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Okay - I've had about as much of this as I can take. While Nero fiddles, Rome burns. You'd think we have more to do as an association of paddlers that bicker over jurisdiction and certification.
Clearly, there is a role for a coordinated relationship between a national paddling association and provincial bodies. The key word here is COORDINATED.
There are serious issues facing paddlesports and nobody is doing s*** about it.
Below, in outline form, is some information, some thoughts, and some ideas about the future of paddlesports.
The real issues are about continued participation, water access, increasing costs, and a tightening net of regulations. Come on PC, ORCKA and the reset of us, lets get going on what really matters - making sure we all have a fun, safe, and quality on water experience!
The views expressed above and below are my responsibility.
Michael Pardy
The first part is just some facts, figures, and conjecture about who is paddling, how they paddle, and why they don't. The second part addresses some of the national and regional issues.
1. Some Information about paddlers and the paddling environment– all are taken from US and Canadian research between 2003 and 2005.
a. Paddlers are:
i. Caucasian
1. Can we reach out to other ethnic groups? Paddling is simply culturally embedded in Caucasian Canadian society.
2. Some success in the US in reaching out to Hispanic population
ii. Urban – living in population centres with over 25 000 people (Statscan uses centres with 1000 people as a definition for urban, but this is too small to have meaning)
iii. Slightly more male than female
iv. Mean age of 35-40
1. Getting older each year
a. Participation rates fall steadily from childhood into adulthood before increasing slightly again around age 35
b. Much of the growth in paddlesports has been fueled by baby boom bulge – falling populations in younger age brackets raise serious concerns about the future of paddlesports participation.
v. HHI above $45 000
1. Means they have discretionary income to spend on leisure pursuits, and proportionally more time to recreate.
vi. Evenly divide between married and not married/ kids not kids
vii. Taking shorter trips, but more of them
1. Which means trips closer to home – urban and ex urban paddling is now the norm.
viii. Participate in at least 1 other outdoor activity
1. High crossover with general camping, hiking/backpacking, biking, and trail running - why aren't we reaching out to these folks as well?
ix. Has less and less leisure time
1. Work patterns are changing – leisure time is more broken up and shrinking.
2. Competition for leisure time and leisure dollars is highly lucrative
a. We are competing with X-box, movies, DVDs, bars, etc…
x. Spend relatively little on paddlesports each year compared to other outdoor and leisure pursuits ie approximately ½ as much as on biking, and ¼ as much on general camping ($500, $1000, and $2000 respectively – these figures represent all $ spent on equipment, services, and travel)
xi. Face barriers to paddling
1. Storage and transportation of boats
2. Access to water
3. Lack of community
4. Rising costs
a. Equipment
b. Training
c. Insurance (for businesses), and the implications of tighter insurance markets
2. Big Vision
a. Key issues for the continued health and well being of paddlesports in Canada
i. Quality of on-water experience – especially an issue as more and more paddlers actually take trips in and around urban centres
1. Environmental degradation
2. Water quality
3. Viewscapes
4. Competition from other water users
ii. Access to water
1. Parking
2. Urban Transportation
3. Launching facilities
a. Beaches
b. Docks
c. Washrooms
d. Running water
4. Permits and fee’s
5. Competition from other water users
iii. Increasing Participation
1. We are in a population bulge, which is quickly moving through and beyond active participation in outdoor activities
2. We, as a community, have NOT fostered or encouraged the growth of paddlesports
iv. Insurance
1. Direct impact on quality and kind of programming available through clubs, businesses
2. Indirect impact on access
b. A national paddlesports program
i. Why
1. Portability of certification
a. Instructors and students can travel anywhere in Canada and have their certification recognized
2. Recognition of the diversity of paddling in Canada.
a. A national program will support the diversity of paddling across Canada so instructors and students are aware of, and are trained to deal with, the variety of conditions.
3. A unified national voice for issues of national interest to the paddlesports community
a. Regulations
i. Neither PC nor the provincial organizations have a working relationship with federal agencies and other national organizations that regulate and/or affect our on water experiences
1. Transport Canada
2. CCG
3. Environment Canada
4. Department of Fisheries and Oceans
5. Canadian Tourism Commission
6. Tourism Industry Association of Canada
7. National Parks
b. Participation
i. No one is working to support and expand the number of paddlers.
1. If we use the admittedly rough (and conservative) metric of 10% of USA data, there are approximately 1.2 million kayakers and 1.6 million canoers in Canada (there is overlap in the populations, so the overall paddling population is in the 2.2 million range). This is a relatively small population. All growth and awareness of paddlesports is managed on the micro level through businesses, and secondary impressions in advertising by banks, drug companies, and car manufacturers. We need to take some control over our own destiny. We need a consistent, national promotional strategy. The only way to fund this is through the pooled resources of paddlers, and paddling businesses across the country.
c. Insurance
c. Provincial Organizations
i. Clearly, there is a role for provincial organizations as well. The key here is that the provincial organizations should be working in concert with a national organization so that there is a high degree of coordination in the messaging, advocacy, and implementation. I support this view, ultimately, not because I feel centralized authority is better (I don’t), but because we are too small as a community to be heard unless we stop our infighting, establish common goals, coordinate our efforts, and learn to compromise.
1. Provincial issues
a. Regulations
i. There is a layer of regulations at the provincial level as well
1. Access to waterways
2. Provincial Parks
3. Provincial Police
b. Environment
i. Province has control over many quality of environment issues including
1. Hydro electric on rivers
2. Land use policies (Federal gov’t controls navigable waters, but province controls much of the land on which we camp, and launch and land
3. Logging
4. Aquaculture
5. Mining
c. Access – especially in urban area’s
i. Parks
ii. Water
d. Participation
1. Many health and exercise funding initiatives are run at the provincial level. Provincial paddlesports organizations can/should be active in these programs. There is public funding for bike trails, why not water access or water trails? Given our history, the location of most of our urban (and rural) communities on waterways, and the iconic image of the voyager and first nations people travelling on the water, this should be a given in our recreational planning.
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