After a full three years of serving as the group's president, the McMaster professor steps down following an array of controversies

The past few years have been some of the best for Canadian soccer to date. In 2021, the women's national team achieved a spectacular achievement, winning the gold medal at the Olympics in Japan. This remarkable milestone was the first golden medal any Canadian soccer team won on the global stage, which has shown that there is significant potential within the country's soccer program.  

Just a year later, the men's team has done something that hasn’t been done since 1986 — they qualified for the FIFA World Cup in Qatar. The success that Canadian soccer was picking up over the last two years period has been remarkable and has shown signs of improvement in both sections after a very long time.  

All this success occurred under the recent president of Canada Soccer Association, and McMaster University professor, Nick Bontis. Bontis became the president of Canadian Soccer in Nov. 2020, after being selected by the board members in a successful run. However, on Feb. 27, he stepped down amid a letter from territorial and provincial soccer federations requesting he resigned due to the vast labor dispute between the women's and men's senior national teams.  

What exactly happened to the Canadian Soccer federation as of late?  

It all began with the She Believes Cup, a women's soccer tournament between four different countries, including Canada. Prior to the start of the tournament, CSA released a funding statement that outlined expenses for both men's and women's soccer teams where women's funding was significantly below their counterparts. Additionally, the team was informed that due to budget cuts, their time at the camp and the number of players invited has been reduced.  

This information sparked outrage and soon enough the women’s soccer team started a strike right before the cup took place, to which Canada Soccer sharply responded.  

“Headed into the February window, CANWNT was set to participate in the tournament with the likes of USA, Brazil and Japan. Just as they arrived, they’ve been informed that due to the budgeting issues they will have to spend less time on camp and not have as many players invited. The players decided to strike and not play the SBC, to which CSA threatened to sue the group,” said Mariam Kourabi, founder of “She Scores Bangers”, a popular podcast that focuses on women's soccer in Canada and around the world.  

Although there has been a significant dispute between the association and women's players, men’s players in the likes of Alistair Johnson have also stepped up to support the team in their actions.  

After weeks of negotiations, Nick Bontis had decided to step down as president of the CSA, citing that “change is needed”. Although the change has been welcomed by many fans and analysts, it’s still not perfect according to Kourabi.  

“It’s the first step in the right direction, he had treated the WNT as an afterthought with no vision in the program. The current acting president, Chermaine Crooks, has been the vice president until now and has been a part of his team throughout which is worrying,” explained Kourabi.  

Not only has Crooks been a part of Bontis’ team until her presidency, but the players have also made it clear that they don’t have confidence in her as the acting president.  

Although recent years have been some of the best for Canada Soccer, there are still these huge underlying issue to be resolved. The funding for both teams has not been equal and had not reflected the success of the women’s team, especially after the Olympics gold medal. After all the success, we are yet to see real change in the structure of the Canadian Soccer Association.  

Site Selection Magazine in Atlanta reports that Hamilton generated the highest number of expansion projects during the past year that have drawn at least $1 million, created at least 50 new jobs, or made use of at least 20,000 square feet.

Analysts ranked cities based on new projects mostly in the private sector that would attract potential investors.

Norm Schleehahn, manager of business development at the City of Hamilton, says the university’s main contribution to Hamilton’s 2012 ranking is its new automotive resource centre (MARC) at McMaster Innovation Park (MIP).

The federal government has injected $11.5 million into the new facility, which will cover approximately 80,000 square feet of space in a former industrial warehouse across from the MIP Atrium.

For the most part, MARC will be a laboratory facility to accelerate research in the automotive sector, focusing on hybrid vehicles.

The project costs $26 million in total and is expected to employ 120 to 150 people.

McMaster’s downtown health campus, to open two years from now, will make the list of projects for 2013, Schleehahn said.

Nick Bontis, professor in the DeGroote School of Business, says the City is pushing forward with downtown renewal and McMaster faculty and students are leading the charge.

Bontis said facilities like MIP offer researchers a bridge between doing research in the lab and finding opportunities to commercialize ideas in the marketplace.

“That’s why McMaster University acts as an engine of growth for the manufacturing sector,” he said.

“We’re sitting on a large supply of potential commercialization projects,” he continued. “But we don’t have enough horsepower or capacity for faculty to both do the research and commercialize the research. That’s where we need the community to get involved.”

MIP, a $69 million off-campus facility used mainly for conferences, is in the midst of discussions with private developers to build a hotel at the park. Plans haven’t been finalized but the hotel would accommodate researchers, entrepreneurs and the general public.

In addition, the federal and provincial governments have invested heavily in the university’s health and engineering research facilities.

A grant announcement in early August revealed the province would provide $4.6 million for 14 projects in the research sector.

Over the past two years, McMaster has received $38.5 million through the Knowledge Infrastructure economic stimulus program for post-secondary infrastructure enhancements across Canada.

$22 million will help create new research space and stimulate increased production of medical and industrial isotopes at McMaster’s nuclear research facilities. The remaining funds will help build two new centres for cancer and spinal cord research.

“Hamilton has been a leader in the manufacturing industry but our economy is diversifying. There are a lot of businesses in the city that are thriving,” Schleehahn said.

He added that the city’s new status as an investment hotspot provides a reason for students to consider staying in Hamilton post-graduation.