think it's rather irresponsible to want to dig deeper in the taxpayers' pockets at a time were purses are tight and the government budgets are irresponsibly increasing the national debt, and more importantly, where that public money would be better spent just about anywhere else (and I don't mean transitioning kids or truth and reconciliation programs either).
Elite sports land firmly in the "nice to have" categories and methinks all of those should be slashed until we get our fiscal house in order.
Little Timmy can play shinny in the meantime or take up soccer. It's way cheaper.
I have absolutely no issue with the White House tweet depicting the eagle and the Canada Goose. It was funny and in response to Junior's tweet last year after we won in the Four Nations Competition: "You can't take our country - and you can't take our game". No issue with Junior saying that, either, just to be clear, but it opened the door WIDE open to this response from Trump. Trash talk goes BOTH ways.
OK the Trump playing hockey video is pretty funny. We're not supposed to say that because we are all supposed to be clutching our pearls so tight we are strangling ourselves though.
Pouting about winning silver is the most sore loser vibe I can think of.
Funny choice of symbol. In the wild, an eagle taking a full-grown Canada goose almost never wins — it needs surprise, perfect timing, a big advantage, luck, or simply subterfuge.
Attempted murder??!! What are you - counsel for the animated animal kingdom? Get yourself to a feinting couch. Both tweets in question are completely within the acceptable boundaries of sports trash-talking tweets.
In the beginning, a very special few have medal potential, which means none can succeed but a few so a few medals is all you’ll get. There hasn’t been an increase of significance in funding to national sports organizations since 2005. That is
remarkable given the non-partisan unifying potential of sport as a form of cultural expression. But no one in government gives a flying. Nor has anyone is sports media expressed a flying. Hard to get your elbows up when you pull your own shirt over your head.
I agree more money should go to training and facilities, but the rejoinder is often, "where will it come from"? To start with, a book could be written about the millions pissed away by JT on his signature 3rd world give aways on "diversity " programs. Care to provide an update on their success? Anyone? Lucky for us we were able to borrow a couple of bobsleds ( which the athletes themselves had to wrap).
In times long gone, when American Presidents were decent, and Canada and the US were allies, the Prime Minister and the President might have jointly announced a friendly wager of, perhaps exchanging a bottle of Canadian whiskey versus American bourbon based on who won. Today however, the White House posts a meme of an American Eagle killing a Canadian Goose, pretty much says it all.
I love the Olympics... It's a great opportunity to showcase hope, commoraderie and the good that comes with sportspersonship.
I spent a handful of years as a single parent of two sons. I put them in sport to keep them busy, teach them to manage their time, tire them out so they didn't fight with each other, teach them how to win and to lose, and so they would see positive role models around them (coaches, team managers, parents who showed up and didn't drop and roll).
Sport can help lay a foundation for an engaged citizen as we learn about individual effort and the summing up of effort into community. Even individual sport can lead us into the "we" that builds community, building empathy and compassion that benefits us all.
How much support should go into the Olympics, into national teams? I don't know. But what I do know is support at the top levels depends on support for kids sports lower down. Teaching kids to commit to doing their best, commit to supporting their teammates, commit to persevering when things don't go the way we all hoped. And how to get up the next day when hopes have been dashed, and still continue to dream.
I loved these Olympics. As a club-level curler, I loved watching the games, challenges, f-bombs and all. Hubby and I really loved watching biathlon and cross country skiing... and those athletes, wow... We added in a little figure skating, and that Canadian free dance performance!? So much heart! Starry starry night indeed. So many good stories, like freestyle skier Elaine Gu - what a class act! I loved it all. The hockey finals hurt, sure they did, but what great games they were! We learned about effort AND luck in those games. Nothing to be ashamed of, or angry about, in any of it. (except for that "too many men" non-call...grr)
One of the best lessons we learn from sport - To begin again - which is what I expect we will do. Good foundations make good communities, and strong national teams.
Elaine Gu was asked an obnoxious question by a UK journalist, and then a really introspective question by another journalist. See link for the latter. https://www.instagram.com/reels/DVGxfJUju0W/
She answered both with thoughtful composed responses. Impressive.
She has also won the most medals in her field - impressive no matter who sponsors her.
She's not the first person to compete for their second country, exercising her right as a dual citizen.
I watched her compete and her support of her fellow athletes, regardless of country, was lovely.
