Qualtrough, a three-time Paralympic medalist, says Tokyo Games can be ‘moment of hope’

Canada's Employment Minister Carla Qualtrough, who is in Tokyo, Japan, for the opening of the Summer Olympics, has a close personal relationship to the Games. As a former Paralympian, Ms. Qualtrough (Delta, B.C.) competed in swimming at the 1988 Seoul Games and 1992 Barcelona Games, winning three bronze medals, and has attended many of these events before, but never under circumstances like this. The Olympic Games are taking place after a year-long delay due to the COVID-19 pandemic. “I was lucky when I was an athlete to have my family in Seoul with me, and they got to see me on the podium. They all still talk about it because it was a really big moment for our family. And I'm sorry that athletes here won't get that experience,” said Qualtrough in an interview with The Hill Times from Tokyo. The host city of Tokyo is under a state of emergency and there have been reports of a growing number of cases of COVID-19 among those who have travelled there for the Olympic Games. Ms. Qualtrough said that the federal government supports the decision for Canadian athletes to attend. Athletes have travelled to Tokyo without their families, and the Games will take place without what Ms. Qualtrough calls the "broader experience" that usually surrounds the Olympics. But Ms. Qualtrough says that the government supports the decision for Canadian athletes to attend. “When the Olympic Committee and Paralympic Committee in Canada made a decision very early on not to send athletes because of COVID, we supported their decision. They subsequently made a decision to attend this year, and we support that decision as well,” she said. Ms. Qualtrough would not say if the decision to go ahead with the Olympic Games this summer was the right decision for the people of Tokyo. Chantal Petitclerc, one of Canada’s most decorated Paralympians with 21 medals, after winning one of her races for Canada at the 2008 Beijing Paralympics. She joined the Senate in 2016. Photograph courtesy of Canadian Paralympic Committee “I prefer to let the government of Japan and the Tokyo spokespeople to talk about their perspectives,” she said. “But from our perspective of the Government of Canada, as the largest funder of sport in the country, we wanted to come here to support the Olympic Committee, support the Government of Japan, support our embassy. It's really important to us that that we be here for the athletes.” She said she sees these Games as a possible moment of hope for the world. “I think this is an opportunity to show that, despite the fact that we've all been suffering, and there's been incredible loss in our country and around the world, that our athletes represent the future,” she says. “It's the world kind of putting a stake in the ground and saying globally that, 'We are resilient, we are going to get through this.' And in the future we will look back at these Games and remember how important it was for the world that this moment of hope occurred.” The Olympic Games mean a great deal to Ms. Qualtrough, who calls herself a “sports junkie” and says that her experience in sports was an integral step on her path to becoming a Member of Parliament. “Were it not for my having competed in the Paralympic Games, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be in the position I'm in today,” she said. Liberal MP Peter Fonseca represented Canada in the marathon at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta. Fonseca placed 21st in the race. Photograph courtesy of Peter Fonseca “It taught me all of the regular lessons that sport teaches you about teamwork and working hard and following the rules, but it also taught me as someone with a disability that we could design our systems in a way that included everybody. Being a part of the Paralympic movement when I was young really set me up for a life of work in the area of inclusion and disability rights.” Ms. Qualtrough is one of five former Olympic or Paralympic athletes currently sitting in either the House of Commons or the Senate, along with Liberal MP Peter Fonseca (Mississauga East–Cooksville, Ont.), Liberal MP Adam van Koeverden (Milton, Ont.), Liberal MP Lyne Bessette (Brome–Missisquoi, Que.), and Independent Senator Chantal Petitclerc (Granville, Que.). Another member of the Senate, Independent Senator Marty Deacon (Waterloo Region, Ont.), has served as a coach and team leader with the Canadian delegation at multiple Olympics, and currently sits on the Canadian Olympic Committee. Sen. Deacon says that her experience at the Olympic Games and other large multi-sport events such as Commonwealth Games and North American Indigenous Games gave her a perspective that goes far beyond the field of play, which motivated her to become a Parliamentarian. Senator Marty Deacon, who spent decades as a coach and team leader, pictured with Canadian badminton athlete Michelle Li, who will represent Canada at the Tokyo Olympics. Photograph courtesy of Sen. Marty Deacon Sen. Deacon was working with Indigenous athletes at the time when the Truth and Reconciliation Commission released its report in 2015, including a number of calls to action related to sports and education, fields that Sen. Deacon had been working in her entire life. A year later, when the first round of applications opened up for Canadians to apply directly to become senators, Sen. Deacon saw it as the best way to seek to make an impact in these policy areas. For Sen. Petitclerc, who won fourteen gold medals in wheelchair racing across five Paralympic games, there was a different path. She says during her time as an athlete she never saw herself pursuing a career in public office. “I did not know what I was going to do (after I finished competing),” she says. “I always used to make a joke about it and say, ‘I'll figure it out when I grow up.’” But she believes the time she spent training and competing prepared her in a unique way. “Being part of Team Canada for so many years, you spend most of the time with your teammates who are from all across the country, with their different