100 Mile House's friendly, social & entertaining online news source!

VICTORIA, BC – Premier Gordon Campbell made the following statement today in the B.C. Legislature on the eve of the Olympic Flame’s arrival in British Columbia:

“Tomorrow the Olympic torch arrives here in Victoria, British Columbia, to begin a journey across our country to light the way for the 2010 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games. It's a journey that will last 105 days, cover 45,000 kilometres and that will directly pass through over a thousand communities across Canada.

“It’s a journey that will see 12,000 torchbearers carry the flame to all Canadians and for all Canadians, including 200 community celebrations in every region and corner of our country and our province. Some 90 percent of Canada’s population will be within an hour’s drive of those communities’ celebrations that all begin right here tomorrow in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.

“As we reflect on the journey that it's taken to get us here, we have to think as far back as 1997, when a group of citizens thought it would be a powerful idea to try and attract an Olympic Games to Vancouver. In January of 1998 Premier Clark and the government said the province supported that quest to achieve those games. He was followed by Premier Miller and his government, by Premier Dosanjh and his government, and finally by this government in saying, yes, this would be positive for British Columbia, it would be positive for Canada, it was something that British Columbians should strive for together.

“It’s a journey that Mayor Robertson and I had the honour of witnessing when the torch sparked to life last week on Jack Poole’s last day on Earth. It was Jack Poole, the father of the 2010 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games, and John Furlong, the best CEO in Olympic history, who will bring the torch to us here tomorrow in British Columbia.

“On behalf of this assembly and all British Columbians, I want to thank those visionaries, their incredible team of dedicated Olympic organizers and the legions of community volunteers over the past decade who have successfully brought us the games. These games will forever stand as a tribute to those people and in fulfilment of Jack Poole’s dream and selfless leadership.

“The torch has now been transferred to our nation’s hands, and it will touch down here tomorrow morning. It is a flame that will burn boldly for the next 121 days as a fitting symbol of all that Canada has come to represent in the world – peace, brotherhood, enlightenment – an Olympic flame that burns as a beacon for the highest ambitions and aspirations of humankind, for the spirit of human potential, for the magnificence of human achievement and for the seemingly impossible physical feats that showcase the potential that each of us have if we dare to live our dreams and strive for what is greatest within all of us.

“Our athletes will reach for new heights, and for the first time, I am confident that a Canadian Olympic athlete will win an Olympic gold medal on Canadian soil.

“Through our Olympic organizers and literally thousands of volunteers from every corner of the province, from across this country, we will all show the world a gold-medal games that will set the new standard for Olympics everywhere.

“Through this once-in-a-lifetime chance to host the Olympics along with thousands of other British Columbians and Canadians, I will proudly showcase the best that British Columbia and Canada has to offer, not just to the world but to one another, to Canadians, to hold up our example as what can be accomplished when people work together.

“Let that torch light all of our hearts with pride and confidence. Let us remember how fortunate we are to live in a country like Canada and a province like British Columbia. Let us take all the inspiration that that flame can have and carry it forward and carry it high as we strive to make the world a better place for our children and those who will follow them.

“When that flame travels across the country, it will be a golden thread that pulls together every part of our country from the farthest northern community to the farthest south, from as far east as Cape Spear to the farthest western point at Old Crow in the Yukon.

“On February the 12th that torch will arrive in Vancouver at BC Place Stadium and will start the 21st Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games right here in Canada.

“As that torch burns, as that relay takes place from community to community, from hamlet to big city, it will light a spark in the eyes of all Canada’s children. It will give them a sense of opportunity, of potential, and of the power that each of them has in their hearts and in their communities. It will give them a sense of what we can accomplish in Canada.

“So now as we get ready to welcome the world, as we get ready to showcase our province and all the excellence that our province has to offer, I hope that all of us will join together in holding that torch high and remembering: this is British Columbia’s time. This is Canada’s time.

“It is time for us to celebrate our great good fortune at living in this country, to invite the world and to make sure that when they come, we make new friends, find new ways of pursuing the goals that we all share – for peace, for harmony, for brotherhood – and to make sure that we are always the community that held that Olympic torch highest and saw it burn brightest in the eyes of those who will follow."

Your comments are always welcome.

Click HERE to become a registered member of this website, and then you can comment on any article we publish.