The Free Press piece you sent is nothing new for athletes. Athletes are paid the world over for their efforts by all manner of countries. They get support from national governments and from sponsors, that's how this works.
The United States government does not pay American Olympic athletes. Ms. Gu was born and raised in the United States. Representing Communist China for the money is at least ironic.
The Canadian taxpayer should not have to pay for elite sport. As a nation which is already horribly in debt, we should think twice about where our money goes. If there is any money at all in the kitty, please spend it at the local municipal level so that activity and sport is available for everyone, and not just talented athletes. You want to promote this cause? Try fundraising.
Investigate in detail exactly how we did so excellently in 2010. There was a major rationale for improvement in that set of Games — and it worked. Philanthropy replacing taxes from Ottawa is a partial solution. But we as Cdns are a bit tighter than the USA on that solution, for what should be obvious reasons. It might be the only acceptable way to go though, all the while retaining critical govt support as far as it is capable of doing so and in doing so, being supported by the public in that intent.
We had the “own the podium” program for 2010. I remember the leftist outcry over it, mostly because it was the Harper government trying to instil national pride.
The olympics are kind of a reflection of what goes on in Canada right now.
Canadians expect the government to support the olympic movement, they don't and when it falls apart, Canadians just shrug and move on.
National pride is cheap and politicians know it, Canadians are apathetic and politicians know that too.
To all those who went to the olympics, congratulations, you are great. To all those who tried and didn't make teams, your efforts are appreciated and you too are great. To Canadians, please start demanding better of our elected officials. To politicians, do your damn jobs and stop ruling by polls and only doing things that benefit only you. The country needs revenue so it can support its athletes and people in general, get out of the way and let business do what business does best. Canadians are suffering and for the most party, this liberal government is 100% to blame because it 100% doesn't care about Canadians, it only cares about your vote.
Well written and nicely summarizes the tension between mediocre performance and public funding. Personally I feel minor sports are vital, and should be readily accessible. I’d love more funding for more arenas, soccer domes, volleyball and basketball courts etc. sadly sports have become this big corporate machine that sucks parents into thinking their 9 year old is going to be a pro, and they must spend excess time time, money and energy into private coaching, travel teams, year round training and only the very best team is worthwhile. We’ve destroyed the whole thing. It’s about being active, learning, having fun, being on a team. AND it hasn’t made us better on the world stage. Norway has it figured on so so many levels with kids, sports, education, social services, health care.
I really can’t see how we can justify funneling more public money into adults and kids chasing their dreams in obscure sports. Not worth it.
Canadians seem to agonize over this after every Olympics. Over the past couple of decades, our sport funding was modelled on the successes of the USA and Australia. However, noting how well Norway has consistently done in the Winter Olympics, I started looking into this weekend.
Norway stands out as one of the most remarkable sporting nations in the world. With a population of only about five to six million people, it consistently performs at or near the top of the Winter Olympic medal table and ranks among the strongest countries globally when results are measured per capita. Over the full history of the Winter Games, Norway has accumulated more medals than any other nation. Its success is especially striking because it competes against countries many times its size and with far larger financial and institutional resources.
One notable feature of Norway’s approach is that Olympic medals themselves do not bring direct financial rewards. Athletes receive structured support for training, coaching, and preparation, but there are no cash bonuses simply for winning medals. Instead, long-term funding for sport is supported in part through the state-run national lottery, Norsk Tipping, which channels substantial revenue into grassroots clubs, facilities, and development programs across the country. This contrasts sharply with systems in Canada, the United States, and Australia, all of which provide monetary payments to Olympic medalists. These countries combine public funding, private sponsorship, and targeted high-performance programs, but they also attach financial incentives to podium finishes. In Canada, support flows through bodies such as Sport Canada. Medal winners are given up to $20,000 for GOLD. Lotteries are provincially run and the revenue generated goes simply goes into general accounts. In the United States, elite development is strongly linked to educational sport structures governed by organizations such as the NCAA; and Australia channels top athletes through centralized programs including the Australian Institute of Sport. All emphasize measurable performance outcomes, and Olympic medals are explicitly rewarded.
