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Ministry of Healthy Living and Sport |
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B.C. AND ALBERTA
TO DEVELOP OLYMPIC/PARALYMPIC LEGACY |
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VANCOUVER – The governments of British Columbia and Alberta have signed a memorandum of understanding to ensure continuing use of Winter Olympic legacy venues in both provinces.
“We’re thrilled to have celebrated the one-year countdown to the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games yesterday,” said Mary Polak, B.C. Minister of Healthy Living and Sport. “This MOU will allow us to capture and build on this excitement for all our future athletes.”
British Columbia and Alberta will be the only two provinces in the country to have hosted Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games. An MOU between the neighbouring provinces will allow for greater marketing leverage to host and manage events, as well as to attract athletes from around the world to train and compete here.
“A benefit of hosting an Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games is the tremendous legacy of world-class training and competition facilities,” said Cindy Ady, Minister of Alberta Tourism, Parks and Recreation. “With this agreement, we are formalizing our goal of ensuring that these venues continue to support high performance athletes in training and competition, as well as recreational users of all levels.”
The memorandum of understanding will result in the development of a Winter Olympic and Paralympic Legacy Utilization Strategy. The strategy will focus on four key areas: venue management and event hosting, development of event technical officials, an economic assessment on the impact of sporting events, and exploring the possibility of a North American Winter Olympic and Paralympic Legacy Network.
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Communications Director Ministry of Healthy Living and Sport 250 952-2387 (cell) |
Communications Alberta Tourism, Parks and Recreation 780 427-8761 780 907-9444 (cell) |
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For more information on government services or to subscribe to the Province’s news feeds using RSS, visit the Province’s website at www.gov.bc.ca. |
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