Newfoundland and Labrador Prepares for the 2010 Olympic Torch Relay

The official countdown is on. In 45 days, the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Torch Relay will arrive in the province with its first stop in Wabush, on Remembrance Day, November 11. The Olympic Flame will then begin a five-day tour, visiting 42 communities and involving 330 torchbearers throughout the province.

The Vancouver 2010 Olympic Torch Relay, presented by Coca-Cola and RBC, and supported by the Government of Canada, is designed to bring the spirit and enthusiasm of the 2010 Olympic Games to the people of the province, uniting all Canadians from coast to coast to coast. Eight Celebration Communities have been designated by the Vancouver Organizing Committee of the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (VANOC) to host regional events to coincide with Torch Relay activities. Those communities are Wabush, Happy Valley-Goose Bay, St. Anthony, St. John�s, Clarenville, Grand Falls-Windsor, Corner Brook and Channel-Port aux Basques.

�We look forward to welcoming the country and the world to Newfoundland and Labrador as the Olympic Torch Relay makes its journey across the province,� said the Honourable Clyde Jackman, Minister of Tourism, Culture and Recreation. �I encourage all Newfoundlanders and Labradorians to attend a regional community celebration, cheer on our torchbearers, and catch the Olympic spirit.�

The Provincial Government has invested $67,420 to help the eight regional Celebration Communities become an Olympic Town for the day, and to host events which showcase the region�s heritage, culture, sport and entertainment.

The Olympic Flame will travel 3,120 kilometres by land, water and air while within Newfoundland and Labrador. Among the 42 communities it will visit are Sheshatshui, only one of two Innu communities in Labrador; Cupids, the oldest English colony in Canada which, in 2010, will celebrate its 400th anniversary; L�Anse aux Meadows, where Leif Erickson and his crew of Viking explorers briefly lived along the rugged coastline more than 1,000 years ago, and St. John�s. The torch relay will then move on to Nova Scotia by ferry across the Cabot Strait. Details of the torch relay route can be viewed at: www.vancouver2010.com/torchrelay. 

On July 4, 2008, Newfoundland and Labrador announced it had joined VANOC�s Contributing Province/Territory Program (CPTP), with a $1.5 million contribution toward Canadian athletes and the staging of the 2010 Winter Games. The investment includes $750,000 towards the Own the Podium 2010 program, which supports Canadian athletes in their preparation for the games, and $750,000 dedicated to ensuring the province takes full advantage of a wide range of benefits and opportunities designed to showcase this province, and all it has to offer, on the national and world stage.

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Media contact:
Heather May
Director of Communications
Department of Tourism, Culture and Recreation
709-729-0928, 697-5061
heathermay@gov.nl.ca 

2009 09 28                                                   10:50 a.m.