Norway’s record challenges the assumption that financial incentives and early competitive pressure are necessary for Olympic dominance. Instead, it relies on a broad participation model, long-term development, and a deeply embedded national sporting culture. Even without medal bonuses and with a much smaller population, it repeatedly outperforms larger, wealthier, and more commercially driven systems — particularly in winter sport. Its results suggest that culture, access, and sustained participation may be more important than financial reward when it comes to producing elite athletes.
A major reason for this success lies in how sport is introduced to children. Youth athletics are deliberately structured to avoid toxic pressure: in the earliest years there is little or no formal scoring, ranking, or high-stakes competition. Children play multiple sports, develop general physical skills, and learn to enjoy activity without constant comparison or performance anxiety. This reduces burnout, minimizes dropout, and preserves motivation into adolescence, when more serious training begins. Because participation remains broad and positive for longer, the country develops a deep and resilient talent pool relative to its population. Combined with strong community coaching traditions, patient long-term development, and environmental familiarity with winter conditions, the system produces competitors who are technically skilled, psychologically durable, and intrinsically motivated.
Norway is best known for its dominance in the Winter Olympics, but it is also consistently competitive in the Summer Games — especially when results are viewed relative to population size. While it does not dominate summer medal tables in the same way, it regularly produces world-class athletes in sports such as rowing, sailing, athletics, handball, and endurance events. The country typically finishes as a solid mid-ranking nation in total summer medals yet performs exceptionally well per capita. Taken together, Norway’s year-round Olympic record — dominant in winter and highly efficient in summer — reinforces the same conclusion: a participation-focused, low-pressure youth system supported by stable public funding and lottery revenue can produce extraordinary international results even without financial incentives for winning.
I think Canada could benefit from looking at the Norwegian system.
So well said!!! I think the progression towards elite programs, year round training, absolute focus on winning and being on the rep team, mom and dad paying $20K+ per kid per year is a disaster, and has made kids burn out, hate sports and has not produced better athletes. Look at our hockey players and world junior showings. We are losing, not gaining ground with this corporate model
I liked this op-ed, and the factual references to trends in funding. Thank you.
WRT private philanthropy versus public funding, I think that we must be mindful of fundamental differences between the income tax regimes of Canada and the United States. I'm not sure the former (private philanthropy) would really work here (and it would likely raise eyebrows amongst the public).
On the broader question of whether chasing Olympic Gold (and other medals) by increasing regular sports-related development funding, I'm not sure.
I suspect, though, that Mark Carney's government would likely be hard-pressed to justify such increases, given the tens-of-thousands of jobs and program shrinkages it MUST implement.
I strongly disagree with everything you said about our performance in Italy. I thought our athletes did brilliantly. Sports can be cruel. Americans will be idiots. The WHite House are just assholes.....or worse.
As for funding, you're spot on. It's clear that there is huge national pride related to sports, and a desire to see our athletes do well. That will only come with money. That has to come from all of us. We had to borrow bobsleds FFS. But there is a way.....
Taking part in Olympic sports = very lucre luxury.
Canada's national pride, huuh.
Canada's national pride seems to be very comfortable with Canada becoming a colony of Chinese Communist Party, with eager assistance of the Chief Sellout Conman Mark Carney.
Calling Olympic sport a “lucre luxury” completely ignores what it actually represents — public health, youth development, international engagement, and national visibility. Every serious country invests in sport because it builds social capital and global influence, not because it’s a vanity project.
As for your repeated claims that Canada is becoming a “colony” of anyone — that’s rhetoric, not analysis. Canada trades with many countries, including China, because modern economies are interconnected. Engagement is not submission. If you want to argue specific policies are harmful, name them and explain why. Blanket accusations and slogans don’t substitute for evidence.
And reducing complex economic policy to “sellout” narratives may feel satisfying, but it avoids the harder work of understanding how global trade, diplomacy, and domestic interests actually interact. Serious issues deserve serious arguments — not conspiracy language dressed up as patriotism.
Meh. Hockey games. Olympics. I like watching them as much as the next Canadian does, but let's be honest - the whole thing is a spectacle. I have nothing against the athletes and coaches, just the whole pretence of the Olympics somehow being critical to our national pride. If it is, that speaks to our national inferiority complex, particularly with regards to the United States.
I (really, really) wanted the Canadians to beat the Americans in hockey, but they didn't. I've been as conditioned as the rest of you that Canadians are somehow better if they did beat them. The reality - both the mens and womens team played as well as could be expected, but both fell short - and it doesn't really matter to the lives of individual Canadians.
