Rugby Canada Chairman of the Board Tim Powers has published an open letter on the Rugby Canada website. The letter addresses staunch criticism of Rugby Canada following their decision not to come to an agreement with PRO Rugby and also a perceived lack of transparency with the Canadian rugby community on strategic planning, particularly as regards the development of professional rugby in the Tier 2 country. Briefly addressed are acknowledgements that no deals are currently in place with any professional league domestically or abroad, and the potential of hosting a Rugby World Cup in North American continues to be explored.

A resident of Ottawa originally from St. John’s, Newfoundland, Powers was elected Chairman of the Board in April to replace the outgoing Pat Aldous. He is currently Vice-Chairman of Summa Strategies, a public affairs consulting firm that specialises in government relations and is regularly featured as a political commentator for various Canadian media outlets. During his playing career Powers represented Canada u21 and Newfoundland at senior provincial level.

The letter in its entirety can be seen below.

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One of the things that I have learned since becoming Chairman of Rugby Canada is the importance of improving our strategic communications with our big passionate community of rugby enthusiasts in Canada and abroad.

Our team does a good job of telling the stories of our athletes, our teams and our on field pursuits but we are going to see if we can communicate with you all more often, more effectively on a broader range of issues. We know you are all interested in things like future plans and strategies for professional rugby in North America, growing the game in Canada, the potential of North America hosting a World Cup, our men’s and women’s World Cup plans, what the road to Tokyo 2020 looks like, the well-being of our athletes, to name but just a few.

These are all things our team of high quality professionals assess, evaluate and in some cases are already actioning like the World Cup build up for both our women’s and men’s teams. We have some of the best people in the sports world working with us. We are in good hands.

Let me address the matter of professional rugby which rightly has been extremely topical. I know there was disappointment in different places that we did not join PRO Rugby. While the owner of PRO Rugby is to be commended for getting his business going and working hard to make it succeed, that organization’s pathway and direction was not aligned with ours.

So what does that mean? Put simply Rugby Canada wants to be part of a professional league that allows the best opportunity for our players to play and earn a living playing the game they love. Simultaneously we want to ensure that participation in a professional league helps us make our national team better and generate more Tier 1 nation fixtures. We want our relationship with a professional league to assist us in selling and growing the game in Canada while helping our athletes get more exposure. We also won’t sign away our ability to do what is best for rugby in Canada.

Professional rugby in Canada will not come by simply snapping our fingers. But it is something we are actively looking at on different fronts. We have no formal agreements with anyone now but as indicated above we are doing our own due diligence and outlining the priorities that are important to advancing our sport in Canada.

You have my commitment, our board’s and management to work to communicate with you more regularly. Personally, I am always open to feedback, insight and constructive criticism. Feel free to write me at any time at tpowers@rugbycanada.ca .

Thank you for your interest and commitment to rugby.

Tim