Ministerial Statement – Recognizing Newfoundland and Labrador’s 2018 Olympians

  • Children, Seniors and Social Development

February 27, 2018

The following statement was given today in the House of Assembly by the Honourable Lisa Dempster, Minister of Children, Seniors and Social Development:


Mr. Speaker, I rise in this Honourable House to recognize two outstanding Olympians from this province; Kaetlyn Osmond and Liam Hickey.

In January 2018 Ms. Osmond, as the reigning Canadian champion, was named to Team Canada in figure skating for the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in Pyeongchang, and won not one, but two Olympic medals – a gold in the team event and bronze in women’s singles.

Kaetlyn scored a season best in her long program for a combined score of 231.02. Kaetlyn’s bronze medal marks the first time a Canadian has won an Olympic medal in women’s singles since 2010. Her medal win also gave Canada its 27th medal at the Games, surpassing the country’s previous all-time high at the Winter Games.

Mr. Speaker, earlier this month, Mr. Hickey was named to the Canadian sledge hockey team and will compete in Pyeongchang in the coming weeks at the 2018 Winter Paralympic Games. Even more remarkable is the fact that he is a multi-sport athlete having competed for Team Canada in wheelchair basketball at the 2016 Summer Paralympic Games in Rio, Brazil.

Over the past week or so, I was so excited to watch Kaetlyn represent her country and her hometown of Marystown on the world stage and I am just as excited to watch Liam and his team in the coming weeks as they work to bring home another gold medal for Canada.

Mr. Speaker, I invite all members of this Honourable House to congratulate Kaetlyn on her incredible achievement and join me in wishing Liam nothing but success in his strive for excellence.

Thank you.

2018 02 27 1:50 pm