MELBOURNE, Australia — The Canadian women's soccer team got a pep talk from newly appointed Sports Minister Carla Qualtrough before training Sunday.
"I wanted to make them know that there are 40 million Canadians just bubbling over with excitement and pride at what's going down here, and way around the word, but really in every living room across the country … It's the very best of sport. These women are the very best of what Canada has to offer the world and we're watching it play out," Qualtrough told reporters
The team, which faces Australian in a do-or-die game Monday at Melbourne Rectangular Stadium, presented the minister with a jersey with her name. The seventh-ranked Canadians can assure they advance to the knockout round with a win or a draw. The 10th-ranked Matildas need a victory to be certain of moving on.
Qualtrough shifted from employment minister to the sports portfolio in Wednesday's cabinet shuffle, replacing Pascale St-Onge who became heritage minister. Safe-sport issues dominated St-Onge's 21 months overseeing sport.
The latest move marked the fifth leadership change to sport in eight years of Liberal government.
"My heart is in sport. For me this was coming home," said Qualtrough, a former Paralympic swimmer who previously served as sports minister from 2015 to 2017. "I was really excited to get the opportunity both to have sport and physical activity in a time where the sport system's facing challenges in our country and where some people have lost trust in it. And it's too important to have that happen."
Canada Soccer has been in the spotlight in recent months because of the ongoing bitter labour dispute between the men's and women's teams and the governing body.
"There's a lot going on with Canada Soccer," Qualtrough told reporters. "First and foremost, of course, we're here to support the women's team but it does give me an opportunity to meet with the leadership, discuss next steps, talk about the governance review that's being undertaken, talk about the interim agreement that's been reached around pay equity for the teams and really dig into some of the issues."
Qualtrough called the recently announced interim agreement with the women's team "a very good baby step," while noting more issues need to be resolved. The interim deal covers compensation for 2023, including prize money from the ongoing FIFA Women's World Cup.
Qualtrough is also slated to meet with the Australian sports minister Monday before heading to Canberra on Tuesday to meet with officials from the Australian Institute of Sport and Sport Integrity Australia.
---
Follow @NeilMDavidson on Twitter
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 30, 2023
Neil Davidson, The Canadian Press