IT TAKES A COMMUNITY

All of us have a role in the leadership of Canada’s sport system – from the playground to the podium. THE HONOURABLE CARLA QUALTROUGH Minister of Sport and Persons with Disabilities The final countdown is on! Soon, our Canadian teams will be walking into Maracanã Stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil as part of the Opening Ceremonies of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Our Olympic and Paralympic athletes, whether it is in Rio or looking back to Sochi, London, Vancouver, Beijing and Games prior to that, have a unique place in our country’s rich sporting history. Their incredible performances make wearing the maple leaf more significant. Canadians are inspired by our athletes. We only need to look as far as backyards, parks and on fields of play to see young Canadians reliving this pride through their own play. Our athletes don’t get to the finish line alone. Being in a position to walk into a stadium behind the Canadian flag and pushing for the Olympic or Paralympic podium takes a lot of work - and a lot of teamwork.

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The Government of Canada is proud to can provide the best support possible represent all Canadians as part of the to our high performance athletes team behind the team. We are proud and organizations. This includes a of our athletes and are committed to comprehensive review of how we invest ensuring that they have the resources in targeted excellence and delivering on our commitment to they need to compete invest up to $20million for, and win, medals in “ We ... believe in matched funding international competition. over four years to We also believe in the in the impact support the next wave impact they have in [athletes] have in of Canadian high inspiring Canadians, performance athletes. especially our young inspiring Canadians, people, to get active and, These initiatives will for a few, to chase their especially our young require all of us to own podium dreams. work together to get it But like any athlete people, to get active right. Getting it right will require excellence or team, we need to and, for a few, to from all of us, at many regularly evaluate our levels of the system. progress and, if needed, chase their own make adjustments to I have been fortunate remain at the top of our podium dreams. ” to see our system game. from a number of different perspectives We have, and will continue to seek input from all corners – as an athlete; as an administrator; of the high performance community and as a community-level volunteer about how the Government of Canada in my most important role as VP of my

Empowering sport organizations through strong leadership