
Olympic champion kayaker Adam van Koeverden steps to helm of Canadian sport
Olympic champion paddler Adam van Koeverden is the latest politician to step into the leadership of sport in Canada.
The MP for Burlington North-Milton West in Ontario was appointed Secretary of State for Sport when Prime Minister Mark Carney announced his first cabinet last month.

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Ottawa Citizen
3 hours ago
- Ottawa Citizen
Tessa Bonhomme's hockey camp brings stars of women's game to Sudbury
While girls across Greater Sudbury have marked their calendars in anticipation of Tessa Bonhomme's annual summer hockey camp, anticipation has also continued to build for members of a star-studded roster of guest coaches. Article content Bonhomme, the Sudbury native and 2010 Olympic goal medallist who has since found success as a broadcaster and podcaster, will team up with Northern Hockey Academy for the third straight year to host four days of skills and conditioning instruction, as well as photo and autograph opportunities with Bonhomme and her guests, from June 28 to 31. Article content Article content Confirmed guests for this year's camp include Sophie Jaques, back-to-back winner of the Professional Women's Hockey League's Walter Cup championship with Minnesota and a recent signee with Vancouver's expansion franchise; Brianne Jenner, tournament MVP of the 2022 Olympics, a four-time world champion and current captain of Ottawa's PWHL club; and Kori Cheverie, a former U Sports and professional player who now serves as head coach of the Montreal PWHL team. Article content Article content Bonhomme is working to secure a few more guests, with names to be confirmed in the coming days. Article content 'It has been kind of fun, year after year, having players be excited to come on back and sometimes, even reach out to me before I can reach out to them,' Bonhomme told The Sudbury Star. 'Some years, it doesn't necessarily work out, like Jamie Lee Rattray, she just recently had a baby and she was disappointed she couldn't make it and Erin Ambrose, as well, was a little bit gutted she couldn't make it again, but they always let me know not to forget about them next year. Article content Article content 'It's nice to see people want to come north and help spread the love of hockey.' Article content Bonhomme and NHA will once again host two camps simultaneously, including a full-day camp for 11- to 18-year-old girls playing at the A and AA levels, held at the academy's facility on Kelly Lake Road, as well as a two-hour mini-camp for seven- to 16-year-old girls of all skill levels, to run at Gerry McCrory Countryside Sports Complex. Article content While Sudbury has long been an exporter of hockey talent in the girls game, with Olympic champions Bonhomme and Rebecca Johnston joining a list of NCAA and U Sports players who have come out of the city, youngsters previously had to travel to learn from some of the standouts who now gather in the Nickel City for the event. Article content 'Honestly, I just wanted to bring a hockey world that sometimes feels so out of touch in Northern Ontario to Northern Ontario, to these ladies,' Bonhomme explained. 'I feel like, having lived in Toronto for some time now and seeing how accessible all these players are on a regular basis to young female athletes around here, it almost makes me feel bad that this isn't commonplace for a Northern Ontario kid. I hope, one, it makes the kids feel special and like we're thinking of them and want the best for them, but two, just to create relationships with these world-class athletes and hockey players.'


Toronto Sun
3 hours ago
- Toronto Sun
EDITORIAL: Whose rights prevail in ‘nation-building'?
Prime Minister Mark Carney is pictured during an Outreach Session at the Group of Seven (G7) Summit at the Pomeroy Kananaskis Mountain Lodge in Kananaskis, Alta., on June 17, 2025. Photo by TERESA SUAREZ / GETTY IMAGES The Supreme Court of Canada has ruled that Indigenous groups do not have veto power over projects such as pipelines that cross their territory, but the government must meaningfully consult them and accommodate their legitimate concerns. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account But, what happens when a group is so opposed to a project that nothing will satisfy them, no matter how many concessions are made? In that case, who has the ultimate power to decide on the merits of the project — the government or the protesters? Many environmental groups that have no intention of ever consenting to any fossil fuel energy project, no matter what concessions are made to address their concerns, routinely launch court challenges with the goal of slowing down the approval process to the point where the project becomes economically unviable. This seems inevitable given the passage of the Liberal government's One Canadian Economy Act on Friday, supported by the Conservatives, to green-light 'nation-building projects' such as pipelines, mines and energy infrastructure that cross Indigenous territory where treaty rights apply. Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Prime Minister Mark Carney has said the government will not approve fast-tracking projects opposed by Indigenous groups — but what does that mean? Does it mean in a jurisdiction where consent is necessary from multiple Indigenous groups that every one of them must agree to the project, or only a majority and, if so, what kind of a majority? Does a majority mean 51% or 99% approval and what does a reasonable effort to accommodate concerns mean? These are relevant questions because Indigenous protests that blockade rail lines and highways to protest government decisions in this regard will be damaging to our economy at a time when it is already being weakened by the tariff and trade war launched against us by U.S. President Donald Trump. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Ideally, nation-building projects approved by the federal government will have substantial support from Indigenous communities under agreements which include significant economic benefits from projects crossing their territory. From existing court decisions, we already know that projects which run roughshod over Indigenous rights will not survive the judicial process. But, at some point, decisions will have to be made on who is the ultimate authority — the government or groups who will always oppose these projects no matter what accommodations are made? Read More Columnists Columnists Toronto & GTA Columnists Toronto & GTA


