The state and sport development in Alberta: A struggle for public status

Abstract

This paper contributes to research on and theories of the state's role in Canadian sport development by examining factors that led the Alberta government to create the Alberta Sport Council, Canada's only Crown corporation with a sport mandate. The data used were collected from interviews and numerous documentary sources. The analysis drew from theories of the welfare state and from Claus Offe's discussions of corporatism and the attribution of public status to private interest groups. Accordingly, the study identified key individuals, organizational factors, and the unique political and economic characteristics of Alberta that influenced the council's creation. The paper concludes that despite this organization's uniqueness, it reflects the same contradictory form of sport intervention found in other Canadian governments.