STORY 3 ITEM 4
 
Bal Gosal
 
BY RATTAN MALL

FEDERAL Minister of State for Sport Bal Gosal told Asian Journal on Wednesday that when you combine the performance of Canadian athletes in the winter and summer Olympics, “we are a leading sports nation.”

He added: “For years we didn’t have facilities where summer athletes could train 12 months a year. They had to go abroad. And now we are building some good indoor facilities where they can train all year long and that’s helping and that’s producing results and you will see that in Rio [de Janeiro Games] 2016 and you’ll see that in Sochi [Winter Games] next year.”

Gosal said he would be going to Sochi.

He said: “Canada is getting ready for Sochi Olympics. Today [Wednesday] I was in Toronto and we announced 100 days to the Paralympics. They start in March. It was a great partnership with CBC, Canadian Tire and Air Canada. They are going to release 65 hours of prime time for Paralympic Games and 320 hours on digital network. It’s great.”

Gosal added: “Sport is growing in Canada and the Government of Canada is the single largest contributor to sports; we spend over $200 million. We have increased the funding 52 per cent since 2006. … We are very lucky that we have a Prime Minister who’s very much into sports himself.”