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In
the government cost-cutting days of the 1990s, it was the
so-called frills of social spending, such as funding for amateur
sport, that really bore the brunt of axe. Athletes and sporting
federations across the country warned that policies skimping
on amateur sport would soon enough manifest themselves in
disappointments when it counts the most -
at the Olympics. For a lot of observers, the considerable
drop-off in Canadian medal totals at the Sydney Olympics was
the fulfillment of those prophecies.
As
Secretary of State for Amateur Sport - a sub-ministry of the
federal Heritage Ministry - Denis Coderre is one of the more
activist ministers
on Parliament Hill. The disappointments of the Sydney Olympics
happened on his watch, but so did a recent federal infusion
of some $10-million a year into amateur sport in Canada. Coderre
also spearheaded April's Summit on Sport in Ottawa and the
ongoing process of charting a new and more productive direction
for Canadian amateur sport policy, as well as keeping Canada
deeply involved in sport-related issues such as the fight
against doping.
Denis Coderre spoke with CBC Sports Online discussed these
and other amateur sport issues concerning Canadians. A special
thanks goes to our readers who submitted questions for our
conversation. Unfortunately, we did not received all of your
questions in time to use them in the
interview, and please note that some questions were reworked
or shortened.
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ABOUT
DENIS CODERRE
Denis Coderre was a candidate in the 1988, 1990, and 1993 elections
and he won his seat during the 1997 and 2000 elections. He has
been Chair of the Quebec Liberal Caucus since 1998.
Mr.
Coderre has been Co-Chair of the Sub-Committee on the Study
of Sport in Canada (the Mills Commission) and Co-Chair of
the Joint Standing Committee on Official Languages.
On
August 3, 1999, he was named Secretary of State for Amateur
Sport.
Mr.
Coderre and his team are currently working on the development
of a Canadian Sport Policy and Action Plan. He also advocates
Montreal as the headquarters for the World Anti-Doping Agency,
of which he is a founding member and the representative of
the Americas. As well, he promotes the candidature of Toronto
2008. Among his other priorities are the establishment of
working groups on dispute resolution and coaching as well
as respect for official languages and the international sharing
of sport expertise.
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