Since the provincial Cabinet was announced last Thursday October 20, 2011, no Minister responsible for Sport has been named. The Ministry of Health Promotion and Sport has disappeared. It appears that Health Promotion has gone back into the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care.

How does this affect you? For years, Sport lived in obscurity within the Ontario government. After winning the 2015 Pan/Parapan American Games bid, Sport was added to the Ministry of Health Promotion masthead. It was great cause for celebration! Now it appears that Sport has been relegated to obscurity again. Despite the fact that over 3 million Ontarians (athletes, participants, coaches, officials, staff and volunteers) participate in amateur sport, there is no Minister assigned to lead the programs that affect so many.  How will we make the connection with Infrastructure, Tourism, Transportation, Justice, Children & Youth if the branch responsible for Sport is buried in Health?

Sport needs our own Minister, to fight for our issues and explain to his/her Cabinet colleagues why Sport is important, why our funding is important. We need a Minister who has our back, working with us to tackle the sport sectors’ challenges such as our infrastructure deficit, increasing facility permit fees, financial sustainability, declining volunteer numbers, changing demographics, participation levels and fees, etc. Sport is deserving of a higher profile.

What can you do? Drop a note to the Premier, your MPP and other MPPs! Tell them what you think, what you want! As a sport community, it is important that we act now.  As a member of the volleyball community, it is important that you take a leadership role and get the message out to as many people as possible, so that our message can not only be heard, but that something material can be done while there is still time.

For further information on this issue, and what you can do to help – click on this letter from Sport4Ontario.