Let's Vote!

I hope everyone is ready to vote this Tuesday! Of course a big issue for moi is sport in Canada. I have weighed all the major party's platforms when it comes to that issue, below is an article that gets some athlete views on the topic.
Cheers,
Perdita

Source: www.thestar.com
By line: Randy Starkman
Date: Oct 12, 2008
Athletes look to Ottawa for support
Full cabinet minister's position, more money at the top of wish list
Canada's athletes, coaches and officials have a message for those who will form the new government: show us the minister.

And some more money wouldn't hurt, either.

"The biggest point is we need leadership in sport in Canada," said former world champion hurdler Perdita Felicien.

"We need someone who is part of government who has the power to enact change. We don't have that. And that's why there's so many things gone awry with our sporting system."

Felicien made her comments after a recent debate on sport issues in the campaign between candidates from the Conservative, Liberal, NDP and Green parties during an Athletes CAN meeting.

The athletes seemed to come away unimpressed in general by the politicians, which included Secretary of State for Sport Helena Guergis, who seemed most impassioned when her support of women's ski jumping was questioned.

Guergis was a lot more lukewarm on the issue most important for the Canadian amateur sports community heading toward the 2010 Vancouver Olympics – getting a full-time sports minister instead of being represented by someone in a junior portfolio with no clout.

Guergis said the Conservatives would have to look at the cost of such a move, while the Liberals have said they're in favour of it.

Ian Bird, senior leader of the advocacy group Sport Matters, said they would probably be best served by a minority government, given that none of the parties is offering the entire package they want.

Bird said Canada needs to set up something like the Australian Sport Commission, which oversees everything from playground to podium. The current setup is splintered.

"What better legacy coming out of 2010 than to say, `Now, we've got the right pieces to the system that we think we need,'" said Bird.

Along with a full cabinet minister's position, the sports community is also looking for increased federal investment in sport to a minimum of $500 million a year, equal to 1 per cent of health care spending.

The Conservatives made that promise during the last election, but they're only up to an estimated $335 million, including the Children's Tax Credit.

The NDP and Liberals have made similar pledges, while the Greens have said they'd spend an additional $500 million over five years.

Infrastructure is another big issue, particularly in Toronto where a bid for the 2015 Pan Am Games is underway. Canadian Parks and Recreation Association pegged the infrastructure deficit at $15 billion.

The Liberals have focused their sport and physical activity plan on infrastructure, promising $3 billion toward new projects. None of the other parties offered specific plans.

"You do have to take it with a grain of salt, because there's always a disparity between what they say and what they're actually willing to do," said Rachael Gardner, a modern pentathlete.

One important issue that barely got addressed was the development of innovative tax measures to encourage greater participation in sport and new sources of funding for amateur sport.

"A lot of big words, a lot of promises, but I was a little disappointed in how they did avoid a really important question and a question that hits home with all of us, a question about corporate Canada and what should be happening to get more involvement from them," said Olympic rhythmic gymnast Alexandra Orlando, a political science major at U of T.

"I didn't get any answers whatsoever."