BG – 09.027 - October 28, 2009
As part of the celebrations leading up to the 2010 Winter Games, the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (VANOC) has planned an Olympic Torch Relay, presented by Coca-Cola and Royal Bank of Canada, and supported by the Government of Canada. The relay will travel across Canada from October 30, 2009, to February 12, 2010. It involves a journey of 106 days, over a distance of 45,000 km, involving more than12,000 torchbearers in more than 1,000 Canadian communities, including 13 Canadian Forces bases and one Canadian Forces station.
Nine Canadian Forces bases (CFBs) will have torchbearer teams: Comox, Cold Lake, Goose Bay, Greenwood, Gagetown, Valcartier, Petawawa, Shilo and Moose Jaw, as well as Canadian Forces Station (CFS) Alert. Each team is comprised of 20 torchbearers made up of members of the Canadian Forces (CF) and the Department of National Defence (DND) employees, and their families, who will collectively carry the Olympic Flame over 1 km on their assigned legs. The remaining four bases, CFBs Esquimalt, Trenton, Borden and Suffield, will have one member of the base carry the Flame one leg of the relay, a distance of 300 m. Base members will also organize celebrations on their bases to herald the passing of the Olympic Flame through their communities.
The Canadian Forces will provide VANOC with a Polaris CC-150 aircraft (Airbus 310) to transport the Canadian delegation to Athens, Greece on October 28, 2009. The Polaris will return with the Olympic Flame and the delegation, arriving in Victoria, B.C. on October 30, 2009. This historic event will be marked with a reception by a 50-person guard of honour and a bag piper at the 443 Squadron Hangar at Victoria International Airport. Following the arrival of the Olympic Flame, DND will participate in the Olympic Torch Lighting Ceremony at the B.C. Legislature with 60 cadets, the Naden Band of Maritime Forces Pacific and an over-flight of four CF-18 aircraft. Finally, to facilitate travel of VANOC’s operations team within Canada during the relay, DND will support VANOC’s chartered B737 aircraft at CFB Cold Lake and CFS Alert.
The following table lists the dates when the Olympic Flame will travel through the participating military station and 13 bases:
For More Information
Media Liaison Office: (613) 996-2253
Toll Free: 1-866-377-0811
Internet: www.forces.gc.ca
