SMG: On an active policy agenda this summer

Good afternoon all,

So much for a reduced pace this summer. Leaders in the sector are as busy as always, especially with the Canada Games coming soon to PEI and Vancouver 2010 just around the corner.

The public policy front at the federal level is also very active with at least these 4 important activities taking shape.

1. Standing Committee on Finance

We have another opportunity to work together in framing our federal budget submissions to the Standing Committee on Finance. This Committee of Parliament hears from Canadians and makes recommendations to the Minister of Finance as an on-going part of the federal budget process. This year, the Committee plans EXTENSIVE cross-Canada consultations. If you wish to present to the Committee in your city, please review the attached letter, submit your request BEFORE July 31st, and then connect with us so that we can coordinate our messages and themes.

2. Minister's leadership towards a better way

It seems that things have been active within the Minister's office on his idea and interest in developing a better way for sport leadership and governance in Canada. We've been encouraging him to initiate a process that helps us to work together and to benefit from the kinds of collaborative successes (think Own the Podium, LTAD, joint infrastructure projects etc.) which have provided the most momentum over the past few years. We'll see where this goes but we may well need to boot-up quickly in response to leadership from Minister Lunn.

We are also about one-month out from the annual meeting of federal, provincial, and territorial Ministers. We anticipate that they will focus on tackling the physical inactivity crisis, not just setting targets and measuring our lack of progress. There may also be some early reflections on the renewal process for the Canadian Sport Policy which sunsets in 2012.

3. Sport Matters meeting on September 8th - full day at the RA Centre in Ottawa. RSVP to Liz McDonald at: info@sportmatters.ca or 613.231.7472, x 246.

With the federal budget and a better way in mind, plus an opportunity to meet with Sport Canada's new Director General, Martin Boileau, we've made plans for a full day Sport Matters meeting on September 8th. We should also prepare for a fall election given what the opposition parties are communicating.

To round out the agenda, we'll want to pick up on our May 1st meeting when we set out a 5 point agenda for our own better way initiative:
- shared service strategies (to share back of house operational functions)
- integration strategies (like MOU agreements as Athletics Canada is developing)
- co-location / ownership opportunities through bricks and mortar developments
- alliances (that build and deliver value, not new organizations)
- mergers through governance reforms (and how we can actually streamline our system through strategic mergers and even acquisitions)
- winding down (this is often the unspoken part of the equation - how can we achieve this with integrity and value this contribution to a better way!)

4. Working Together Initiative

Kudos to the group of leaders who are continuing to make progress with 9 federal departments across the government of Canada on what sport and physical activity can do to achieve a range of policy objectives. At the end of the month there's a meeting of Assistant Deputy Ministers from departments of Health, Heritage, Indian Affairs, Northern Development, Human Resources, Social Development, and Citizenship, plus our sport and physical activity colleagues. This will set the scene for Phase 2 of the Working Together Initiative and a couple more years of development work on both what to do, how to do it together, and how to most effectively flow resources.

That's it for now but I think we can all expect some increased engagement and communication in the coming days.

Oh, one last thing - I drafted this think piece (previous blog) for Coaches Plan. Have a look if you have some time.

Cheers,

Ian