Rational Planning vs. Regional Interests: The Professionalization of Canadian Amateur Sport

Our study of the professionalization of policy-making in the Canadian Olympic sport effort raises several issues that illustrate larger tensions in Canadian social policy. In the first section of the paper we argue that Sport Canada's concentration on the production of international success, and the resulting concentration of staff time and financial resources on elite programming, has meant a withdrawal of resources from programs that matter most in the hinterland areas of the country. In the subsequent section it is argued that various steps intended to rationalize and streamline the policy-making process--the professionalization of national sport organizations, the restructuring of volunteer representation, and the rationalization of responsibility within a performance-oriented system--all contribute to the marginalization of those who would defend non-elite interests. The final section explores the interests which have shaped the current Canadian "sport system," and proposes an "arm's length" Sport Council on which regional and other interests would regain effective representation.