March 20, 2007 – The Sport Matters Group is very disappointment with today’s federal budget. The Group, including over 100 national and provincial sport leaders and organizations, had sought the fulfillment of the Conservative party election commitment to invest the equivalent of 1% of total federal health spending on sport and physical activity.

“Budget making is the central opportunity for governments to fulfill their commitments to Canadians,” says Ian Bird, Senior Leader of Sport Matters. “There had been clear indications from successive Ministers for Sport that today’s budget papers would outline how the government would invest in its own promise. We’re still waiting.”

Budget 2007 was widely expected to put Canadian athletes and coaches on the road to excellence in summer sports and to take initial steps to address the sport and recreation infrastructure deficit from playground to podium.

“Canadian athletes will be wondering what happened in the time between the Prime Minister’s speeches and today’s budget. So will community sport volunteers, the Moms and Dads that make sport happen everyday, given that it’s been 40 years since the federal government stepped forward with an investment program to support them in building arenas, pools, gymnasiums, fields, waterways, and other sport facilities,” says Bird. “With ample opportunity for all Canadians to be a part of our athlete’s accomplishments and to address the sport infrastructure crisis directly, the federal government took a time out instead.”

The Sport Matters Group is a group of national and provincial sport leaders who care about the future of sport in Canada and collaborate on various sport policy issues. The Group has actively worked together on the Canadian Sport Policy, the Sport and Physical Activity Act, and on increasing the resources available for sport in Canada.