Sport Canada is a branch of the Department of Canadian Heritage that develops federal sport policy in Canada, provides funding programs in support of sport, and administers special projects related to sport. Its mission "to enhance opportunities for all Canadians to participate and excel in sport." The Government of Canada, through Sport Canada, provides financial support through 3 programs: Athlete Assistance Program, which gives direct financial support to selected national team athletes (CA$33 million/year); the Sport Support Program, which funds Canadian sports organizations (about $178.8 million/year); and the Hosting Program, which helps sport organizations to host the Canada Games and international sport events (about $21.6 million/year). Sport Canada special projects include research projects; projects aimed at increasing participation in sport; the Long-Term Athlete Development Model; and Podium Canada, consisting of the Own the Podium and Road to Excellence programs, aimed at improving Canada's performance at the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games. History In 1961, the Fitness and Amateur Sport Act came into force, whereby the Government of Canada made an official commitment to “encourage, promote and develop fitness and amateur sport in Canada.” Under this act, the now-defunct Department of National Health and Welfare, through its new Fitness and Amateur Sport Program, was responsible for making grants to any organization that carried out activities in the field of fitness or amateur sport. A few years later, the Canadian government created two new directorates: Recreation Canada, which was tasked with improving the lifestyle of Canadians, and Sport Canada, which was responsible for developing competitive sport. The Dubin inquiry proved to be a seminal event in Sport Canada's history, in the wake of the Ben Johnson doping scandal and national embarrassment. Jean Charest was Minister of Fitness and Amateur Sport for a time during the Mulroney government, and he intended with his 1989 "Towards the Year 2000" policy statement "to elevate Canada to one of the top three positions in the world in the area of sport." Sport Canada controlled in 1991 sixty-five "national sport organizations" (NSOs), as the "pivotal agency in each category of sport in Canada". These NSOs were "incorporated non-profit agencies recognized by the federal government and eligible for federal financing through the Fitness and Amateur Sport Directorate." In the early 1990s, the role of the Fitness and Amateur Sport Program was split between the Department of Canadian Heritage, which would be responsible for Sport Canada from then onward,