Whatever happened to 'it was a good game'; we lost. Oh well. Moving on...
Other Canadian athletes came close to winning medals, but did not.
Oh well, they did their best. Moving on.
Unpopular opinion - we do not need to spend any more public money on elite athletes in an effort to gain more medals in a misguided attempt to boost our national pride. I really couldn't care less what other countries spend on their elite Olympic athletes.
We should refocus the public money spent on elite athletes to build quality facilities and coaching for athleticism at the local level in Canada - let's get more YOUNG Canadians off their damn screens and becoming active and healthy through athleticism, encouraging them to be the best they can be - not to win medals for Canada (though that will eventually come), but rather to teach them they can improve themselves through consistent, steady effort. That ethic goes way beyond athletics and pays dividends in REAL LIFE, which will improve life in Canada for all.
The Olympics are fun spectacle, but in reality they are a worldwide public money draining scam run by the IOC and national organizations around the globe that are beholden to them. We should stop buying into the scam - the sooner, the better.
I think you're right on the money. I'd much rather see a national call to increase kids' health and fitness across the board, rather than prioritizing elite sports where many are called, but precious few are chosen.
While I'm still not a fan of government spending beyond its strictly regalian functions, that's something I could get behind.
I suspect this would have a much greater impact on Canadians than focusing on winning olympic medals, which are, by definition, elusive.
Imagine the impact if every kid in the country took up at least one sport.
But aren't the Games themselves the hook that gets kids to put down their screens and go, "Why not me?" Sports are mostly cruel, but that quest for glory is intoxicating. The Olympics are its greatest and most-watched showcase. Yes, the IOC has massive issues, both short and long-term. It's about so much more than medals. Whether it can save itself remains to be seen.
If we spend public money at the bottom of the athletic cycle, that will create athletes at the top end. Kind of like how you're supposed to build an economy.
> But aren't the Games themselves the hook that gets kids to put down their screens and go, "Why not me?"
No. They're not.
Seriously, do you go out for a run thinking "I'm doing this so I can be just like Usain Bolt"? Of course you don't. Virtually no one who does a sport recreationally because they watched the Olympics and thought "hey, that could be me up there on TV".
We'll agree to disagree. There are a whole lot of kids out there playing hockey and dreaming of scoring the Cup-winning goal. Where did that come from? Expose kids to sport, and there's no telling what dream germinates from it. Now, I'm an old fart, but today, I'm dying to head off to the nearest ski hill, rent some equipment and do something I haven't done in a decade. That came from just one thing.
You have no idea what you're capable of until you invest time and effort in it. It starts with the first step.
Your second paragraph is exactly my point. I get your first point, but as public $ are limited, I'd rather support the youth athletics than the elite ones. The corporations can sponsor the elite ones as a tax write off.
Exactly.
So well said!
This is not the only call since yesterday's loss that has been made for public funding of athletic programs in the hopes that it would yield more medals at future olympics, as if olympic hopes were a right.
Sport, especially expensive ones like hockey are a privilege and not a right. If one wants to fund sport programs, there are ways to raise money that don't involve taxpayers' money.
I think it's rather irresponsible to want to dig deeper in the taxpayers' pockets at a time were purses are tight and the government budgets are irresponsibly increasing the national debt, and more importantly, where that public money would be better spent just about anywhere else (and I don't mean transitioning kids or truth and reconciliation programs either).
Elite sports land firmly in the "nice to have" categories and methinks all of those should be slashed until we get our fiscal house in order.
Little Timmy can play shinny in the meantime or take up soccer. It's way cheaper.
I have absolutely no issue with the White House tweet depicting the eagle and the Canada Goose. It was funny and in response to Junior's tweet last year after we won in the Four Nations Competition: "You can't take our country - and you can't take our game". No issue with Junior saying that, either, just to be clear, but it opened the door WIDE open to this response from Trump. Trash talk goes BOTH ways.
OK the Trump playing hockey video is pretty funny. We're not supposed to say that because we are all supposed to be clutching our pearls so tight we are strangling ourselves though.
Pouting about winning silver is the most sore loser vibe I can think of.
Funny choice of symbol. In the wild, an eagle taking a full-grown Canada goose almost never wins — it needs surprise, perfect timing, a big advantage, luck, or simply subterfuge.