Toronto Sun
4 hours ago
- Toronto Sun
GOLDSTEIN: Prepare for more billion-dollar boondoggles
Reports by financial watchdogs of government spending suggest there are major concerns about how public infrastructure projects will be approved Get the latest from Lorrie Goldstein straight to your inbox Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney speaks as he attends a tour of the Fort York Armoury in Toronto on June 9, 2025 in Toronto, Canada. Photo by Cole Burston / Getty Images What happens when Prime Minister Mark Carney's promise of massive new federal spending on public infrastructure and speedy approval of 'nation building projects' runs into the fact the federal public service routinely ignores the rules for spending public money and approving such projects? This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account The answer, potentially, is the waste of mega-billions of public dollars on projects that are so poorly administered, some may never be completed. The issue isn't the policies themselves. Carney's Liberals and the official opposition Conservatives agree with streamlining the process for green-lighting projects such as pipelines, mines and other forms of energy infrastructure, if they are endorsed by the province and Indigenous groups where they occur. That was evidenced by their rapid approval of Bill C-5, the One Canadian Economy Act on Friday, before Parliament adjourned for the summer. Liberals and Conservatives passed the legislation intended to boost the Canadian economy given the damage caused by President Donald Trump's tariff war and the fact the U.S. is no longer a reliable trading partner or ally of Canada. Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. The legislation is now headed to the Senate, scheduled to sit until June 27, for final approval before Canada Day on July 1. Read More But recent reports by Parliament's two financial watchdogs of government spending – Auditor General Karen Hogan and Parliamentary Budget Officer Yves Giroux – suggest there are major concerns about how these projects will be approved. Hogan reviewed the Liberal government's approval of the notorious ArriveCan app that was supposed to cost $80,000 and ended up costing about $60 million, as well as 106 other professional services contracts awarded by 31 federal departments and agencies and one Crown corporation to IT staffing firm GCStrategies Inc. from 2015 to 2024. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. They totalled up to $92.7 million – of which, $64.5 million was paid out. Hogan found a widespread failure within the federal public service to follow the rules in awarding these contacts intended to ensure taxpayers get good value for money. She said the same thing happened when she examined 97 contracts awarded by 20 federal departments agencies and Crown corporations valued at $209 million, with $200 million paid out, to management consulting firm McKinsey & Company, from 2011 to 2023. 'I said it back then and I'll repeat it now – I have no reason to believe this is unique to two vendors and that's why I believe the government needs to take a step back and look at why this is happening,' Hogan warned. Hogan took the unusual step of not making any recommendations on her findings, saying the problem isn't a lack of rules but the federal bureaucracy ignoring them. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. In a separate report, Hogan estimated the cost of replacing Canada's aging fleet of CF-18 fighter jets with 88 new F-35s, increased by almost 50% within two years – from $19 billion in 2022 to $27.7 billion in 2024. In addition, another $5.5 billion will be needed for infrastructure needed to make the new jet fighters fully operational, because the government relied on outdated data and failed to develop contingency plans for managing financial risks associated with the project. She also noted a long-standing shortage of trained fighter pilots. In a report released Thursday, parliamentary budget officer Yves Giroux said because Carney has delayed the federal budget until fall, he can't determine whether his claim he will balance the federal operating budget by 2028-29 is credible. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Nor can he determine whether Carney will achieve his commitment to increase federal spending on defence to the NATO target of 2% of GDP this fiscal year, and whether the government's overall financial plan is fiscally sustainable. In his election platform Carney's outlined $130 billion in new spending over four years with total deficit spending of $224.8 billion. That's 71% higher than the $131.4 billion in deficit spending the Trudeau government predicted during the same period last December. The problem, Giroux said, is that Carney is claiming he can balance the operating budget, the cost of running the government, within three years, while financing new capital spending on infrastructure with more public debt. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. 'There is no commonly accepted definition of what is defined as 'operating' or 'non-operating capital' spending,' Giroux wrote, meaning he 'is unable to assess whether the government's recent policy initiatives presented in Parliament … are consistent with achieving its new fiscal objective … This means the government could achieve its fiscal objective and yet be fiscally unsustainable.' Unless the federal government addresses the concerns of the auditor general and parliamentary budget officer, expect for more billion-dollar boondoggles of the type we've seen so often in the past. lgoldstein@ Columnists Toronto & GTA Columnists Toronto & GTA Sunshine Girls