Politics inevitably gets in the mix at the Olympics, and that’s a horror show for politicians asked to comment on their county’s performance and actions.

By Sheila Copps
First published in The Hill Times on August 5, 2024.

OTTAWA—Sport and politics don’t mix. Or maybe they do.

The Olympic Games are an example of how athletes go “sitius, altius, fortius communiter”: faster, higher, stronger together.

Until recently, the slogan was simply faster, higher, stronger.

In 2021, the International Olympic Committee added “together” to its motto saying it wanted to underscore the unifying power of sport, and the importance of solidarity.

But with all athletes competing for their country, politics inevitably gets involved in the mix.

That’s a horror show for politicians called upon to comment on their county’s performance and actions.

The fantastic effort of the Canadian women’s soccer team has been overshadowed by a coaching decision to spy on opponents with the use of a drone.

Federal Sport Minister Carla Qualtrough moved in quickly to stem the controversy by announcing that the federal government would be suspending the funding of coaching salaries.

But the players themselves felt the heat for a mistake they had nothing to do with.

Famed soccer icon Christine Sinclair felt compelled to speak up on social media where she wrote that it was “unfortunate that the players of our national team have had to play through condemnable actions by some of their staff as they attempt to defend our gold medal. Actions players have no control over. I want to be clear that having been a national team for 23 years, we were never shown or discussed drone footage in team or individual meetings I’ve been present for.”

Soccer Canada has launched an investigation as has the governing body for soccer, FIFA. The FIFA investigation could lead to a reversal of the gold medal that Canada received in the last Olympics when the team scored a victory on penalty kicks against Sweden.

All that to say that non-political games can obviously become very political.

Russia’s banishment from the Olympics occurred because of the country’s organized plan to cheat on urine testing so the players could get away with consuming illegal substances to get a performance boost.

The drone scandal will not see that kind of punishment, but it certainly ruined the experience for the athletes who had absolutely nothing to do with the cheating.

Leadership on the Canadian men’s side also admitted to using drones at the recent Copa America tournament.

At this point, Canada is the only country that has been tagged with drone use, but it is possible that following a more thorough investigation other countries have also been droning to win.

Just how far is a coach willing to go to secure a victory for their athletes?

And why should the athletes be punished for something over which they had no control?

As for the Canada women’s team, they were issued a six-point penalty which meant they had to score multiple wins just to stay in the hunt for a medal.

The team protested the size of the penalty, but the appeal was dismissed.

The Canadian team did beat Colombia and advanced to Saturday’s quarter-final, but the use of the drone has obviously affected every Canadian player and their experience at these games.

What should have been a glorious moment to celebrate a strong team with clear medal potential has become a Canadian cheating scandal.

In the Olympic family, they certainly would not expect Canada to be the outlier.

As for the rest of the Olympic effort, strength in new sporting ventures has been the story of these games.

A gold in women’s judo, bronze in women’s fencing, and a silver in women’s rugby sevens marked the first time in Canadian history that our country has medalled in any of these events.

This is the first Olympics with gender parity and the Canadian women have certainly done their part to get the country to the podium.

Halfway through the games, Canada was ninth in standing, incredible for a country that trains heavily in summer and winter sports.

Our country is expected to do well in winter sports, but the summer Olympics have never been Canada’s strong point.

Just as we have witnessed medalling in never-before events, the depth of Canada’s team development is obvious.

In tennis, the country is going deep in singles and could medal in doubles.

In swimming, Summer McIntosh is blazing new trails. At the halfway point, there is definitely more to come.

As for the opening ceremony what to say about Céline Dion but, wow!

Sheila Copps is a former Jean Chrétien-era cabinet minister and a former deputy prime minister. Follow her on Twitter at @Sheila_Copps.

The election will likely be decided on the strength of who can best manage the post-pandemic economic and social recovery.

By Sheila Copps
First published in The Hill Times on August 9, 2021.

OTTAWA—Happy people vote governments back in.

It is not surprising that at the close of the Olympics, the Canadian government will soon pull the plug on the current minority government.

Some ministerial employees were issued layoff notices last week, standard operating procedure for governments just before an election.

On the Olympic scene, Canadians keep piling up good news stories.

From Andre De Grasse to Damian Warner, from the swimming pool to the soccer pitch, Canada could do no wrong.

And Canadians back home, from family members to Olympiophiles, were riveted to the two-week Olympic run coverage.

Retiring cabinet minister Catherine McKenna, a competitive swimmer herself, sent out a tweet at the beginning of the Games telling her followers that her feed would be sport-dominated for the Olympic period.

She also had something very special to say about the magic of sport, attributing her success in life to the lessons she learned on the water.

On the opening day of the Games, McKenna had a message about the linkage between sport and politics. “I never dreamed of being a politician when I was a kid. I dreamed of being an Olympian. But even though I didn’t make it, all the training paid off for politics.”

McKenna went on to tweet: “I learned more lessons for politics from my time in competitive swimming than anywhere else. Have a clear goal & work hard every day to achieve it, ignore the noise, get back up when you fall, it’s all about the team. And have fun!”

As Canada comes to the close of one of its best Olympics ever, even those who don’t watch the Games are beaming with pride because of the athletes’ performances.

That puts everyone in a good mood. With the country looking at the back end of the pandemic, the Liberals could choose no better moment to call an election.

Even though there were some bumps on the road to recovery, Canada’s current world standing in pandemic management is extremely high.

On the vaccination track Canada is leading the globe, and thus far, has managed to mitigate the spread of variant viruses.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who received plenty of criticism for the slow rollout of the vaccine, will definitely benefit from the high percentage of vaccinated Canadians.

