Week 12 - Professionalism, Hockey and Government

Involvement in 20th Century Canadian Sport

1900-1960+

•$ $• Era of the Pro• Prostitute status in ’00 to Our Best• High quality performance• era of strong sport performance for

Cdns

R TaitMcKenzie

’32 OlShield

Brothers ofthe Wind

Joy ofEffort

Hanlan & HanlanClub to promote

Paris Crewpromoted themselves

Louis Cyr promoted himself as entertainer-strongman

Edouard “Newsy” LalondeBest lacrosse player of ½ century

Imperial tobacco company cards Issued in 1911

BA Scott and St Lawrence foundation to promote and invest her commercial interests

Burns (bornNoah Brusso)and pro promotion

Jimmy McLarnin ltw(1923-36)retired becof skilful promotion

Lionel Pretoria Conacher

Pro in Football, Hockey, Baseball, Lacrosse, Boxing, Wrestling

King Carl

Cdn hopes

“Say it ain’t so, Ben”

Bennies JohnsonFastest Junkie on Earth

Hockey

• History• Leagues• International competition• The monopoly• The dominant sport• Marketing violence• Canada’s game?• The Sweater

• Shinty• Hurley• Shinny• Bandy• Montreal 1875 – 9 men per side• McGill University rules• Montreal City Hockey League -

1885

• AmHA – 1886• OHA – 1890• Lord Stanley – Sir Frederick Arthur

Stanley• International Hockey League – 1904• National Hockey Association, 1910• Pacific Coast League: The Patricks• National Hockey League 1917• Western Canadian Hockey League

1922

Taylor’s salary of $5200 in 09 made him most highly paid pro player in any sport at the time

Lester Patrick

Hockey’s Popularity

• 1. Town boosterism• 2. Commercialization• 3. Popular press• 4. International competition• 5. American Money• 6. Radio• 7. Television

US, Czech, Sweden28 for 1 against

1920 WinterOlympicGames(unofficial)

1924 Chamonix, France

• Toronto Granites• First Round: Canada 22 Sweden 0

33Switz 0

20Czech 0

1924 Team

1924

• Round 2 • Canada 19 Britain 2

6 US1

1928 St. Mortiz

• Toronto Grads: 3 pools• Canada 11 Sweden 0

13 Switz0

14 Britain0

1932 Lake Placid

• Winnipeg

1936 Garmish-Partenkirken

• Canada-Britain

1948 St. Moritz

• Royal Canadian Air Force Flyers

1952 Oslo

• Edmonton Mercuries

American $$

• US owners – monopoly• Mobility, pay, playing rights

Hockey Violence

• The law• Expansion after 1967• The Broad Street Bullies• The Big Bad Bruins• Don Cherry and the marketing of

violence as entertainment

Why?

• Safety valve theory – letting off steam• Intensity creates hair trigger tempers• Puts people in the seats• How boys and men learn to understand

sport and its relationship to masculinity – confrontation is a test

• Respect from opponents – stick work

Canada Cup 1976;1st time pro hockeyplayers includedin all national teams for “best” in the world

Summary

• Small town, big city identification

• International success = expectation + national identity

• Stars – icons of Canadian culture• Monopoly

American Gothic ?

Canadian Gothic ?

• “Hockey has left the river and will never return. But like the “street,” like an “ivory tower,” the river is less a physical place than an attitude, a metaphor for unstructured, unorganized time alone. And if the game no longer needs the place, it needs the attitude”

Government Involvement in 20th Century Sport

Megan PopovicUWO Doctoral CandidateKin 263: Canadian Sport

History

Denis CoderreSecretary of State- Amateur Sport

• “Sport…heart of Canadian life…benefits for each and every Canadian, for our communities, and our country…qualities we value as Canadians – fairness, team spirit, hard work, dedication, and commitment…hard-working, dedicated and committed high performance athletes are role models for our children…physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health and well-being…develops character…discipline and perseverance…way for Canadians to get to know each other.”

