November 24, 2004
Check Against Delivery
Thank you for coming today. This is something that we want to make sure touches the entire province, and all of you have been phenomenal over the last couple years, not just in building our successful bid, but also in keeping the Olympic spirit alive. I want to say "thanks" to every single one of you and ask that you thank the person sitting next to you for what they're doing in your communities.
One of the most exciting things for myself and for John Les, the Minister of Small Business and Economic Development, is the opportunity to think not only about the years leading up to the 2010 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games, but also the years following.
We're already seeing the advantages of having the Olympics awarded to us: we're seeing a new sense of optimism in province. But we're also seeing a new attention being focused on British Columbia and all parts of British Columbia. What we can do to take full advantage of this in each and every community of this province? It's no small task to ask you to decide on what you can do to reflect the best of your community to the world that will come and visit us in 2010.
What we want to do today is to start to give you the building blocks that will allow us to be concerted, allow us to be focused, and that will allow us to maximize the benefits of the opportunities that lie before us in the province of British Columbia.
So today you're going to hear from a number of people, but we're also going to give you a chance, hopefully, to ask questions and get a stronger understanding of where we're going over the next ten years.
First, Marion Lay will speak to you. Marion is the president and CEO of 2010 LegaciesNow. It's a foundation project for us. It's saying: "Let's anticipate what we can do; let's give people the kind of support they need, give communities the support they need and give volunteers the support they need as we move towards 2010.”
The LegaciesNow program is not just about sports. It's about sports and recreation. It's about promoting culture. It's also about promoting the arts and volunteerism.
There won't be one major event hosted in our province over the next ten years that does not depend on individual citizens committing their time and their effort to make ensure that British Columbia is the best host it can possibly be.
I have a little phrase that I like to remember. It's called: the excitement of exceeding expectation. We want to exceed expectations for everyone that comes to Canada for these Olympic Games. We want to provide them with the most support we can so that the Games can be the best they can be.
We want to exceed expectations of the major sponsors that come to Canada for the Olympics. So you're going to hear today from some of the Olympic teams, the VANOC team, about how they have to put in place the foundations to allow this.
We want to exceed expectations in your communities too, in every community in the province if we can. That's why it's so important that you all are here to help us move ahead.
Marion Lay will talk to you about the Arts Now program, the Literacy Now program, the Sports and Recreation Now program, Volunteers Now, and, of course, the Spirit of B.C. program.
I can't stress this enough: the sooner we take advantage of the Olympic opportunity with what is probably the globe's leading brand, the better we're going to be; the better off we will be.
So I can tell that we have launched the new online 2010 Commerce Centre. The Commerce Centre can connect you and people in your community and enterprises in your community to what's taking place in Turin for the 2006 Winter Games, to what's taking place in Beijing for the 2008 Games, and what's taking place in Canada and British Columbia and Vancouver for the 2010 Games. What we will do through that website is try and make sure that people see how they can work together, see what business alliances might work for them. We'll try and provide some training so that everyone knows how to take part in the procurement process. John Les and his team are working very hard to make sure that we open those doors of opportunity.
I want to underline this as well: when we open the doors of opportunity, we can't make anyone walk through it. So it will be up to you, your community enterprises and your community initiatives to make sure that you can reach out and take full advantage of this opportunity. We will try and make sure the door is open as wide as possible.
We also want to be sure that the province's role in the Olympics and Paralympic Winter Games Secretariat is clear to all of you. Yes, we have one of those established. Brian Krieger works for the Secretariat, and he'll be introducing you to the 2010 Commerce Centre in more detail.
Dave Cobb is here today. Dave Cobb is the senior vice-president of revenue, marketing, and communications for VANOC. VANOC is the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Winter Games. Dave brings not just expertise but enthusiasm to this. Later, you'll be able to hear from him and ask him questions.
Gordon Goodman, who's also here, is the director of our Games Secretariat. He has been traveling around the province this fall, and he will continue to do that. He wants to provide each of your committees with the information you need about protecting the Olympic brands - because we have to protect that for the Olympics - and about expanding our own opportunities here, using the Olympics as a springboard for moving forward.
Has anyone heard about the discussions taking place in the media about what can be done and what can't be done with the Olympic rings? Well, Dave's going to tell you more about that, but I want to tell you that it was important for us that we establish our own brand for this committee, one that wasn't in conflict with the Olympics.
We have got a suggestion that we are going to move forward with. You are now all chairs of the Spirit of B.C. Community Committees. The Spirit of B.C. is going to be what we build on, what we build with, and what we share with the world.
One of the things that really defines our province is its spirit
