The role and impact of Canadian federal sport hosting policies in securing amateur sport legacies
Subtitle: case studies of the past four decades : y Cora Ann McCloy.
Published: 2006
Language: eng
Number of pages: 429
ISBN-13: 9780494158050
Description: The Canadian federal government has a lengthy history of actively supporting large-scale international sport events, beginning with the Hamilton British Empire Games in 1930. Since the passing of the 1961 Fitness and Amateur Sport Act, the number, cost, and impact of these events have grown exponentially. A federal hosting policy emerged out of Canadian government attempts to develop a rational and planned approach for selecting those events that best achieved benefits for the amateur sport community. Five federal hosting policies have been examined: 1967, 1978, 1983, 1996, and 2000. Utilizing the policy cycle (Rist, 2000), the genesis of each of these policies, implementation efforts, and limited monitoring efforts by the federal government are assessed. Data was collected at the National Archives of Canada and through interviews conducted with Sport Canada policy-makers.This research clearly demonstrated that federal hosting policies have rarely been enacted in a manner that engaged federal officials from the earliest bid stages. The benefits for Canadian amateur sport were never wholly realized in such a climate.A socio-historical analysis revealed that hosting large-scale events has been mired in a complex web of actors and stakeholders competing for scarce public resources. A case study of the 1999 Winnipeg Pan American Games (Pan Am) provided a context to explore two federal policies utilizing a political economy and globalization framework: the concept of the local growth coalition (informal coalition of political and business officials) framed the critical questions about the beneficiaries of the event. Interviews conducted with Pan Am Games organizing committee members revealed that such coalitions circumvented the sport event for many of their own motivations and goals. Although 20,000 Winnipeg volunteers took part in the event, much emphasis from all governmental levels focused on how best to showcase Winnipeg within the Americas: trade and investment issues received the top order of importance. Amidst the competing visions of the event, local, regional, and national amateur sport communities were undermined in areas such as new/upgraded facilities, endowment funds, sport equipment, and coach/official preparation.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 67-06, Section: A, page: 2093.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Toronto, 2006.

Includes bibliographic references.

Electronic version licensed for access by U. of T. users.