March 20, 2006
Check Against Delivery
Let me start by just saying thanks to the Board of Trade. This is the third time that they have put on a lunch to support Olympic and Paralympic athletes. It gets bigger and bigger and better and better. And can you hardly wait till 2009, right before the 2010 Olympic Games? We'll have a bunch of gold medallists sitting in this room with us. It is going to be great.
I also want to acknowledge Marion Lay, the CEO of 2010 Legacies Now. 2010 Legacies Now has been one of the vehicles that we've developed over the last number of years to try and provide support to our athletes, to their coaches, to communities across the province, to build a culture of sport and physical activity so that when we host the 2010 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games here in British Columbia, we'll be the most physically fit jurisdiction ever to host an Olympic Games. Thank you very much, Marion.
And, finally, a thanks to Bob Nicholson from Hockey Canada. I think it's important to remember that sport is bringing everyone together and we saw that with the World Junior Hockey Championships in Vancouver. The people of British Columbia will get a big thank you for their part in that, but the person that we should really recognize for the work that he did was Ron Toigo. What a fantastic job he and his team did for that event.
And what is important to remember is that when Ron started, he said: "I'm going to do something. I'm going to do it well. I'm going to make sure that if we are lucky enough to host the World Juniors, we are going to make sure it works. It's going to work for Hockey Canada. It's going to work for the people that come and compete. It's going to work for my city. It's going to work for my province. It's going to work for my country." That is what 2010 and the Winter Olympics is about: working for Canada and British Columbia and for all the communities across this province and, most importantly, for every single athlete that comes here to participate in 2010. We want them to get the very best performance that they've ever had, and we have an opportunity to deliver that from Vancouver and Whistler in British Columbia, Canada.
That's important, because these are Canada's Olympic Games. We should remember that. And it’s shared with the four host first nations: the Squamish, the Tsleil-Waututh, the Musqueam and the Lil'wat. Today we are welcomed here to the traditional territories of the Coast Salish people, and something that the Olympics is doing again is it's bringing people together. It's building a new world of opportunity for us in this province and, again, in this country.
But today we're honouring the athletes who are going to carry the flag for all of us as they go towards 2010. Think of the amount of work that goes into being a successful elite athlete. Just think what Tom Velisek of Vernon does as a snowboarder. He's working out all the time, he's training all the time, and Tom, what are you going to do in 2010? You're going to take home the gold.
And just think of what Kristi Richards does from Summerland in the moguls. Kristi came through reconstructive knee surgery and she placed seventh in Torino. And guess what's going to happen in 2010? Kristi, what's going to happen in 2010? You're going to take home the gold.
And imagine what it's like for me. I fly over the Atlantic, I land in Italy, I go to British Columbia-Canada Place, and who's the first guy I meet? Denny Morrison, one of our silver medal winners in men's pursuit. In 2010 Denny's going to be here. He's going to be speed-skating at the Richmond oval. And, Denny, what are you going to do? He's going to bring home the gold.
Just think of this. That's three gold medals we've got already
