Louis Ernest Lefaive (February 13, 1928 – July 4, 2002) was a Canadian sports administrator and civil servant. He served in multiple executive roles which included, the director of Fitness and Amateur Sport, director of Sport Canada, president of the National Sport Recreation Centre, president of the Canadian Paralympic Committee, chairman and president of Hockey Canada, executive director of the Canadian Figure Skating Association, and executive director of Sport Marketing Canada.
Lefaive was an original member of the Canada Games council, and was involved in planning the inaugural Arctic Winter Games. His involvement in Hockey Canada included negotiations for the 1972 Summit Series, the 1974 Summit Series, and the 1981 Canada Cup; and planning for the Canada men's national ice hockey team and the Canada men's national junior ice hockey team. He was described as "key builder of the Canadian sport system" by The Globe and Mail, and "had an exceptional ability to bring government and sport together, enabling the development of some of the most successful sports policies", according to the Canadian Paralympic Committee.
Early life and career Lefaive was born on February 13, 1928, in Windsor, Ontario,Ferguson, Bob (2005), p. 256 the son of Achille and Aurore Lefaive. He played football, basketball and softball while growing up in Windsor. He attended University of Ottawa, then later coached basketball at the university and St. Patrick's College in Ottawa.
Lefaive was an original council member for the Canada Games that began in 1967, and was named a director of the Canadian Olympic Association.
Director of Fitness and Amateur Sport
Lefaive was appointed director of the Directorate of Fitness and Amateur Sport in 1968. He developed a working relationship with John Munro, the Minister of Health and Welfare, and was able to influence the government's policies on sport.Macintosh, Donald (1987), p. 57 Lefaive urged Munro to act on recommendations from the directorate before being tabled in the House of Commons of Canada. In 1968, Lefaive recommended that the directorate set national sport policies with the rationale it was staffed with full-time civil servants who were experts in physical education and public administration, instead of the National Advisory Council on Fitness who were volunteers.Dubin, Charles (1990), pp. 39–40 He later suggested the foundation of the Coaching Association of Canada.Macintosh & Whitson (1990), pp. 17–18
On February 21, 1969, Hockey Canada began operations as a separate entity from the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association (CAHA), and Lefaive was appointed to the initial board of directors with the goal of the Canada men's national ice hockey team defeating the Soviet Union national ice hockey team, and assist in planning the upcoming 1970 Ice Hockey World Championships hosted in Canada. After a dispute with the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) over Canada using professional players, Canada withdrew from international competition when Earl Dawson announced, "We will not return until the rules permit us to enter a team that is truly representative of Canadian hockey, so we can play our best players as all other countries do".McKinley, Michael (2014), p. 168Oliver, Greg (2017), p. 211
Lefaive was involved in planning the inaugural Arctic Winter Games in 1970. At the event's closing ceremonies he stated, "we're leaving behind a legacy of people who are, or have been, involved and certainly now committed to the positive values that flow from sports competition". He announced plans that the games would be held every two years.
Director of Sport Canada The Directorate of Fitness and Amateur Sport was split into Sport Canada and Recreation Canada in 1971. Lefaive explained that Sport Canada would be concerned with the competitive aspects of sports, and Recreation Canada would be concerned with getting more Canadians to participate in sports for pleasure. He served as the director of Sport Canada until 1974.
In June 1971, Lefaive felt that universities were becoming less opposed to third party scholarships for athletes, and hoped it would relieve the financial burden of bidding for athletes to attend their school. Sport Canada offered 100 scholarships to athletes at that time, and he hoped to broaden the scholarship base by increasing participation in sport. He felt that having more people involved would increase the talent pool, and stated that "the quality of an athlete is the consequence of participation, not the goal".
In February 1972, Lefaive became part of the board of directors for the Sport Federation of Canada, via his role in Sport Canada. He also helped develop the ParticipACTION program in 1972.
In 1973, Lefaive called for amateur sport leaders in Canada to be more vocal in supporting the planned 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal. In response to the protests against the cost of Canada hosting the Olympic Games, he said that "amateur sport was criticized on economic grounds", which "ignored the true value of international competition".
Lefaive was acting as the assistant deputy Minister of Amateur Sport, from July 18 to September 1, 1973, until an appointment took effect. In September 1973, he attended as a government observer to the renegotiation of the professional-amateur agreement between the National Hockey League (NHL) represented by Clarence Campbell, and the CAHA represented by Jack Devine.
On November 30, 1973, Marc Lalonde the Canadian Minister of Health and Welfare, named Lefaive the president designate of a proposed corporation which would include all amateur sport bodies. Lefaive had made a recommendation for the foundation of a National Sport and Recreation Centre.