Intentions of Lecture

• Examine the larger social structure and cultural environment in which sport and physical activity function

• Look at the potential contribution of sport policy in strengthening citizenship and social cohesion

• Ask: – Forces and events caused gov’t action?– Key Actors?– Consequences of Actions?

Citizenship

• “On one hand, citizenship is a legal, political, and social reality, a distinct way to organize and experience membership in a social and political community. On the other hand, it is both an idea and an ideal: the particular way in which we reflect upon evaluate this membership”

Contribution of Sport Policy to Citizenship

• 1. Promotion of national identity and minority identities

• 2. Attainment of social rights and cultural rights: sport as common good

• 3. Participation in the life of the political community (volunteer involvement)

• 4. Set of moral qualities (civic virtues)

Question to Consider:

Have Canadian sport policies contributed to the development of

citizenship?

Stakeholders

• Athletes• Coaches• Administrators• Educational

systems• Canadian public

• Sport organizations• Federal

government• Provinces/

municipalities/territories

• Canadian media

Sport and Rec and the Welfare State

• Welfare State:“the state has direct economic stake in

the provision of public education, public health care, the setting of minimum wage, the regulation of profits, pollution and environmental degradation, and the development of legislation aimed at fair employment practices and equal opportunities for all citizens”

• Citizenship Regime-a specific form of recognition of certain

rights that is association with a dominant form of legitimate state action and the state’s relationship with society

-each citizenship regime links to:- a specific type of rights (R), and-a legitimate form of state action (A)

Period: 1930-1945

• Role of state: Emergence of welfare state

• Citizenship regime: Liberal– R: Civic rights– A: Responsibility for self

• Policy objectives: Specific intervention, moral reform, employability

1930-1945

• Pro-Rec program –B.C. in 1934• Strathcona Trust• Charitable organizations: YMCA, YWCA,

Boys and Girls Club, Rec committees

“Liberal” –specific state interventions to support citizens, specifically youth, to enable them to take control of their lives to became responsible and productive citizens

Period: 1945-1975

• Role of state: Consolidation of welfare state

• Citizenship regime: Social – R: Social rights– A: Social justice

• Policy objectives: Right to sports, disease prevention

1945-1975

• 5 BX/ 10 BX RCAF Programs– 5 Basic eXercises for Men– 10 Basic eXercises for Women– Graduated callisthenic exercises – Very widely distributed and sold– Indirectly government since RCAF– Note: Militarism of Strath Trust,

NFP Act, and 5BX/XBX

CBC Archives

• 5 Basic eXercises – Broadcasted Aug.

16, 1961– “RCAF exercises

performed for 11 minutes a day are ideal for both the champion athlete and the modern housewife”

• 5 Basic eXercises - Getting Physical: Canada's Fitness Movement - CBC Archives

1945-1975

• Bill C-131 Fitness and Amateur Sport Act– Larger forces and events:

•Post-war internationalism in sport•Impact of television•Urbanization and industrialization•Socio-economic changes•Growth of government

CBC Archives

• “Armchair Suicide”– Broadcast July

16, 1968– “The sudden

death rate climbs as lazy Canadians sit in front of the boob tube, experts say”

• Committing armchair suicide - Getting Physical: Canada's Fitness Movement - CBC Archives

PM John Diefenbaker

• Believed success in sport by Canadians would have positive effect on national pride:

“In the field of sport today there are tremendous dividends in national price from some degree of success in athletics. The uncommitted countries of the world are now using these athletic contests as measurements of the evidence of the strength and power of nations participating.”

Fitness and Amateur Sport Act 1961

• “to encourage, promote, and develop fitness and amateur sport in Canada” (Canada 1961: Chapter 59, Section 3)

• that a national fitness, recreation, and amateur athletic program be established

• that an Advisory Council be established• that provision be made through grants and

training courses for training of personnel and for research and surveys

• that federal assistance be given in the preparation of informational and educational material on fitness, recreation, and athletics,

• that $5 million be made available• that a cabinet committee be established to

consider the manner of presentation of the national fitness program

F & AS Money Spent On:

