Honourable senators, I rise to say, “CA-NA-DA — Go Canada.” It’s fun, right?

Sport: It inspires us to be active and cooperative, but also to be fearless and resilient.

Paris was the eleventh Olympics that I’ve attended. I get its magic, but for my 9-year-old, it was her first.

During the Olympics, Izzy saw Charity Williams and her rugby team push through favourites like Fiji and Australia — getting up and wiping sweat, dirt and blood off their faces to win silver. It was awesome.

Izzy, and all Canadians, saw our soccer team circle together as a united team to advance through a tournament that was made harder because of terrible judgment and a drone.

Other athletes included the crew of women rowers; young Summer McIntosh; gracious Ellie Black; powerful Camryn Rogers; vaulting, twerking Alysha Newman; Sophiane Méthot, the flyer; Eleanor Harvey, the fencer; Melissa Humana-Paredes and Brandie Wilkerson, the monster blockers; and Maude Charron, the joyful weightlifter.

Across various disciplines, these athletes poured their hearts and souls into delivering outstanding performances. They represent just a few of the incredible stories we watched at the Olympics and Paralympics. They are inspirations and role models to us all, specifically young girls.

One in three adolescent girls drop out of sport, and only 18% of women aged 16 to 63 stay in sport. We have to do everything we can to turn these numbers around.

If you see it, you can believe, and maybe your parents will enroll you in it. Many Canadians saw it. It was 7 in 10 Canadians, or 27 million people, who watched the CBC coverage of the Paris Games for free, colleagues, because it’s our national broadcaster.

But, senators, I’d like to take a moment to remind you that almost none of what we saw in Paris was paid for by tax dollars. To send Team Canada to the Olympics — with flights, uniforms, the friends and family hospitality in the Canada Olympic House, the mission team and other support programs, including medal bonuses — the Canadian Olympic Committee relies almost entirely on its 32 corporate partners. As much as we can be proud of the delivery of the programs in Paris, Canadians do not foot the bill for these services.

National sport organizations, or NSOs, develop sports and athletes in Canada. They receive federal funding, but they are facing a $134-million budget shortfall. As Senator Deacon has said here, the last funding increase that they received was in 2005, which was before Summer McIntosh was born.

Lack of NSO funding impacts not only the development of our next-gen, high-performance athletes, but also athletes at all levels including our grassroots programs.

Colleagues, now more than ever, it’s essential to invest in sport participation for all ages, whether they be community participants, provincial champs at Canada Games, national or international competitors, or seniors or senators playing pickleball. By supporting proper funding, we can promote a more inclusive, active and healthy society.

At the same time, we will continue to inspire young girls, like my Izzy, to be strong, resilient and joyful champions — and perhaps, most importantly, active athletes for life.

Thank you, Team Canada. Thank you, senators.