cultural backgrounds, with their different personalities, with this huge diversity,” said Sen. Petitclerc. “Lunchtime, breakfast, dinnertime, training time, it’s a meeting of all the provinces. And so you're like a sponge and you really absorb those unique differences: the strengths, the challenges, the different realities. And you don't talk about it, but it changes you. And it changed me.” Liberal MP Adam van Koeverden represented Canada at the 2004, 2008, and 2012 Summer Olympic Games in the sport of canoe sprinting, winning four medals, one gold, two silver, and one bronze. Photograph courtesy of Adam van Koeverden Sen. Petitclerc said that she needed to learn about the legislative process when she arrived in the Senate, and that she drew on her skills from training as a high-performance athlete. “The learning curve is incredibly steep, something I had never faced before. And so a lot of the things that I knew as an athlete—having a plan, building a team, searching for a mentor—I was the one when I got there calling all the impressive Senators and saying, ‘Okay, have a coffee with me,’” she says. “I feel very confident, even when I speak to a colleague that is a judge or that has some very specific background that clearly is more legally targeted than I will ever be,” says Sen. Petitclerc. “I don't try to fake it. But I'm confident in what I can bring, which comes from my lived experience and expertise as an athlete and as a person with a disability.” For many of the Olympians serving in Parliament, including Sen. Petitclerc, a major policy focus is the role that sports and physical activity can play in health promotion. Mr. van Koeverden, a canoe sprinter who medaled four times over the course of his three Olympic games, said he worked with several of the former Olympians in Parliament to get $80-million over two years set aside for sports and physical activity in the 2021 federal budget. “It's important to advocate, push, and strive for more community grassroots sport funding to drive participation and enrolment, particularly in the post-pandemic period,” said Mr. van Koeverden. “That will go towards the participation and enrolment of primarily young athletes, but many vulnerable people across the country that might not have access in the post-pandemic period.” Mr. Fonseca, who raced in the marathon at the 1996 Summer Games in Atlanta, says he sees parallels between pursuing athletic goals and policy goals. “I always say it starts with a dream. You have to see it in your mind's eye to be able to achieve it,” said Mr. Fonseca. “It's the same with public policy. You have a dream that you can make your community better or your country better. You have to visualize it, you have to believe it, and once that's there in your head, it's kind of unstoppable. You put the actions behind it. There's going to be a lot of challenges along the way in sport, or getting legislation through the House, or the implementation of that legislation on the ground in the community.” When Sen. Petitclerc works on policy, she said, she sometimes needs to remind herself that she isn't a full time competitor anymore. “I find that sometimes my difficulty in a legislative process is that I have a hard time compromising,” says Sen. Petitclerc. “I want the best and I want it right now. Why settle for less? Why settle for some sort of compromise?” “So it's been a very much a growing experience in that regard because legislation is not the finish line. It's a process, it's organic, it's coming back. We dealt with medical assistance in dying when I arrived five years ago, we dealt with it again this year. So it is the one thing that I need to remind myself constantly, that a piece of legislation is not crossing a finish line. It's part of this country. This country is moving forward and so will our legislation.” As the Tokyo Games get underway, these Parliamentarians will be following the events closely. “Canadian athletes have a lot of experience already dealing with the COVID-19 restrictions,” said Mr. van Koeverden. “They're agile. These are summer athletes that often compete in the winter and train in the winter in Canada, so I think they're good at dealing with a little bit of adversity.” Sen. Petitclerc said that some athletes may struggle, while others may over-perform in response to the unique circumstances. “I do hope that we all be very generous with them,” she said. The Hill Times Olympians and Paralympians on the Hill There are currently five sitting Parliamentarians who have competed at the Olympic or Paralympic Games. Chantal Petitclerc Independent Senator for Granville Quebec Appointed March 2016 Discipline: Wheelchair racer Games: 1992 Barcelona 1996 Atlanta 2000 Sydney 2004 Athens 2008 Beijing Medals: 14 Gold Medals 5 Silver Medals 2 Bronze Medals Adam van Koeverden Liberal MP for Milton, Ont. Elected October 2019 Discipline: Canoe sprinting Games: 2004 Athens 2008 Beijing 2012 London Medals: 1 gold 2 silver 1 bronze Carla Qualtrough Liberal MP for Delta B.C., federal employment minister Elected October 2015 Discipline: Swimmer Games: 1988 Seoul 1992 Barcelona Medals: 3 bronze Peter Fonseca Liberal MP for Mississauga East-Cooksville, Ont. Elected October 2015 Discipline: Marathon Games: 1996 Atlanta Lyne Bessette Liberal MP for Brome—Missisquoi, Que. Elected October 2019 Discipline: Cycling Games: 2000 Sydney 2004 Athens

Qualtrough, a three-time Paralympic medalist, says Tokyo Games can be ‘moment of hope’

As Canadian athletes prepare to compete at the Tokyo Olympics under extraordinary circumstances, several Olympians and Paralympians who now serve in Parliament reflect on how the Games have shaped their approach to public service.

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Qualtrough, a three-time Paralympic medalist, says Tokyo Games can be ‘moment of hope’

As Canadian athletes prepare to compete at the Tokyo Olympics under extraordinary circumstances, several Olympians and Paralympians who now serve in Parliament reflect on how the Games have shaped their approach to public service.

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