A silly statement is one thing. An image of the sort posted by the WH another altogether.
The silly statement made no reference to attempted murder. The image most definitely did.
A terrific metaphor for the thugocracy that Trump presides over.
"Reference to attempted murder"? Really?
Have you not heard of symbolism? Do you really believe in your hearts of hearts that it was meant to be taken at face value?
So, an Eagle (symbol of America) throttling (choking to death) a goose (a symbol of Canada, in this context) is, what?
Tasteful satire?
If an eagle pinning a goose down equals 'attempted murder,' then Trudeau's 'you can't take our game' must have been a declaration of war.
It's a shitpost explicitly getting back at Trudeau for earlier quoted tweet, not a hit list.
Chill.
Attempted murder??!! What are you - counsel for the animated animal kingdom? Get yourself to a feinting couch. Both tweets in question are completely within the acceptable boundaries of sports trash-talking tweets.
A chokes B
It isn’t complicated.
In the beginning, a very special few have medal potential, which means none can succeed but a few so a few medals is all you’ll get. There hasn’t been an increase of significance in funding to national sports organizations since 2005. That is
remarkable given the non-partisan unifying potential of sport as a form of cultural expression. But no one in government gives a flying. Nor has anyone is sports media expressed a flying. Hard to get your elbows up when you pull your own shirt over your head.
I agree more money should go to training and facilities, but the rejoinder is often, "where will it come from"? To start with, a book could be written about the millions pissed away by JT on his signature 3rd world give aways on "diversity " programs. Care to provide an update on their success? Anyone? Lucky for us we were able to borrow a couple of bobsleds ( which the athletes themselves had to wrap).
In times long gone, when American Presidents were decent, and Canada and the US were allies, the Prime Minister and the President might have jointly announced a friendly wager of, perhaps exchanging a bottle of Canadian whiskey versus American bourbon based on who won. Today however, the White House posts a meme of an American Eagle killing a Canadian Goose, pretty much says it all.
I love the Olympics... It's a great opportunity to showcase hope, commoraderie and the good that comes with sportspersonship.
I spent a handful of years as a single parent of two sons. I put them in sport to keep them busy, teach them to manage their time, tire them out so they didn't fight with each other, teach them how to win and to lose, and so they would see positive role models around them (coaches, team managers, parents who showed up and didn't drop and roll).
Sport can help lay a foundation for an engaged citizen as we learn about individual effort and the summing up of effort into community. Even individual sport can lead us into the "we" that builds community, building empathy and compassion that benefits us all.
How much support should go into the Olympics, into national teams? I don't know. But what I do know is support at the top levels depends on support for kids sports lower down. Teaching kids to commit to doing their best, commit to supporting their teammates, commit to persevering when things don't go the way we all hoped. And how to get up the next day when hopes have been dashed, and still continue to dream.
I loved these Olympics. As a club-level curler, I loved watching the games, challenges, f-bombs and all. Hubby and I really loved watching biathlon and cross country skiing... and those athletes, wow... We added in a little figure skating, and that Canadian free dance performance!? So much heart! Starry starry night indeed. So many good stories, like freestyle skier Elaine Gu - what a class act! I loved it all. The hockey finals hurt, sure they did, but what great games they were! We learned about effort AND luck in those games. Nothing to be ashamed of, or angry about, in any of it. (except for that "too many men" non-call...grr)
One of the best lessons we learn from sport - To begin again - which is what I expect we will do. Good foundations make good communities, and strong national teams.
You think an American who represents China because the Chinese Communist Party pays her millions of dollars to do so is a class act?
Have you read Mike Pesca on Elaine Gu? https://www.thefp.com/p/why-is-everyone-so-nice-to-eileen
John,
Elaine Gu was asked an obnoxious question by a UK journalist, and then a really introspective question by another journalist. See link for the latter. https://www.instagram.com/reels/DVGxfJUju0W/
She answered both with thoughtful composed responses. Impressive.
She has also won the most medals in her field - impressive no matter who sponsors her.
She's not the first person to compete for their second country, exercising her right as a dual citizen.
I watched her compete and her support of her fellow athletes, regardless of country, was lovely.
The Free Press piece you sent is nothing new for athletes. Athletes are paid the world over for their efforts by all manner of countries. They get support from national governments and from sponsors, that's how this works.
She is a fine role model for young people.
