Question

What do Serbia-Montenegro, the United Arab Emirates, Zimbabwe and Azerbaijan have in common?

They're all ahead of Canada in the Athens medal standings. We're currently in a tie with such powerhouses as Columbia, Mongolia, Slovenia, and Trinidad & Tobego. I know Trinidad & Tobego has the benefit of drawing athletes from both Trinidad and from Tobego but still... If we can't beat Mongolia, something is seriously wrong.

As it sits, the federal government pumps 90 million a year into Amateur Sport. Can you imagine what doubling this amount would do? Our atheletes would get the support they need to excel. With the Vancouver games fast approaching, now is the time to invest. How many billions will be spent on the 2010 Olympics? Surely, a 90 million dollar bump to the funding of amateur atheletes is feasible. So much money is spent on protecting Canadian culture yet isn't sport a part of Canadian culture? Donovan Bailey, Nancy Greene, Simon Whitfield...these are Canadian icons because of the Olympics. It's ridiculous that the government doesn't do more to ensure more icons are created in the future. Especially when you consider how small 50 or 100 million dollars is for a federal budget and how much of a difference it would make.

Or we can keep losing to Zimbabwe. The choice is ours.