Crazy R - you are misinformed. Canada does not pay for the athletes in XC, certainly not the Juniors, as they fund themselves. As TL says, it is not as simple as you pretend it to be. The OTP (Own the Podium) philosophy puts sports on an equal footing in terms of competing for the Sport Canada money "pie". The more successful the sport (his exmple being women's hockey), the easier to get funding. Is it fair? that's a different question. This program requires a SGB to justify why they are getting the funding, and top 8-16 performance levels at OG or WC (not as easy for individuals or in a world-wide sport like T&F) are required to sustain a given level (%) of the funding pie. Too many sub-par performances mean the SGB isn't producing the "goods", so to speak, and so they risk their funding being decreased! The incentive therefore is to send the most competitve team possible. B level athletes are not likely to be competing for top 8 spots (even though there could be exceptions).
The US more easily taps into corporate funding to support teams (if necessary), and there is an attitude that representing the "S&S" is not something that athletes themselves should pay for. THE USATF is also, however, not involved (really) with the development of athletes or of financing anything beyond competitions (that is why shoe company sponsorships are essential). In Canada there is Provincial (Ontario and BC anyway) funding and National funding called a "carding" process (not much money really) - it too is a complicated (even more than the standards) process. The UK has this from Lottery funding.