February 12, 2017
Dear Equestrian Canada Stakeholders:
We are writing to pledge our whole-hearted support for the Jump Canada committee, and to make it known that we, as high performance athletes, echo the concerns raised in its public letter of January 27, 2017, regarding the state of our national sport federation under the current leadership of its CEO and Board of Directors.
Recently, many different facets of the Canadian equestrian community have come forward to express their fears and anxieties regarding the current crisis facing our national federation. As many members of our industry are often pre-occupied with the time-consuming care of their horses, it is extremely telling that so many varied groups have taken the time to put pen to paper in an effort to draw attention to the increasingly dire situation at Equestrian Canada. As high performance athletes in the sport of jumping, we also call for the current EC Board of Directors to listen intently and take the concerns being expressed seriously.
For almost two decades, the Jump Canada committee has responsibly, efficiently, and expertly managed our discipline and served our needs with great success. The volunteers who have comprised this committee over the years have been with us in the trenches, fully understand our sport, and are well-aware of what it takes to administer and oversee successful programs, whether they be competitions, coaching, rules or officials. Jump Canada also has a proven track record of being fiscally responsible and remaining on budget by properly managing the Jump Canada levy and ensuring that the dollars collected are invested back into hunter/jumper sport.
The Jump Canada committee must have the authority to manage its own programs, and we are deeply concerned by EC’s lack of transparency and recent attempts to remove to the committee’s ability to direct its own discipline.
We encourage EC’s Board of Directors and the senior management team to work in a collaborative manner, through open lines of communication, with the Jump Canada committee, and allow it to continue to represent our interests in the manner it best sees fit. The input and expertise of our volunteers is invaluable, and we applaud each member of the Jump Canada committee for sharing their knowledge and generously giving their time and expertise in the relentless pursuit of excellence in our sport.
We also take this opportunity to pledge our support for Karen Hendry-Ouellette, EC’s Manager of Jumping, whose knowledge and expertise are imperative to the successful functioning of our discipline.
We fully endorse the Jump Canada committee and its members, as we have empowered them to represent our interests to the best of their ability. The voice of the Jump Canada committee is the voice of our discipline, and we steadfastly stand behind its efforts to continue to represent our best interests in these extremely trying times. The voice of our discipline will not be silenced.
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