She is an unprincipled sellout to a cruel tyranny.
The United States government does not pay American Olympic athletes. Ms. Gu was born and raised in the United States. Representing Communist China for the money is at least ironic.
The Canadian taxpayer should not have to pay for elite sport. As a nation which is already horribly in debt, we should think twice about where our money goes. If there is any money at all in the kitty, please spend it at the local municipal level so that activity and sport is available for everyone, and not just talented athletes. You want to promote this cause? Try fundraising.
Investigate in detail exactly how we did so excellently in 2010. There was a major rationale for improvement in that set of Games — and it worked. Philanthropy replacing taxes from Ottawa is a partial solution. But we as Cdns are a bit tighter than the USA on that solution, for what should be obvious reasons. It might be the only acceptable way to go though, all the while retaining critical govt support as far as it is capable of doing so and in doing so, being supported by the public in that intent.
We had the “own the podium” program for 2010. I remember the leftist outcry over it, mostly because it was the Harper government trying to instil national pride.
While I agree with what you are saying, I think 2010 also says a lot about the advantage of competing in your own country.
The olympics are kind of a reflection of what goes on in Canada right now.
Canadians expect the government to support the olympic movement, they don't and when it falls apart, Canadians just shrug and move on.
National pride is cheap and politicians know it, Canadians are apathetic and politicians know that too.
To all those who went to the olympics, congratulations, you are great. To all those who tried and didn't make teams, your efforts are appreciated and you too are great. To Canadians, please start demanding better of our elected officials. To politicians, do your damn jobs and stop ruling by polls and only doing things that benefit only you. The country needs revenue so it can support its athletes and people in general, get out of the way and let business do what business does best. Canadians are suffering and for the most party, this liberal government is 100% to blame because it 100% doesn't care about Canadians, it only cares about your vote.
Well written and nicely summarizes the tension between mediocre performance and public funding. Personally I feel minor sports are vital, and should be readily accessible. I’d love more funding for more arenas, soccer domes, volleyball and basketball courts etc. sadly sports have become this big corporate machine that sucks parents into thinking their 9 year old is going to be a pro, and they must spend excess time time, money and energy into private coaching, travel teams, year round training and only the very best team is worthwhile. We’ve destroyed the whole thing. It’s about being active, learning, having fun, being on a team. AND it hasn’t made us better on the world stage. Norway has it figured on so so many levels with kids, sports, education, social services, health care.
I really can’t see how we can justify funneling more public money into adults and kids chasing their dreams in obscure sports. Not worth it.
Canadians seem to agonize over this after every Olympics. Over the past couple of decades, our sport funding was modelled on the successes of the USA and Australia. However, noting how well Norway has consistently done in the Winter Olympics, I started looking into this weekend.
Norway stands out as one of the most remarkable sporting nations in the world. With a population of only about five to six million people, it consistently performs at or near the top of the Winter Olympic medal table and ranks among the strongest countries globally when results are measured per capita. Over the full history of the Winter Games, Norway has accumulated more medals than any other nation. Its success is especially striking because it competes against countries many times its size and with far larger financial and institutional resources.
One notable feature of Norway’s approach is that Olympic medals themselves do not bring direct financial rewards. Athletes receive structured support for training, coaching, and preparation, but there are no cash bonuses simply for winning medals. Instead, long-term funding for sport is supported in part through the state-run national lottery, Norsk Tipping, which channels substantial revenue into grassroots clubs, facilities, and development programs across the country. This contrasts sharply with systems in Canada, the United States, and Australia, all of which provide monetary payments to Olympic medalists. These countries combine public funding, private sponsorship, and targeted high-performance programs, but they also attach financial incentives to podium finishes. In Canada, support flows through bodies such as Sport Canada. Medal winners are given up to $20,000 for GOLD. Lotteries are provincially run and the revenue generated goes simply goes into general accounts. In the United States, elite development is strongly linked to educational sport structures governed by organizations such as the NCAA; and Australia channels top athletes through centralized programs including the Australian Institute of Sport. All emphasize measurable performance outcomes, and Olympic medals are explicitly rewarded.
Norway’s record challenges the assumption that financial incentives and early competitive pressure are necessary for Olympic dominance. Instead, it relies on a broad participation model, long-term development, and a deeply embedded national sporting culture. Even without medal bonuses and with a much smaller population, it repeatedly outperforms larger, wealthier, and more commercially driven systems — particularly in winter sport. Its results suggest that culture, access, and sustained participation may be more important than financial reward when it comes to producing elite athletes.