We compare particularly well with the United States. The anti-vaxxers there seem to line up by political party, with the majority of vaccine opponents in the Republican Party. In Canada, even the most die-hard Conservatives understand the value of stopping the spread of COVID via vaccinations.

With the virus under control, and the Olympics winding to a close, the time is ripe for Canadians to go the polls.

Of course, the opposition parties are going to decry the decision, but once the election is called, no one will pay much attention to the whys and the wherefores.

Instead, the election will likely be decided on the strength of who can best manage the post-pandemic economic and social recovery.

With children finally back in the classrooms and university students back on campus, the general mood this autumn will be positive.

An almost giddy euphoria has already set in as Canadians are finally able to enjoy most aspects of life without fear of viral death.

Politics may not be top of mind for most of us, but the writ period of 37 days will be short and sweet.

That doesn’t mean the election will be a slam dunk for the Liberals. If the last election is a guide, anything can happen.

Who knows whether there is another “blackface scandal” lurking in the prime minister’s closet?

But the pre-election summer tour did not go great for the Conservatives. Erin O’Toole seemed to spend more time courting Calgarians than worrying about his status in the eastern parts of the country.

If he is working on solidifying existing support, that does not bode well for O’Toole’s capacity to beat the government. An election win depends on making inroads in Ontario and Quebec, not piling up huge majorities in the only province where the Tories are guaranteed a majority.

As for the New Democrats, they may well benefit from the implosion of the Green Party and with a targeted vote, they could increase their representation in the House of Commons.

But even though their leader has attracted his own TikTok following, Jagmeet Singh will likely not have the same newcomer appeal that he enjoyed in the last election.

A solid campaign could deliver a Liberal majority.

Sheila Copps is a former Jean Chrétien-era cabinet minister and a former deputy prime minister. Follow her on Twitter at @Sheila_Copps.

By Sheila Copps

First published in The Hill Times on November 5, 2018.

OTTAWA—A Calgary Winter Olympic bid plebiscite next week is only the first hurdle in the city’s potential 2026 hosting bid.

Whether Calgarians want to cough up cash in lean times remains to be seen. Even the majority of city council opposes the bid, although an eight-hour long debate did not yield enough opposition to kill it.

Council voted 8-7 to end the bid but rules required a two-thirds majority to reverse a previous positive council decision. The chair of the bid committee, councillor Evan Woolley, was a key opponent of hosting the games, claiming a new trilateral financial agreement prompted more questions than answers.

Olympic supporters jammed council chambers with noisy chants in support of the bid. But the social media told another story.

Many were griping online that those who would be footing the bill could not make their voices heard because the meeting was held during normal working hours.

But Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi, a vocal bid supporter, made a compelling financial case as to why citizens should support the bid.

“This is an incredibly good deal. After all that sausage-making, the sausage that came out of it is amazing.” Nenshi said the investment yield a ten-to-one return in capital improvements to public facilities that will remain long after the games. He said the city was already going to spend $350-million on McMahon stadium and field house upgrades. The increased bill of $40-million would result in a $4-billion dollar Olympic investment.

But even if the Nov. 13 plebiscite passes muster, the biggest hurdle is convincing the world that a single city should host the games twice in a period of less than forty years.

Add that to the fact that Canada hosted winter games in Vancouver-Whistler less than 10 years ago, sympathy at the International Olympic Committee may not be in Calgary’s court. At this point, there are competing bids from Sweden and Italy, both of which appear to have fewer naysayers.

City dissent, while not unusual in Canadian pre-game bids, will also affect the level of support that can be expected at the International Olympic Committee. These international decision-makers are nothing if not political. And if it looks as though local opposition is building, the IOC may simply not want to take the risk.

But if Calgary is successful, the struggling city will enjoy more than an economic rebound.

The last time Calgary hosted the games was 1988. By all accounts, the event was a smashing success. It left Calgary with a sports legacy that is still paying dividends. Athletes from all over Canada move to the city to take advantage of the national training centre that was developed as a legacy from the games. Many of the historic number of medals that Canada garnered in 2010 were a direct result of the national sport legacy spawned in Calgary.

The city has also been an incubator for retiring athletes to embark on new careers, building on their Olympic prowess.

Nenshi is right about the unequalled federal and provincial investment levels the games would bring.

The city is required to pay a cash contribution and offer up some in-kind investment but the bulk of the financial strain will be borne by the federal government, shared in half measure by the province.

The IOC has also promised to provide more than $1-billion in financial incentives, so struggling cities can afford to bid on the games.

The federal government reworked a pre-existing funding agreement that required a 50-50 between the federal government and provincial and local authorities. New rules require the city to be responsible for any deficit.

A cost-cutting agreement tabled on the eve of the council vote last Wednesday, shaved $125-million off the initial $3-billion public funding estimate. Savings in security and housing construction were cited. The total bill is estimated to be $5.2-million.

But question still looming large even after the council vote, is a city pledge to buy an insurance policy to cover up to $200-million in cost overruns. City management warned that it is unclear whether an overrun insurance policy is even available.

All in all, it leaves Calgarians have a lot to consider when they go to the polls next week.

Chances are the ayes will have it. Games organizers have mobilized strong business support and everyone knows that Calgary needs an economic boost.

But even if citizens swallow the uncertainty and vote to host the games, the road to 2026 will be very long indeed.

Sheila Copps is a former Jean Chrétien-era cabinet minister and a former deputy prime minister. Follow her on Twitter at @Sheila_Copps.