The Governing of Governance: Metagovernance and the Creation of New Organizational Forms within Canadian Sport

This article examines how the creation of new governing arrangements (i.e., new organizational forms and new actors) has enabled government (Sport Canada) to secure influence over Canadian sport organizations by drawing upon two empirical case studies of newly created organizational forms within the Canadian sporting context. More specifically, we focus on the inter-organizational dynamics between state agencies (Sport Canada) and quasi-autonomous organizational entities (Own the Podium and Sport for Life) to examine the nature of these new governance arrangements and how their creation has extended governmental control over Canadian sport. The analysis highlights the similar trajectories of the two case study organizations and reveals similar underlying patterns of control by Sport Canada in that both newly created entities have been used to strengthen the governmental agencies’ capacity and reach over the sport sector. Furthermore, the study reveals how these resource dependent organizations are being utilized and leveraged by government, often through negotiation, diplomacy and other informal mechanisms, to achieve its own objectives. More broadly, our analysis highlights the underlying mechanisms through which these newly formed networked arrangements operate.