Mr. Speaker, today our Canadian athletes, who have been a source of great pride for all their fellow citizens at the Turin Olympics and Paralympics last winter, are honouring us by visiting the National Capital Region.
Our Canadian athletes just keep getting better. At Nagano in 1998 Canada finished fourth with 15 medals, in Salt Lake City in 2002 Canada finished fourth with 17 medals, and in Turin, Italy we finished third with 24 medals, 7 gold, 10 silver and 7 bronze.
On behalf of the official opposition, I am pleased to extend our sincere congratulations not only to those of our athletes whose excellence was rewarded with a medal but to all members of the Canadian team, including their coaches, families and especially the parents who believed in their children's dreams.
As the MP for North Vancouver I would like to extend a special welcome to team members from British Columbia: Sandra Jenkins, Sonja Gaudet, Lauren Woolstencroft, Gary Cormack and Robert Taylor.
I would like to encourage our athletes to keep their eyes on the prize and to continue to show us all that with perseverance great things can be achieved.