At the start of the 2010 Olympic Winter Games, the future prospects for Own The Podium seemed bleak. At that point the federal government committed just $11 million of the $22 million requested to fund Canadian winter sports organizations, explaining that times were tough and that there was no additional funding available.
Whether it was the sight of so many Canadian flags across Canada, the record television audiences for Olympic events, or Canada's incredible gold medal run - 14, a record for any nation at a Winter Games - Stephen Harper's government had a change of heart last Thursday, doubling funding for Own The Podium in the latest federal budget.
Or was it a change of hearts, as some are reporting? Roger Jackson, the CEO of Own The Podium, says the budget for sports funding was too evolved to have come overnight, and suspects that some form of increase was in the cards all along.
"Obviously there was some thought put into this by government, because they presented such a balanced sport portfolio, an opportunity in a budget that wasn't particularly big on new opportunities," he said. "There was the fact that they gave money to the Canadian Paralympic Committee, to the Special Olympics, to Participaction and to Own The Podium. They covered a broad area of sports participations; children and people through Participaction; people with disabilities through the Special Olympics and the Paralympic Committee, and to high performance and elite athletes through Own The Podium. It strikes me as a very thoughtful and comprehensive approach."
But while Jackson doesn't believe the budget was drafted overnight, he's also sure that the Olympics themselves helped.
"I'm sure that government was very positively influenced by the enormous reaction and pride the Canadian public had in the performance of the Canadian team, as well as the performance of Vancouver and Whistler in hosting the Games," he said.
The total budget for Own The Podium over more than five years leading up to 2010 was $117 million, with $55 million from the federal government and the remainder from VANOC, the Province of B.C., Olympic sponsors and fundraising efforts like the sale of red mittens.
In 2009 Own The Podium contributed almost $24 million to national sports organizations.
As well as doubling the funding for winter sports to $22 million, the federal government last week also increased funding for Own The Podium's summer Olympics and Paralympics program by $6 million a year. An additional $10 million over two years was also allocated to identify and develop elite athletes.
Participaction will receive $6 million a year for two years, the Canadian Paralympic Committee will receive $10 million over two years and Special Olympics Canada $2 million over two years.
That's on top of Sport Canada's ongoing funding commitments to sports and athletes.
But while Own The Podium was arguably a success and many athletes lobbied passionately for the continuation of the program during the Olympics, the project did come under criticism for possibly sending the wrong message. As well, Canada fell well short of the Own the Podium goal of placing first in the medal tally. Canada finished third behind the U.S. and Germany, prompting jokes to the effect that Canada could own the podium, but other nations were going to borrow it for the month.
Jackson says there are no immediate plans to rename the program, but adds it could be discussed when a new board of directors is appointed.
"It was interesting that the terminology of 'Own The Podium' was interpreted by some as being arrogant, almost like you were going to fall on your face if you didn't achieve your goal, and from our standpoint we never intended it to be that," he said. "It was an aspiration, that we were going for gold. It was simply a rallying cry for everyone to really try to do their best.
"We also needed clear goals and we wanted everybody to focus on a particular target, otherwise we would have nothing to aim for and no accountability along the way."
Jackson pointed out that most of the criticism happened during the first week of the Games, when Canadian sports officials knew that most of Canada's medal chances were in the last week of the Olympics.
"Whether we use the term Own The Podium in the future or something different, I don't know - we'll have to think about that going forward with a new board when it's formed in the near future and as we move on," he said.
"It's an interesting and controversial debate. The good news is that we started a debate on whether Canadian athletes should strive to be the best. And all sorts of articles cropped up in the Globe and Mail and the National Post that said yes, we should try to Own The Podium - not only in sports, but in medicine, in business, in sciences. There's a lot of support for the concept of excellence in all fields.
"All of the polls that were taken after the Games by Angus Reid and others showed overwhelming national support for Own The Podium and our ambition for it to continue, and for the importance of Canadian success at an international level to engender national pride."
Jackson could not say how the funding would be awarded to national sports organizations. In the build-up to the Games the money was directed to athletes and sports on the basis of medal potential, although all organizations benefited in some way. Own The Podium will review the past five years of performance for different sports and discuss plans for the next four years before making any funding decisions. It should begin accepting applications for funding in the spring.
As well, officials will review the final report from the federal government's panel on high performance sport in Canada, which was completed in November and has yet to be released. The government plans to release that report by the end of the Paralympics. Jackson said some of Own The Podium's work would likely align with the recommendations from that report.
A lot of decisions are on hold, as Own The Podium's board is dissolved and reformed. For example, the Vancouver Organizing Committee (VANOC), which had a presence on the Own The Podium board, is currently winding down as a corporation and those members will need to be replaced.
As well, Jackson says Own The Podium will no longer benefit from their association with VANOC and the shared services they will provide. As a result, Own The Podium will need to be become incorporated as its own independent entity.
"We're basically waiting on the go-ahead from the federal government to get going on both, but once we get that it should happen pretty fast," said Jackson.