• Federal-provincial cost-sharing programs• Grants to sport governing bodies• Hockey • Coaching leadership and training

programs• Bursary programs for elite athletes• Canada Games (“Unity through sport”)• Scholarship and research programs

F & AS Act

• Few grants to grass roots level• House of commons debates through

1960s clear –quest was for international sport prestige

• “they watered the flowers instead of the fields”

Administration of F & AS Act

• Administered by National Advisory Council

• NAC interested in mass participation and fitness

• Gov’t interested in gold medals• NAC advisory only and always in

conflict with Ministry of Health and Welfare

Task Forces

• Trudeau government set up dual study commissions in 1968

“There are a certain number of symptoms which worry me –the fact that hockey is our national sport and yet in the world championship we have not been able, as amateurs, to perform as well as we know we can.”

Task Forces

• 1969 Report on the Task Force on Sport in Canada– “Task Force Report”– Looked at sport in

Canada– Nancy Green + 2

non-sport admins– Concern: hockey

and international sport

Task Forces

• 1969 A Report on Physical Recreation, Fitness and Amateur Sport in Canada– The PS Ross Report– Look at fitness of Canadians and

resulted in ParticipACTION

1969 Task Force Report

• Report heavy emphasis on revitalizing sport in Canada re performance

• Most comprehensive on Hockey Canada and ways to WIN!! (not since 1961 had won world championship)

• Best result: Sport Canada, Recreation Canada

1969 Task Force Report

• Noted how Pro sport had destroyed regional competition

• Problems unique to Canada –huge geographical mass; 1000s of $$ rinks; apathetic public; lack of athletic development programs

• Significant and comprehensive report

F & AS Act Contributions?

• Systematized sport organization• Created a bureaucracy of sport

including large administration center in Ottawa

• Creation of National Coaching Assoc; Canada Fitness Awards program; set up grants-in-aid to athletes program; founded Cdn Academy of Sports Medicine; grants to international sport groups and games (ie Olympics)

F & AS Act Contributions?

• Set precedents for provincial government programs/services

• “Best Ever” programs like Best Ever 88

• Became THE control agency for sport in Canada at all levels

• Bureaucratized sport; one more step in its institutionalization

Period: 1975-2000

• Role of state: State-Province Restructuring

• Citizenship Regime: Neo-liberal – R: Rights based on proven needs– A: Citizen responsibility

• Policy Objectives: Promotion of healthy lifestyle

ParticipACTION

• From 1969 study commissioned by NAC for Fitness and Amateur Sport –concluded Cdns in terrible shape, future of well-beings of Cdns in jeopardy, and most Cdns couldn’t care less

ParticipACTION: 3 Objectives

• 1. Create a national awareness and educational campaign regarding the health and social benefits of an active lifestyle, with practical advie on “getting started”

• 2. leverage the public funds invested by generating private sector support to at least match the public funds

• 3. cooperate with and support the efforts of community-based health, sport and p.a. leaders and their programs

ParticipACTION Mass Media Campaigns

• 3 decades: 533 television messages and 549 radio messages

• Assessed value: $280 million• Supported by: 350 TV stations, 110 daily

newspapers, 950 weekly newspapers, 1100 magazines, 1100 corporate publications and associations newsletters

• Also part of ParticipACTION: – Community-based initiatives– Education programs– Creation of resources (healthy eating,

work-place health and activity, etc)

Early Years 1973-79

Theme for 1983-64

Vitality 1990-95

Sharing a healthier future 1996-2000

“All in the family” video clip

PARTICIPaction

• ParticipACTION packing it in? - Getting Physical: Canada's Fitness Movement - CBC Archives

Period: 2000+

• Role of state: Post-welfare state• Citizenship regime: Inclusive state

– R: Social and cultural rights– Inclusive governance

• Policy obligations: Access to sport

2000+

• The Canadian Sport Policy (2002)• Federal-Provincial/Territorial Priorities

for Collaborative Action in Sport (2002)

• Bill C-54 Physical Activity and Sport Act (replace Fitness and Amateur Sport Act of 1961) (2003)

Final thought…

• Funding Canadian athletes: An opposing view - Funding of Amateur Sports - CBC Archives