Information is the Key to a Change in Culture

NFORMATION IS THE KEY TO A CHANGE IN CULTURE

by Pierre Filion

Lacrosse Canada is running a closed shop and masquerading as a democratic association in full contempt of its paying members who are deprived of significant and relevant information. Some could say that there is more information coming out of North Korea than out of Lacrosse Canada!!!

Don’t laugh, it just might be true. But the point, kidding aside, is that Lacrosse Canada has established a culture of opacity, a lack of transparency and an absence of accountability towards its paying members; and this needs to be recognized if ever Lacrosse Canada aspires at being a credible democratic national association.

At present time significant organizational and corporate information is only shared by the 11 members of the Board of Directors and by the 11 provincial Presidents; nothing reaches the paying members; all 46,959 of them.

Lacrosse Canada could, very easily, move away from this culture of opacity by simply making the following changes. But before the changes, recognizing the problem is the first step. Then changes become obvious and easy.

Place the previous year’s audited statement on the association’s website!
Now how difficult is that?
But mostly why should Lacrosse Canada do that?
It’s a very simple answer.
The 46,959 paying members, in 2024-25, are injecting, as membership fees, $620,425 in Lacrosse Canada’s coffers and are responsible for 41% of the annual revenues. That is a fair contribution, is it not?
But in return they receive absolutely nothing pertaining to the domains and areas where Lacrosse Canada has spent their money.
Posting the annual audited statement on the website, sometime in July of each year, in the middle of the lacrosse season, would get some of the 46,959 paying members interested in the association’s actions and decisions. That alone it would show that Lacrosse Canada recognizes its responsibility towards its paying members and supplies them with factual, audited and relevant information with the intent of being accountable.
It would also be a good way to uphold its own values; let’s not forget that Lacrosse Canada values ‘’accountability’’ and is registered, on its website, as saying ‘’We operate with integrity and transparence accepting responsibility for outcomes and results’’.
Consider also that, according to Lacrosse Canada’s own documents, ‘’in 2025-26 the participant fees will increase from $10 to $15 which will account for approximately $210,000 in additional revenue’’.
Consider also that the Canadian Lacrosse Foundation, which is a private corporation, produces its audited statements annually. Do you know where? Don’t laugh!!! On Lacrosse Canada’s website.
Say no more; say no more!
Place the upcoming year’s budget on the association’s website!
Try to imagine if your friend Justin decided not to share with tax payers the government’s upcoming budget.
‘’They trust us; they know we mean well; they can live without this information; this is not going to affect their daily lives’’. Imagine if Justin said that!
Well, try to imagine that this is exactly what Lacrosse Canada is telling its adult paying members by depriving them of that relevant information.
Budgets indicate where an association is going; it translates the association’s self-identified goals (if there are any, obviously) and indicate priorities and areas of investment…or expenses.
It is relevant that members know and appreciate the decisions their association has taken to indicate where it is going. If at all anywhere!
How easy is it to post the upcoming annual budget on the website?
Three pages at most!
That simple task should not overwork anyone, would it?
It would generate interest towards the association and indicate that if the association is to receive, in 2025-26 something like $830,425 in membership fees….it might just be a good idea to let the paying members (coaches, officials, players) know what is being done with their contribution.
The budgets are shared with the provincial Presidents who do not post them on their provincial websites so, practically, the paying members have absolutely no way of knowing what is being done with their money.
Say no more; say no more!
Place a corporate report on the association’s website!
At present time the voting members at annual meetings receive individual reports from different Board members who have been active in the last year within different portfolios.
A collage of reports on different topics is not a corporate report.
Would it not be functional and respectful for Lacrosse Canada to ask its President to write a corporate report thanking the paying members and other contributors and partners and indicating to the readers the goals which were pursued in the last year and the result of this pursuit. Obviously, this is more difficult when there are no goals identified! But regardless the President could state the challenges facing the game and the association, the options presented to the administrators and the areas where the corporation has been successful or has failed.
This respectful approach would lead the readers and the paying members to have a new perspective on Lacrosse Canada and probably to discover the number of areas where the corporation is active, successful or failing! It might even motivate some to get involved within the association in a new leadership role!
At this time there is nothing reported that comes close to a corporate report.
Say no more. Say no more.
The exact number of members on the association’s website.
At present time Lacrosse Canada annually reports to the 11 provincial presidents (who control the votes at annual meetings) on the number of registered participants in the past year. For example, the last report was in November 2023 and Lacrosse Canada reported 46,959 registered members across Canada. Those numbers were supplied, as requested, by the Provincial Associations; from this report Lacrosse Canada establishes the votes at annual meetings and the amounts due in membership fees for the upcoming year.
The document supplied to the provincial presidents is called ‘’The grid’’ and it identifies the exact number of registered participants in each province, in each version of the game and in each identified age groups (minor/junior/senior). This information is not circulated anywhere else than at the annual meetings.
On the other hand, Lacrosse Canada in every press release identifies itself the following way: ‘’Our organization is composed of 11 member associations REPRESENTING nearly 85,000 individual participants, including coaches, officials and athletes of all ages and abilities’’.
This is quite misleading as an association can only represent its members and just not anyone it wishes to represent. The provincial associations have indicated clearly that they represent 46,959 registered and identified members, not ‘’nearly’’ 85,000 non-identified, non-registered and nonpaying individuals.
It would be appropriate that Lacrosse Canada supplies its members with an accurate number of registered participants to allow the community to know exactly what the status of the game is and how many members are really REPRESENTED by the association.
The figure of 85,000 looks good; but it is false and misleading.
Just put the grid on the website and let the members discover who is doing what, who is growing and who is not, which provinces are ‘’just not there’’ and which are operational!
Just be respectful of the facts and be transparent.
Say no more. Say no more.
Who are the Board members in charge of ‘’our game’’?

At present time the Board members who are responsible for the association are presented by name on the association’s website. In some case the area of responsibility of the Board member is also identified. That’s it!

Would it not be a good idea to improve the presentation of the Board members as they are the ones who are accountable for the association towards the members? Why not a photo of each one? Why not some information on their background? And why not, mostly, a definition of their areas of responsibilities, their goals and objectives in their area of involvement; and maybe what are their resources? Do they have a budget to support their involvement? Why not identify is there a staff member attached to each of them to help them?

At this time, we are fully informed as to who has performed so well at the U20 Women‘s world championship but know relatively nothing about the volunteers, accountable to the members, who lead ‘’our’’ national association. There is room for improvement here especially if Lacrosse Canada wishes to become transparent and accessible.

Say no more; say no more!

Final thoughts

Integrity is not the issue.
Some might believe that when an association is opaque and has little transparency it’s a sign of lack of integrity. Be assured that this is not my line of thinking; I very seldom deal in this variable and rather concentrate on facts and critical analysis.
No one is pointing fingers suggesting lack of integrity, but everyone is concerned by the opacity and lack of transparence of the association.
Because this opacity is the result of a will to be opaque.
Why am I suggesting things that are so obvious to everyone except to Lacrosse Canada?
Everything suggested above is obvious to anyone whose goal is to be transparent, accountable and accessible. Everything is simple to do; it’s just a matter of doing it.
The ball is in Lacrosse Canada’s camp. Again.