The Press ten days ago devoted a series of reports1 to the following question: Is Montreal still a great sports city? The president of the Montreal Sports Council, Danièle Sauvageau, and the vice-president, Richard Legendre, answer it.
On May 29 and 30, the sports community came together for the fourth edition of the Sommet du sport de Montréal. The event included seven panels, nine conferences and two workshops, on the themes of accessibility, professionalization, sports events and the promotion of an ethical and benevolent culture in sport. A little over 250 people came to the Claude-Robillard sports complex to discuss the issues and solutions to meet the challenges of the sports community.
After these two days, there is no doubt that Montreal is a sports city. The question we must now ask ourselves: is Montreal a great sports city? In our view, the answer is not so obvious.
Sports events in the metropolis are radiant after two difficult years. Montreal has also won the title of city par excellence in Canada at this level during the first three years of the Canada Sports Tourism index. Building on its Olympic heritage, Montreal has carved out its place as a sports hub across Canada. Today, professional sport in the metropolis, whatever one may say, does not have to pale in comparison to many other North American cities. Are there any issues in this respect? Certainly.
Start with the basics
However, when we talk about big city sports, we have to stop just looking at these flaps and start with the basics. The island of Montreal has more than 350 sports clubs allowing tens of thousands of young and old to practice a multitude of sports. Above all, that’s sport, physical activities that allow citizens to be healthier, to create social ties and a more united community.
Moreover, the City of Montreal implemented a policy of recognition and financial support for regional sports at the end of 2022. Overall well received by the community, the Montreal sports ecosystem is currently worried about the lack of announcement of the budget that will be allocated to this new policy.
It is important to note that the financial envelope to support these regional sports organizations has not been increased or even indexed for 27 years.
Thus, in order to support these organizations, the Conseil du sport de Montréal submitted a formal request to increase this financial support envelope by $2.3 million annually. Without falling into cynicism, this request from the sports community seems reasonable to us in an annual budget of 6.7 billion for the City of Montreal.
If we want to boast of being a great sports city, if we want to host major multi-sport games again, it is time for decision-makers to stop praising sport and start funding it. The Montreal sports community needs a major catch-up and the current administration has a historic opportunity to act.
* Danièle Sauvageau is Associate Director of the HEC Sports Pole, CEO and Head Coach at the 21.02 High Performance Hockey Center and Olympic coach who won the first gold medal for the Canadian women’s hockey team; Richard Legendre is associate director at the Pôle sports HEC Montréal, former executive vice-president with the Montreal Impact and former minister responsible for sports