I see on the Canadian cyclist web site forum (www.canadiancyclist.com) Lister Farrar is applauding Pierre Blanchard’s anti-doping work and his role at the Tour of California:
“I thought it worth noting that CCA President Dr. Pierre Blanchard was the chief anti-doping official at the Tour of California, and a central figure in the new chaperone system the UCI implemented (finally) there.”, wrote Lister Farrar*.
I wonder if while he was at the big international pro road race in California, Pierre Blanchard asked himself when, if ever, Canada will once again have such an event?
Lister thinks people should write Pierre Blanchard, the President of the Canadian Cycling Association, if you like what he is doing. I suppose you can write if you don’t like what he is doing as well?
Lister, what Pierre Blanchard is doing is continuing to oversee the demise of the Canadian Cycling Association. And I had such high hopes for him. Instead of being off in California working for a big race he should be back in Canada looking after his own problems. For instance, it appears Pierre has not bothered to post his Annual Report, none of the 2007 Financials of the CCA are posted on their web site, neither are those of 2006. What is posted goes back to 2005!
I mean the sport is doing so poorly across Canada you have to wonder if Blanchard, the old Separatist, is trying to kill it. Blanchard is responsible, along with his predecessor Bill Kinash ( I think Kinash’s excuse was just pure incompetence) for hiring Lorraine Lafrenière as Director General of the CCA. Lafrenière has no cycling background whatsoever. She has no background in organizing any kind of sporting event at all. She came for a Coaching Association which really does very little in terms of marketing or organizing a sport itself. Blanchard, along with Kinash overlooked Farrar for the CCA leadership position, twice, I think. At least Lister would have known something about the sport going into the job, unlike Lafrenière who knew nothing. Canada has to be the only cycling federation in the world to appoint as its top employee somebody without any experience in the sport. Only in Canada, where mediocrity is rewarded with promotion, could such stupidity be possible.
Lafrenière is suppose to have a public relations and marketing background, yet the CCA has been devoid of any marketing results for five years and the communications have been atrocious. For months and it appeared the CCA was dead in the water, nothing seemed to be happening.
As spring quickly approaches there are no new events , no new sponsors, next to nothing at all happening, except maybe a law suit for the mismanagement of the 2007 BMX World championships in British Columbia, another fiasco initiated and overseen by Bill Kinash resulting in the loss of hundreds of thousands of dollars and creditors left holding the bag. Like CBC television who are owed over $40,000, like many others.
How Lister Farrar can find anything to applaud Blanchard for is beyond me. Lister must need more grant money or have some new program to sell the CCA. One of his pet projects, like Sprockids, which has yielded next to nothing (they had about 10 (ten) kids at the “National” Cycling Center in Hamilton, ON, pop. 500,000!), must be coming up for renewal.
Lister you are now officially part of the problem. You have been for awhile. Do you ever wonder when that happened? Was it just a slow, slide down a slippery slope or did you wake up one morning and realize it all of a sudden?
Too bad, it is really such a shame to see so much potential go down the drain.
*While I have known Lister Farrar for at least 20 years for those of you that don’t: http://www.zoominfo.com/Search/PersonDetail.aspx?PersonID=-333385
You can email Lister at [email protected], Pierre Blanchard at [email protected], I think Lister had it wrong with [email protected]
“I thought it worth noting that CCA President Dr. Pierre Blanchard was the chief anti-doping official at the Tour of California, and a central figure in the new chaperone system the UCI implemented (finally) there.”, wrote Lister Farrar*.
I wonder if while he was at the big international pro road race in California, Pierre Blanchard asked himself when, if ever, Canada will once again have such an event?
Lister thinks people should write Pierre Blanchard, the President of the Canadian Cycling Association, if you like what he is doing. I suppose you can write if you don’t like what he is doing as well?
Lister, what Pierre Blanchard is doing is continuing to oversee the demise of the Canadian Cycling Association. And I had such high hopes for him. Instead of being off in California working for a big race he should be back in Canada looking after his own problems. For instance, it appears Pierre has not bothered to post his Annual Report, none of the 2007 Financials of the CCA are posted on their web site, neither are those of 2006. What is posted goes back to 2005!
I mean the sport is doing so poorly across Canada you have to wonder if Blanchard, the old Separatist, is trying to kill it. Blanchard is responsible, along with his predecessor Bill Kinash ( I think Kinash’s excuse was just pure incompetence) for hiring Lorraine Lafrenière as Director General of the CCA. Lafrenière has no cycling background whatsoever. She has no background in organizing any kind of sporting event at all. She came for a Coaching Association which really does very little in terms of marketing or organizing a sport itself. Blanchard, along with Kinash overlooked Farrar for the CCA leadership position, twice, I think. At least Lister would have known something about the sport going into the job, unlike Lafrenière who knew nothing. Canada has to be the only cycling federation in the world to appoint as its top employee somebody without any experience in the sport. Only in Canada, where mediocrity is rewarded with promotion, could such stupidity be possible.
Lafrenière is suppose to have a public relations and marketing background, yet the CCA has been devoid of any marketing results for five years and the communications have been atrocious. For months and it appeared the CCA was dead in the water, nothing seemed to be happening.
As spring quickly approaches there are no new events , no new sponsors, next to nothing at all happening, except maybe a law suit for the mismanagement of the 2007 BMX World championships in British Columbia, another fiasco initiated and overseen by Bill Kinash resulting in the loss of hundreds of thousands of dollars and creditors left holding the bag. Like CBC television who are owed over $40,000, like many others.
How Lister Farrar can find anything to applaud Blanchard for is beyond me. Lister must need more grant money or have some new program to sell the CCA. One of his pet projects, like Sprockids, which has yielded next to nothing (they had about 10 (ten) kids at the “National” Cycling Center in Hamilton, ON, pop. 500,000!), must be coming up for renewal.
Lister you are now officially part of the problem. You have been for awhile. Do you ever wonder when that happened? Was it just a slow, slide down a slippery slope or did you wake up one morning and realize it all of a sudden?
Too bad, it is really such a shame to see so much potential go down the drain.
*While I have known Lister Farrar for at least 20 years for those of you that don’t: http://www.zoominfo.com/Search/PersonDetail.aspx?PersonID=-333385
You can email Lister at [email protected], Pierre Blanchard at [email protected], I think Lister had it wrong with [email protected]