Northern Ontario athletes, coaches, welcome new compensation for Paralympic medalists
CBC
A new plan to compensate Canadian Paralympic medalists is long overdue, according to some Paralympians and coaches from northern Ontario.
Starting with the Paris 2024 Games, Paralympians will receive $20,000 for winning gold, $15,000 for silver and $10,000 for bronze. That is equal to the amount Canadian Olympians receive.
"I think that's a huge step and the right direction for some equality within Paralympic and Olympic sports in our country," said Collin Cameron. a Para nordic skier and Paralympic medalist from Sudbury.
"We were kind of a little bit behind in that compared to a lot of other countries in the world as far as recognizing the achievements of Paralympic medalists."
Cameron said athletes don't get into Para sports for the money, but new incentives for medalists will be a big help to elite athletes who dedicate their lives to their sport.
"It's a pretty large amount of money, even for a bronze medal," Cameron said.
"I mean that kind of money helps relieve a lot of financial burden that athletes in high performance sports have. Just within, you know, nutrition needs, medical needs all the way down to basic bills that they have."
Cameron said the current financial climate has made it more difficult for Paralympians to land corporate sponsorship deals, so any extra source of income is a big help.
The Paralympic Foundation of Canada created an initial $8-million endowment to pay Canadian Paralympic medalists at future games.
Tom Hainey, a swimming coach and former Paralympic athlete from Atikokan, said he wasn't surprised when he heard medalists would now be compensated.
"This is something that's been talked about for a long time," he said.
Hainey said there's been a recent push for equality across all sports, including initiatives like the new Professional Women's Hockey League, which compensates the players better than they have been in the past.
He said the new money for medalists probably won't get more people involved in Para sport, but it will help keep high-performance athletes active in their respective sports longer.
Hainey said he probably would have competed longer had similar funding been available when he was a Paralympian in the 1980s and 1990s.
Darlene Naugle had difficulties getting around the small community of Port Bickerton on Nova Scotia's Eastern Shore when she moved to area from Alberta three years ago to care for her sick daughter.
Skates and hockey sticks on backyard rinks are the definitive sound of winter for many Canadians.
Progressive Conservative leadership candidate Wally Daudrich doesn't seem to mind that some Tories might think his claim Manitoba schools are promoting acts of bestiality and incest is impossible to believe.
Artificial intelligence has become increasingly present in people's lives, ranging from the ability to create a generative image in a messages with simple prompts, to using data to reduce workplace injuries.
While Trump's tariffs, housing and health care have received plenty of attention during the Ontario election campaign, educators say voters should pay more attention to where the major parties stand on the province's public school system.
As the Canadian Armed Forces continue to try and dig out of a deep recruitment hole, they're starting to give new recruits with medical conditions a shot at joining the military rather than automatically turning them away.
Israel says the release of more than 600 Palestinian prisoners is delayed "until the release of the next hostages is assured, and without the humiliating ceremonies" at handovers of Israeli captives in Gaza.
Crystal Ellingsen and Jennifer Brady thought their battle with the government of Nova Scotia ended last year, but now they're raising their voices once again to continue the fight.
Ryan Evans of Oromocto, N.B., says he knows how lucky he is.
It has been just over 104 years since Jessie Kirk was inaugurated as the first woman on Winnipeg's City Council — but to this day, only 32 other women have been elected to represent a ward in the city's history.
An apartment building in central Edmonton that shut down late last year after a security guard was killed on-site may be allowed to reopen to tenants.
Experts and officials are saying Friday's 4.7 magnitude earthquake, felt across southwest B.C., is a wake-up call that British Columbians need to be prepared for an emergency situation.