A major reason for this success lies in how sport is introduced to children. Youth athletics are deliberately structured to avoid toxic pressure: in the earliest years there is little or no formal scoring, ranking, or high-stakes competition. Children play multiple sports, develop general physical skills, and learn to enjoy activity without constant comparison or performance anxiety. This reduces burnout, minimizes dropout, and preserves motivation into adolescence, when more serious training begins. Because participation remains broad and positive for longer, the country develops a deep and resilient talent pool relative to its population. Combined with strong community coaching traditions, patient long-term development, and environmental familiarity with winter conditions, the system produces competitors who are technically skilled, psychologically durable, and intrinsically motivated.
Norway is best known for its dominance in the Winter Olympics, but it is also consistently competitive in the Summer Games — especially when results are viewed relative to population size. While it does not dominate summer medal tables in the same way, it regularly produces world-class athletes in sports such as rowing, sailing, athletics, handball, and endurance events. The country typically finishes as a solid mid-ranking nation in total summer medals yet performs exceptionally well per capita. Taken together, Norway’s year-round Olympic record — dominant in winter and highly efficient in summer — reinforces the same conclusion: a participation-focused, low-pressure youth system supported by stable public funding and lottery revenue can produce extraordinary international results even without financial incentives for winning.
I think Canada could benefit from looking at the Norwegian system.
So well said!!! I think the progression towards elite programs, year round training, absolute focus on winning and being on the rep team, mom and dad paying $20K+ per kid per year is a disaster, and has made kids burn out, hate sports and has not produced better athletes. Look at our hockey players and world junior showings. We are losing, not gaining ground with this corporate model
I liked this op-ed, and the factual references to trends in funding. Thank you.
WRT private philanthropy versus public funding, I think that we must be mindful of fundamental differences between the income tax regimes of Canada and the United States. I'm not sure the former (private philanthropy) would really work here (and it would likely raise eyebrows amongst the public).
On the broader question of whether chasing Olympic Gold (and other medals) by increasing regular sports-related development funding, I'm not sure.
I suspect, though, that Mark Carney's government would likely be hard-pressed to justify such increases, given the tens-of-thousands of jobs and program shrinkages it MUST implement.
I strongly disagree with everything you said about our performance in Italy. I thought our athletes did brilliantly. Sports can be cruel. Americans will be idiots. The WHite House are just assholes.....or worse.
As for funding, you're spot on. It's clear that there is huge national pride related to sports, and a desire to see our athletes do well. That will only come with money. That has to come from all of us. We had to borrow bobsleds FFS. But there is a way.....
https://olympic.ca/foundation/cof143445/?utm_source=instagram&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=static-social-en&utm_id=120240374764870509&utm_content=120240374764890509&utm_term=120240374764880509&fbclid=IwY2xjawP8LZFleHRuA2FlbQEwAGFkaWQBqy376IHt_XNydGMGYXBwX2lkEDIyMjAzOTE3ODgyMDA4OTIAAR7pJFALNqn3gcScMpPOR3kE45KC9LQYwGcGNcC4R_PE-HUoAjIRfXl9-O24Bw_aem_3GBDJw3i99_tRVa2zPLlVw
Taking part in Olympic sports = very lucre luxury.
Canada's national pride, huuh.
Canada's national pride seems to be very comfortable with Canada becoming a colony of Chinese Communist Party, with eager assistance of the Chief Sellout Conman Mark Carney.
Calling Olympic sport a “lucre luxury” completely ignores what it actually represents — public health, youth development, international engagement, and national visibility. Every serious country invests in sport because it builds social capital and global influence, not because it’s a vanity project.
As for your repeated claims that Canada is becoming a “colony” of anyone — that’s rhetoric, not analysis. Canada trades with many countries, including China, because modern economies are interconnected. Engagement is not submission. If you want to argue specific policies are harmful, name them and explain why. Blanket accusations and slogans don’t substitute for evidence.
And reducing complex economic policy to “sellout” narratives may feel satisfying, but it avoids the harder work of understanding how global trade, diplomacy, and domestic interests actually interact. Serious issues deserve serious arguments — not conspiracy language dressed up as patriotism.