Translation of "fédération suisse de sport handicap " (French → English) :

As I mentioned in my opening statement, from a federal government point of view and Sport Canada as the department, it is equitable funding between able-bodied sports and sports for athletes with a disability — " equitable" if you believe that about 10 or 15 per cent of the available dollars should be directed towards sport and athletes with a disability.

To date, it has been examining, among other things: getting children with disabilities engaged in sport and physically fitness, and staying active; promoting and maintaining a sport community of children and youth with disabilities; the infrastructure and investment at the local/community level to create an entry system for the national and international level of competitive paralympic sport; and the federal government's role in funding a national sport organization and projects that improve accessibility to community recreation centres and other infrastructure projects.

With regard to the point on how the federal government works with the provinces in developing sport programs, our suggestion is to go beyond the provincial connection to providing more support for locally based disability organizations who struggle to provide the best quality sport and physical activity experiences for children and youth with disabilities in their communities.

As of the late mid-1990s, the federal government's financial support for sport for the disabled was about $1.2 million out of an annual $60-million budget for Sport Canada. That represented approximately 2 per cent.