Canadian international hockey Lefaive remained part of the board of directors for Hockey Canada while serving as the director of Sport Canada. He was part of the Canadian delegation attending the 1971 Ice Hockey World Championships, which began discussions on a possible return of the national team to international competition. He expected the Japanese Olympic Committee to invite Canada to ice hockey at the 1972 Winter Olympics, and that Hockey Canada would consider without indicating any acceptance or refusal.
In February 1972, the Canadian Bureau of Public Affairs empowered Joe Kryczka, president of the CAHA, Charles Hay chairman of Hockey Canada, and Lefaive to oversee diplomatic efforts to return Canada to international ice hockey, and gave them needed assistance from Canadian embassies in Europe, and specifically the Embassy of Canada in Moscow.Macintosh & Hawes (1994), p. 32 Kryczka, Hay and Lefaive went to Prague in April 1972 to finalize a deal with the Soviet Union Ice Hockey Federation for what became the 1972 Summit Series.McKinley, Michael (2014), p. 168Houston & Shoalts (1993), pp. 76–77 While in Prague, Lefaive and Doug Fisher spoke with Derek Holmes who was coaching the Switzerland men's national ice hockey team, and convinced him to join Hockey Canada as its technical director to help build the national team.Houston & Shoalts (1993), p. 77
After the Summit Series was announced, Lefaive stated that future agreements to have international hockey events with professional players did not mean Canada would return to the Ice Hockey World Championships or ice hockey at the Olympic Games. He noted that obstacles were the timing of the events overlapping with the National Hockey League (NHL) season, and the cost of traveling to Europe from North America. He said Canada would ask for the World Championships to be scheduled in May after NHL playoffs, or in September during professional training camps.
In April 1973, Lefaive and Gordon Juckes met with Andrei Starovoytov from the Soviet Union Ice Hockey Federation to discuss the possibility of another series. Lefaive and Juckes went to Helsinki in April 1974, for another round of discussions. The final agreement for the 1974 Summit Series was signed, and officially announced on April 26, 1974.
In 1974, Lefaive was the chairman of Hockey Canada's international committee, and represented Hockey Canada at meetings for international competitions. He met with the CAHA, NHL, World Hockey Association (WHA) and European countries regarding a potential World Cup of Hockey in open competition. He sat on the committee for planning the 1974 Summit Series. He supported adding the WHA Players' Association representative Ron Roberts to the committee to give the players a voice, despite opposition from Ben Hatskin who owned the Winnipeg Jets.
National Sport Recreation Centre
The National Sport and Recreation Centre began operations on June 17, 1974, with Lefaive as its president. He described the vision of the new centre as providing direct administrative and technical assistance to amateur sport organizations, and helping those volunteer organizations achieve more. He said, "right now amateur sports are at the mercy of the government and big business" but the centre would give amateur sports a powerful lobby. As president, he attended meetings of the International Gymnastics Federation on behalf of the Canadian Gymnastics Federation.
From 1976 to 1977, Lefaive served as the first president of the Canadian Paralympic Committee and presided over the government's coordinating committee for the Sports for the Physically Disabled. Canada had recently hosted the 1976 Summer Paralympics in Toronto, and created a support network for its athletes with disabilities. He oversaw the allocation of government funds for the Canadian Wheelchair Sports Association, the Canadian Association for Disabled Skiing, the Canadian Amputee Sports Association and the Canadian Blind Sports Association.
In October 1977, the government was debating the future format of the Canada Games from 1981 onward. Lefaive wanted the games to remain targeted towards developmental athletes, since he felt there was adequate competition for higher-level athletes. He cautioned that raising the level of competition at the Canada Games would lead to the more populated Canadian provinces dominating the events.
Return to Sport Canada On April 13, 1978, Lefaive was appointed by Iona Campagnolo to return as director of Sport Canada, and replace Roger Jackson who resigned. Campagnolo stated that Lefaive's returning came at a time when the national sport policy was nearing completion. Lefaive wanted to see Sport Canada be more interactive in the sport community, and a closer understanding of common objectives. He said, "I think I can serve best in the area of developing better dialogue with such organizations as the national sport governing bodies, the Canadian Olympic Association, the Canadian Interuniversity Athletics Union (CIAU), and particularly, the provinces". After the 1979 Canadian federal election, he expected government spending restraints and adjustments in his programs. He had mixed feelings on Canada's results at the 1979 Pan American Games. He said Canada need to take a long look at whether results were worth the tax payer's money, and suggested that the money might be better spent going to competitions in Europe.
Lefaive was nominated to return to the Hockey Canada board of directors in September 1978. In October 1978, the CAHA used its International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) membership to block a series of international exhibition games between the WHA and Europeans teams, that were arranged by Hockey Canada. The CAHA was upset about the WHA not paying development fees when it signed players from junior ice hockey teams in Canada. Lefaive felt the CAHA should take legal action against the WHA, instead of using its IIHF veto as leverage.