Order, please. Today, in celebration of the upcoming Paralympic Games, we are proud to welcome the Olympic flame and torch here in the chamber of the House of Commons.
The flame was lit on October 22, 2009, at the ruins of Olympia in Greece, the ancestral home of the Games. At the original Olympic Stadium in Athens, the flame was handed over to Canadian Olympic and Paralympic organizers.
Since touching Canadian ground in Victoria, British Columbia on October 30, the Olympic flame has visited many communities across our country. Today, a new flame begins a new journey, a 10-day, 2010 Paralympic Torch Relay that will give more Canadians a chance to discover the unique and inspiring stories of Paralympians and other Canadians who defy the odds.
Carrying the Vancouver 2010 Paralympic torch is Paralympian multiple gold medallist Arnold Boldt, the first torchbearer for the 2010 Paralympic Winter Games, who only a few hours ago took up the flame from the Paralympic cauldron in a lighting ceremony here on Parliament Hill.
Mr. Boldt won three gold medals in the high jump and long jump at the Toronto 1976 Paralympic Games and participated in four subsequent Paralympic Games winning other gold and silver medals and breaking high jump records in the process.
Arnold Boldt and Jim Richards are here.
Honoured guests, I want to congratulate you on behalf of all my colleagues.
[And the Paralympic torchbearer having entered the chamber:]
On behalf of all members of the House, I offer the Vancouver Organizing Committee our sincere congratulations for an immensely successful Olympic Games, and our best wishes to all the Canadian athletes for great success at the Vancouver 2010 Paralympic Games.