This weekend, Prime Minister Jean Chretien will chair a National Summit on Sport in Ottawa to unveil a new vision of a sporting nation. A Canadian sport policy will be tabled for discussion by the people who coach, fund, play and organize sport for Canadians.

For Denis Coderre, the Secretary of State for Amateur Sport, this summit marks the culmination of months of countrywide consultations.

The will to create a new blueprint for amateur and high-performance sport was galvanized by the climate of disappointment and criticism following the Sydney Summer Olympics. Canada won 14 medals in 2000, a result widely regarded as a failure.

Compared with the 22 medals won by Canadians at the 1996 Atlanta Summer Olympics, it was certainly a step back.

Sydney might represent the fourth-best Canadian Olympic performance ever, but the contrast with the 58 medals won by Australia was unflattering.

Athletes and pundits quickly pointed to one decisive factor in Australia's stunning success relative to Canada: despite having only two-thirds the population, Australia's amateur sports budget was four times greater than Canada's.

But athletes further charged that the entire Canadian amateur sports system from the Canadian Olympic Association on down was unresponsive to their needs and in need of an overhaul.

While Canadian sports leaders and politicians have been given plenty of food for thought by the athletes they represent, there are other even more pressing sports-related issues in this country, including the declining fitness of our children and plunging rates of participation in sport and recreation.

Following a decade of funding cuts to sports programs, what is the health of the Canadian sporting nation? And what are Canadians willing to do to improve it? Should the federal government restore athlete funding? Is it an expense or an investment? Should there be financial incentives tied to winning Olympic medals? Should athletes and parents be eligible for tax breaks to cover the costs of training and competing?

These and many other questions will make for lively debate at the Summit. CBC Sports and CBC Newsworld will take a special look at the state of amateur sport in Canada with The Summit on Sports. We will be in Ottawa to chronicle the new and emerging vision of amateur sport in Canada - the first major policy initiative in Canada since the Amateur Sport and Fitness Act of 1961.

We will also have the results of a public opinion poll in which we questioned 2000 Canadians on a number of sports issues. We asked people to rate Canada's performance in Sydney as well as the importance of winning Olympic medals. We think the results will surprise you.

CBC Sports Online will provide you with added information, a guide to the program and a chance to have your say.

Join me and my co-host, Nancy Wilson, as we broadcast live from the National Sports Summit in Ottawa this Saturday for two hours of analysis and debate on Saturday, April 28 at 4:00 pm (EDT) on CBC Sports and CBC Newsworld.