March 31, 2010

Publication title: Canadian Press, vol. -, Iss. -, pg. –
Place: Montreal
Writer: Bill Beacon

Canada’s Olympic team to get Stanley Cup-style parade through Montreal

MONTREAL – The Canadian team that won a record 14 gold medals at the 2010 Winter Olympics will be feted with a Stanley Cup-style parade along the route used by the Montreal Canadiens during their glory years.

Marcel Aubut, president-elect of the Canadian Olympic Committee, announced Wednesday the entire 206-member Canadian team from the Vancouver Games has been invited to two days of celebrations to mark their performance, which produced 26 medals in all.

It starts with a trip to Parliament Hill in Ottawa on April 22, then moves to Montreal the following day for the noon-time parade and an evening gala at the Bell Centre, where several of Canada’s top music acts will perform, including Sarah McLachlan, Tom Cochrane, Ginette Reno and the pop group Simple Plan.

“Maybe it would have been cheaper just to invite the medallists, but that’s not how to do it,” said Aubut, a lawyer and former president of the defunct Quebec Nordiques of the NHL. “We wanted everybody to be invited to Ottawa and Montreal.

“It’s Team Canada, it’s one team.”

Former speedskater Nathalie Lambert, Canada’s chef de mission in Vancouver, said more than 100 athletes have confirmed their attendance and she expects more than three-quarters of the team to be on hand.

“They’re welcome even if it’s the last minute,” said Lambert. “I think the more who say yes the more will want to be there.”

In Ottawa, Prime Minster Stephen Harper will host the athletes in the House of Commons, followed by a reception on Parliament Hill.

The parade in Montreal will follow what former mayor Jean Drapeau once famously called the “usual route” for the Canadiens – down Ste-Catherine Street through the heart of the city.

That same evening, the highlight of the gala will be the induction into the COC Hall of Fame of former athletes Bruny Surin, Caroline Brunet and Susan Auch, builders Walter Sieber, Peter Lougheed and, posthumously, Carol Anne Letheren, as well as track coach Paul Poce.

Aubut said 105 tables costing between $10,000 and $25,000 have been sold out for the gala, with all proceeds going to the athletes. Other artists to perform include The Canadian Tenors and Annie Villeneuve, while Nikki Yanofsky will sing the 2010 Games theme song “I Believe.” Harper and Quebec Premier Jean Charest are to attend.

The COC will also distribute $1.7 million from the Athlete Excellence Fund to the medallists. The events will air on CTV, which headed up the Olympic broadcast consortium.

“In Vancouver, they pushed themselves beyond their limits – they’re our heroes and let’s cheer them on,” said federal Sports Minister Gary Lunn, who attended the announcement at the Bell Centre.

Lambert likes the idea of holding a parade.

“A lot of these athletes performed late at the Games, and doing so, you don’t feel all the Olympics,” she said. “You’re nervous until the very end.

“So I think this will be amazing. It’ll be something they’ll remember. And it takes in part of Canada that wasn’t on site when they were performing.”

Aubut called it “a last goodbye to those marvellous Games,” noting that the same group of athletes “will probably never be all together again.”

Aubut is known for putting on impressive shows, as he did in organizing the 1987 Rendez-Vous series between the NHL and the Soviet national hockey team, and other events.

The parade is a hint at the style he will bring to his new job as COC president.

“The COC is going to be bigger, more visible, more credible, and richer for the benefit of the athletes,” said Aubut. “The reason we’re there is for the athletes and the focus is going to be there all the time.

“But we’re going to do it in a way that people will know we exist and why we’re here.”

Two men will receive the Canadian Olympic Order – Jack Poole (posthumously), the founding chairman of the board for the Vancouver Games, and Jack Furlong, the Games’ CEO.