OTTAWA - With a section of his budget speech titled "Going for Gold," Finance Minister Jim Flaherty could hardly ignore the Olympic athletes whose victories he was invoking.
Canada's elite summer and winter athletes got gold in Thursday's federal budget - an extra $17 million a year for the next two years. That's on top of the $47 million the government already spends each year on their programs.
The Own the Podium organization, which helps fund winter Olympians, will see its core annual federal funding doubled to $22 million.
Road to Excellence, which supports summer athletes, will see another $6 million annually tacked on to its current federal contribution of $36 million, as it prepares for the 2012 Games in London.
The Conservative government also announced it will renew another $10 million over two years for the identification and development of elite amateur athletes. (continued here)
Does this mean I'll finally get paid to be unemployed, sleep 9 hours a day and work out? Only time will tell, but it sure is well deserved.
But in all seriousness, while the lifestyle of an elite athlete may seem easy, it doesn't pay the bills. I'll be done school in a month and I'm already realizing that (among other things, ie. four years of higher education has done NOTHING to prepare me for the real world) cost of living, training and equipment expenses, and travel budgets add up to a hell of a lot more than I can earn in an ideal training environment.
The success of Canada's winter athletes in Vancouver is a testament to how effective a little funding can be, by allowing elite athletes to focus on their goals rather than their Visa bill. Now their performances were more than just inspiring, but have demonstrated what Canadian athletes are capable of when supported.
I'll be expecting my six million-dollar cheque in the next 4-6 weeks.
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