Mr. Speaker, from August 3 to 12, the city of Champions, Edmonton, Alberta, will once again play host to the world.
The city and the whole province has a phenomenal track record of hosting successful international sporting events such as the Winter Olympics, the Commonwealth Games, the World University Games and the World Figure Skating Championships.
The games in Edmonton will be the first time the IAAF World Championships in Athletics have been held in North America. With 46 medal events and more than 200 countries participating, it is the biggest track meet on the globe. In fact, it is the third largest sporting event in the world with an anticipated TV viewing audience of four billion.
One of the most anticipated highlights of the games will be Canadian sprinter Donovan Bailey's last race.
On behalf of the city of Edmonton, the organizing committee and hundreds of volunteers, I would like to invite all Canadians to come to Edmonton in August for the world track and field championships.