Canadians have mixed feelings about hosting future international sporting events, as many see value in such events and others view global competitions like the Olympics as “corrupt” and “too expensive,” says an internal Department of Sports report. Heritage.
“There is no clear consensus among respondents who believe large-scale international sporting events will be quite or very valuable to Canadians in the future,” says the report, titled “Future of Sport Public Opinion Research,” first obtained by Blacklock’s Reporter.
“In fact, the largest proportion of respondents, 38 percent, don’t know how these events will offer value to Canadians.”
Canada last hosted the Summer Olympics 13 years ago in Montreal in 1976 and held the Winter Olympics in Calgary in 1988 and Vancouver in 2010.
Canada also hosted the Commonwealth Games and their predecessors, the British Empire Games, in Hamilton in 1930, Vancouver in 1954, Edmonton in 1978, and Victoria in 1994. The Pan American Games were held in Winnipeg in 1967 and 1999. , and in Toronto in 2015. .
The report asked, “How valuable will large-scale international sporting events, such as the Olympics, Pan American Games, or Commonwealth Games, be to Canadians in the future?”
Twenty-six percent said they did not consider such events valuable. Thirty-four percent responded, “quite valuable.” Thirty-two percent said they are “very valuable.”
Among those who feel that large-scale international events do not offer much value to Canadians, two in five (41 percent) believe that these events are “too expensive and that taxpayer dollars should be spent on other priorities,” says the report.
Other proportionate reasoning included that these events are elitist (13 percent), that they are not beneficial to Canadians (13 percent), or that they do not care or are not interested (11 percent).
Nine percent said: “These events are corrupt.” Six percent responded: “These events are too political.”
The findings derive from a survey of 9,208 people across the country. The Heritage department commissioned Phoenix Strategic Perspectives at a cost of $145,334 for the research.
Andrew Chen is a Toronto-based reporter for The Epoch Times.