2. METHODOLOGY
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This study set out to determine whether English-speaking and French-speaking Canadians have equal opportunities to reach the highest levels of amateur sport. We therefore examined the structure and history of sport organizations in Canada and, through interviews and a survey of athletes, reviewed whether the present sport system meets athletes’ linguistic needs.
During the first phase of the study we reviewed documentation to determine the structure of sport associations in Canada, with particular emphasis on federal involvement in and financing of high performance sport. This review also aimed to clarify concerns expressed during hearings of the Parliamentary Sub-Committee on Sport.
To this end, we reviewed committee documents (transcripts and minutes of hearings, reports, briefs, and research documents), OCOL complaint files, OCOL’s report on National and International Events (1989), Sport Canada documents (strategic plan and Main Estimates), media reports, the Treasury Board policy on grants and contributions, and a Treasury Board report on the administration of grant and contribution programs within the federal government.
During the second phase of the study, we interviewed members of Sport Canada’s staff to determine the nature and extent of federal government involvement in sport and to review the administrative structure and controls, particularly those dealing with official languages. We also collected and examined documents including Sport Canada’s organization chart, funding criteria, budget, and the Sport Funding and Accountability Framework.
We met with members of the academic community who have conducted research on sport in Canada to examine factors which influence participation in sport generally. We discussed the harmonization of federal and provincial programs with a representative of the government of Quebec and met with representatives of Sports Québec, a voluntary organization representing 60 sport organizations in that province. Finally, we met with representatives of five multi-sport organizations (MSOs) and 10 national sport organizations (NSOs).
The third phase of the study consisted of surveying and interviewing athletes involved in high performance sport. We conducted a mail-out survey of athletes who receive direct financial support from the federal government to identify which elements of the sport system contribute most to the athlete’s development and which elements, if any, are deficient from a linguistic point of view. Using the data on preferred official language in Sport Canada’s data base, we divided the population into two samples: English-speaking and French-speaking athletes. Because of the relatively small size of the Francophone population surveyed, a sample which would give a high confidence level would have represented two-thirds of the population. We therefore sent questionnaires to all 222 athletes who identified French as their first official language. We identified a sample of Anglophone athletes, and mailed out questionnaires to approximately one English-speaking athlete in four (256 out of 1013).
Our survey questionnaire probed the attitudes, values and experiences of these two groups, in terms of both sport in general and official languages in sport. We received a higher rate of response than expected from French-speaking athletes, and a lower rate than expected from Anglophones. The margin of error for results concerning English-speaking athletes is therefore higher than that for French-speakers. The survey results and a fuller description of the methodology appear in the second volume of this report.
The study team visited multi-sport centres in Calgary, Winnipeg and Montreal and met athletes in each centre to discuss their perception of official languages issues in their careers. Calgary and Winnipeg were chosen because they were mentioned in the correspondence which led to undertaking this study, and because the national sport centre in Calgary was the first to open and therefore has the greatest experience in serving athletes. The investigators visited Montreal in the expectation that any difficulties related to the use of French in sport would also manifest themselves there, and to verify whether services in English are available through the Montreal Multi-Sport Centre. During these visits, we met administrative staff and coaches at each centre, as well as athletes.
