SO31 Members Statement on the Paralympics (05MAR10)
Mr. Speaker,
Vancouver is a community transformed by the electricity of the 2010 winter Olympic Games. We embraced the athletes, the crowds, the foreign languages heard on the streets. We celebrated our Host First Nations with pride. With the rest Canada we waved our flags, and sometimes wept; riveted by the spectacle of human bravery, of hopes dashed and triumphs seized.
And now Vancouver’s glow of good cheer is re-ignited by the Paralympic Torch flame’s westward odyssey. Now its radiance falls on the disabled and Paralympians, illuminating their extraordinary courage and achievements.
Vancouver will offer these remarkable competitors the same warmth we showed Olympians and will cheer them on just as loudly.
Sadly, the Prime Minister has moved to eliminate the break-week scheduled during the Paralympics.
But I know my colleagues will strive to equally honour our Paralympians, so they do feel recognized as first-class athletes – and the source of inspiration – that they truly are.