Why Does Canada Participate in the Olympics Anyway

I took this screenshot (CBC website) of the standings yesterday showing Germany in first place with 8 medals, Canada second with 10 medals and Norway in third place with 12 medals.

Yes, that's right, because only being the very best in the world (well best at that particular place at that particular time) counts, the rest are all losers, so it seems.

Why do we rate the Olympics that way. The way we rate Olympic success should relate to what we want to accomplish, and the way we rate Olympics can have far reaching effects on how we fund sports and recreation in this country. We have already seen, at least in the past, funding shifted from less popular sports to sports that we have a better chance of winning Olympic medals in.

But what if we measured Olympic success by a points system that included all top ten finishes (tenth best in the world is pretty damn good by most peoples standards) with 10 points for first and one point for tenth.

We would get a much better picture of the depth and breadth of our elite athletes than just counting those in the top three. It would even give us a better measure of how we are progressing towards more medals in the future. And we could start doing it now retroactively using the records of past Olympics.

But is that even the point. Is it really justified to spend all this money on a “pissing contest” to prove we (well actually our elite athletes) are better than the rest of the world. What public policy goal does that serve.

We can only justify spending all this money on the Olympics if it serves some public benefit beyond giving Canadian another excuse to spend more time watching TV (while waving the flag) for two weeks every two years.

We can only justify spending this money if it benefits Canadians beyond the elite athletes that participate. We have to be able to show that the funding benefits a broad range of Canadians by funding sports and recreation for more than just elite athletes and by actually encouraging more Canadians to get involved in sports and recreation. That way we will see results in fitter and healthier Canadians with more balanced lifestyles and even reduced health care costs.

We won't know that if we measure the wrong things. Ultimately what we want to be able to measure is whether Olympic programs increase the participation of Canadians in sport and recreation ultimately leading to more balanced lifestyles and improving their fitness and health.

Knowing that we had the greatest percentage of citizens participating in sports and recreational activities would make me a lot more prouder than knowing that a small group of elite Canadian athletes were the best in the world. Now that is a goal to strive for.

Ottawa: Proud of It's Municipal Water Supply and It's Pathways - The Disconnect

Ottawa is very proud of the quality of it's municipal drinking water supply and goes to great lengths to assure people they do not need to buy bottled water.

Ottawa is also very proud of it's shared recreational pathway system which, along with the NCCs pathways, provides a great opportunity for lengthy bicycle rides. Indeed, I regularly ride over 40 km, often over 70 km and occasionally even over 100 km.

All the experts will tell you that it is very important to keep hydrated when exercising in the hot summer weather and the best way is to just drink water.

However it is almost impossible to take advantage of the municipal water supply when riding the city's pathways as there are very few water fountains available along them and those that are require you to almost swallow the fixture to get a drink making it impossible to fill a water bottle from them. On many long rides I have had to purchase bottled water to provide the required hydration to ride safely.

This, along with the shortage of public toilets (which I have already written about), limits the useability of the pathway system and may discourage many Ottawa residents from being as active and fit as they could be.

Along with providing the necessary missing connections in the pathway system, the City also needs to provide the proper infrastructure (water fountains and toilets) for a proper pathway system that people can use all day, rather than just for a few hours at a time.

Pissing On The Toilet Doors

Excuse my crudeness but I’m really pissed off.


Everyone promotes fitness and getting outside and now the weather is here to do it. Ottawa has a great network of pathways for walking, running and bicycling. You could spend a day on the paths. They even have toilets at some locations (but not enough). However, apparently, your not supposed to have to go unless it’s the middle of summer. In the spring and fall the facilities are locked up tight. I did discover a porty-pottie at one key location last year. It was pretty gross though because they never cleaned or emptied it. I think they discovered it was being used and they would have to clean and empty it. So they took it away.

If I had more nerve I would just use them anyway, and piss on the toilet doors.

A tax cut I can support

Congratulations to the Ontario government for taking a small step that makes an important statement about the importance of health, fitness and the environment. The provincial government has announced the removal of the Provincial Sales Tax on bicycle helmets and bicycles under $1,000.