There are times when opportunity knocks and someone opens the door. The Panel hopes this is one of those times. The completion of the Winter Olympics and Paralympics will be a landmark chapter in the story of our country`s achievements in high performance sport. It is in this context that we find exciting and timely opportunities to set the future course of high performance sport in Canada. The Panel set out to develop a set of recommendations for the Federal Government to determine what it could do for the future success of our country`s high performance athletes and coaches. The vision for high performance sport that emerged from the Panel`s consultation process is to have Canada be the best in the world - to have the best high performance sport system and to demonstrate Canadian excellence at the international level. This report represents the best ideas, innovative approaches and guiding principles identified by sport leaders across the country in an effort to make this vision a reality. The belief that we, as a sector and as a country, can do better permeated the consultation process. From Canadian Sport Institutes to the consolidation of existing structures, from the professionalization of coaching to improved corporate sector relations, from a world-leading athlete development model to better facilities, the sport sector knows what it can do, and what it hopes the Federal Government will do to build on our success. The key recommendation of the Panel is the creation of an independent, federally incorporated not-for-profit organization responsible for the delivery of high performance sport in Canada. This organization should bring together the OTP program, key elements of VANOC and all of the program and funding elements directed at high performance sport that are currently housed in Sport Canada, including athlete assistance. While based on the successful OTP model, the mandate of the new high performance organization needs to include non-Olympic sport. The governance model of the organization is one guided by an independent board of directors and a Chief Executive Officer. The Board would be accountable to the Minister through an Annual Report and a Strategic Plan, both of which would be tabled in Parliament. In support of both the CEO and the Board of Directors, an Advisory Committee would be created with representation from the sport community to provide guidance on high performance sport performance issues. The Panel recommends that appropriate steps be taken to establish statutory funding for this country`s new high performance delivery organization, in a manner consistent with other alternative service delivery models. The operating budget of the new organization is intended to be in line with the current "A" base allocations within Sport Canada for high performance sport which would transfer to the new organization. This would include NSO funding and athlete assistance totalling approximately $125M. With the transfer of high performance sport programs into the new organization, Sport Canada`s focus would shift to the broader population as a whole. This would involve a number of key roles, including policy research, development of public policy, Federal-Provincial-Territorial governmental activities, interdepartmental initiatives, international sport files, activities related to the Physical Activity and Sport Act, promotion of sport for social development, increased sport participation and the implementation of the Canadian Sport Policy. The Panel also understands that high performance is but one aspect of sport. There are many other potential improvements and opportunities for leadership in our country`s sport system, which are essential to the longer-term sustainability of our recommendations. The Panel recognizes that, if adopted, its recommendations may take some time to implement. At the same time, the Panel is mindful of its Terms of Reference and the Federal Government`s interest in maintaining the high performance momentum and progress made leading up to the 2010 Games. In this context, the Panel has identified three key issues that should be addressed as expeditiously as possible by the Minister. 1. Retaining the remarkable assets that have been developed within VANOC, especially human resources in the fields of sport marketing, communications, fund raising and high performance planning; 2. Maintaining the current and planned increased level of funding for the OTP program. 3. Reconfiguring the governance of the OTP program and establishing the "one-window" approach to high performance services. Throughout the consultation process, the Panel has been impressed by the willingness and readiness of the sector to contribute to the success of a new high performance system and to the operation of a new high performance delivery organization. Sector leaders have made a clear call for leadership and have shown a willingness to do things differently, to adjust their focus in certain areas and to reallocate resources for the betterment of high performance sport as a whole.
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