The Olympic flame entered the halls of Parliament in Ottawa on Thursday, officially putting its stamp on the final holdout province of its 45,000-kilometre odyssey across Canada, before resuming a tour of Quebec later in the evening in Montreal.
With the Ontario stop, the flame has now visited all 10 provinces and three territories.
“Imagine an 81-year-old gal being asked to carry the torch into the Parliament Buildings,” said figure-skating icon Barbara Ann Scott, who carried the torch onto the Commons floor.
The Olympic gold medallist told reporters she thought Vancouver organizing committee chief executive officer John Furlong was joking when he called to ask her if she was up to the task.
“And then I found out it was for real and I’m thrilled,” said a beaming Scott.
At five-foot-two and about 88 pounds, Scott joked it was difficult for organizers to find a white track suit small enough to fit her.
The Ottawa native earned a gold medal at the 1948 Winter Games in St. Moritz, Switzerland. She said her hopes are high that Canada will take home “quite a few” gold medals at the Games, which kick off in Vancouver and Whistler in February.
A carnival atmosphere surrounded the torch’s viewing in Montreal as a huge crowd gathered early Thursday evening in the tony community of Westmount, near downtown.
Andreanne Morin, who rowed for Canada at the 2000 and 2004 Summer Games, and Dick Pound, a swimmer in the 1960 Games who is better known for his work with the International Olympic Committee and the World Anti-Doping Agency, were among the torchbearers who were met with loud applause — and plenty of hotdogs and balloons.
“One of the reasons for this extensive relay is the Games are Canadian and for all these people to see the flame and know what the Games are about,” said Pound, shortly before the flame arrived via the official convoy.
“If our kids do as well as we think they will, it’s not impossible that Canada could win more medals than anyone else,” he said.
The crowd was a good mix of people, from over-excited elementary schoolchildren, to seniors in fur hats and one enthusiast in a vintage Calgary 1988 torch bearer’s uniform, the last time Canada hosted a Winter Olympics.
Later in the evening, however, protesters made their voices heard as an incongruous scene played out in Old Montreal moments before the Olympic flame was to arrive at a party.
As a youthful choir sang on stage and scenes of past Olympic performances flashed on a giant screen, police in riot gear pushed a crowd of about 150 anti-Olympics demonstrators away from the stage and off the flame route. No arrests were made.
But as the flame was winding its way through the streets of Old Montreal toward a large cauldron at the base of Jacques Cartier square, protesters were still blowing horns and shouting slogans like “Shame the corporate flame” and “No Olympics on stolen native land.”
“We are here to disrupt the relay to let people know that there is resistance to this propaganda event called the Olympics,” said Pat Cadorette, a spokesman for the protesters.
For the first hour of the party, the protesters outnumbered celebrants. They drew attention to their cause by banging on drums, and playing a tuba and several horns, and shouting speeches into a microphone plugged into a mobile sound system.
Earlier in the afternoon, gusting winds and freshly plowed snowbanks didn’t deter an estimated 9,000 students and hundreds of West Island residents, both young and old, from lining St. John’s Boulevard in suburban Montreal to cheer on the Olympic torchbearers.
“It was absolutely incredible,” canoeist and Olympic medallist Tom Hall said of his 300-metre run with the fire. “There was just so many people, it was amazing.”
Before the run, Hall spoke about how, as a six-year-old, he and his family had cheered on his sister’s best friend who had been a torchbearer in the Calgary Games. “It was a massive influence in my life,” he said.
Students from Montreal school boards who had been bused in for the event lined the streets, stood on snowbanks, waved homemade and small Canadian flags that had been handed out, sang songs, stamped their cold feet — and waited.
“It’s a big deal — it’s not like the Olympic flame comes through your town every day,” said Matthew Donovan as he and his friend, Felix Levesque-Pero, stood along the sidewalk waiting for the flame to arrive.
And it’s not everyday the flame’s smoke billows through the hallowed halls of Parliament.
In fact, Thursday’s visit to Ottawa marked the first time an Olympic torch has entered the House of Commons.
Members of Parliament chanted “Go Canada Go!” and snapped photos as the former skater Scott marched down the middle of the green-carpeted chamber, hoisting the torch into the air.
House Speaker Peter Milliken offered congratulations to the Olympic organizing committee and wished Canadian athletes well as they make their final preparations for the Games.
Already, more than 4,000 torchbearers have carried the flame across approximately 25,000 kilometres on its way to the opening ceremony of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games on Feb. 12, 2010.
Ottawa Citizen and Montreal Gazette
No comments:
Post a Comment