CMA, MCC announce a plan to work together

It looks as if one of the longest-running disagreements in Canadian motorcycling might be finally worked out. The Canadian Motorcycle Association (CMA) and Motorcyclists Confederation of Canada (MCC) have announced a Memorandum of Understanding to work together.

The CMA and MCC are both non-profit organizations that promote motorcycling in Canada. The CMA is this country’s national FIM affiliate. In this role, it’s supposed to not just advance motorcycling in general, but it’s also supposed to serve as the sanctioning body for Canada’s racing series. If Canadian racers wish to leave the country and challenge international events, they are required to go through the CMA to get an FIM licence and insurance.

The CMA has public membership, similar to the well-known American Motorcyclist Association.

The MCC does not sanction any racing series, and at this point, does not have public membership that elects officers, although it says it’s working to arrange that. It was organized in the mid-2000s when Canadian moto industry insiders became disillusioned with the CMA’s level of activity. Along with helping to promote bike safety and otherwise boost the cause of motorcycling, an MCC tribunal serves to settle grievances for major Canadian motorcycle race series such as Canadian Superbike. Most major Canadian race series are involved with the MCC at some level, and none are working with the CMA.

This creates all sorts of problems for Canadian racers who want to travel overseas, and there are other trickle-down issues that even affect average-Joe riders. As a result, the MCC has been pushing to replace the CMA as the FIM’s Canadian affiliate, and last winter, came within a few votes of the necessary percentage to achieve that goal (read our previous coverage here).

One thing was obvious from the last FIM general meeting: While the CMA retained its role as Canadian affiliate, the majority of voters were unhappy with the arrangement, and the Canadian motorcycle industry is also obviously unhappy, since it backed the forming of the MCC. Something would need to change, and now we see the first hints of that happening.

A press release from the MCC says it’s planning to work with the CMA, and has started to do so already by assisting with this year’s FIM Trial des Nations competition. The presser says “MCC has committed financial support to offset costs of transportation of machines, equipment and participants, accommodations, registration, and other expenses.” Good stuff, because travel for competition isn’t cheap.

What’s next? The MCC and CMA have examined the idea of cooperation before, but it always fell through. Now, with new leadership at the CMA, we might finally see them hammer out a deal. The FIM is no doubt unimpressed with our country’s shenanigans, and wants things sorted out. By the next FIM annual general meeting, it seems likely our country’s moto-orgs will be anxious to show the rest of the countries’ affiliates that we have our house in order, and can move forward.