The federal budget is set for April 16. Will it be Justin Trudeau’s last one as prime minister? Will it contain any surprises? Is this yet another reset for the federal Liberals, who have had so many that keeping track has been a dizzying experience? One thing to watch for in the forthcoming fiscal plan is whether there is a significant investment in the national sport system. There hasn’t been anything of great potency done since 2005, well before the Vancouver Olympics.
The system, which includes dozens of national sports federations that oversee the activities of millions of Canadians from grassroots community sports to our high-performing Olympians, is under great strain. New, legitimate costs for safe sport programs and other training improvements are challenging resource allocation. The Canadian Olympic Committee, the Canadian Paralympic Committee, and the national sports organizations, among others, are asking the Trudeau government to put an additional $104-million into the syste