Statement made on 04 June 2009 by Senator Joyce Fairbairn
Hon. Joyce Fairbairn:
Honourable senators, it is with great appreciation and enthusiasm that I support the motion of Senator Champagne urging the federal government to do everything in its power to have VANOC and the Broadcasting Consortium quickly negotiate an agreement that will ensure the broadcasting of the 2010 Paralympic Winter Games in Vancouver and Whistler.
To say that I am a fan of our Canadian Paralympians is an understatement. I have become a very intense honorary godmother who joins the team in supporting them at Paralympic Games — winter and summer.
In 1998, I was asked to represent the Canadian government on behalf of the then sports minister Sheila Copps at the Winter Paralympic Games in Nagano, Japan. Like almost every citizen in Canada, I knew very little about these games and these extraordinary athletes who bring great pride to this country.
On day one in Nagano I became an instant fan and was introduced to some of the finest people I have ever known. Since then I have enthusiastically attended, from opening to closing, every games, both summer and winter, and I truly wish all Canadians could see our athletes giving their best for this country.
For example, in the last Winter Games in Torino, there was for the first time in Paralympic history an event that filled the arena with enthusiastic fans waving flags of all nations. It was wheelchair curling for the first time. It ended with none other than the Canadian flag being raised as our relatively young wheelchair curling team took home that gold medal. Other countries had promoted curling for some time, but it was the Canadians that startled them when our new team ended up with the last stone of the last game moving them past the British team, which had been well on its way to victory. The place went wild with enthusiasm, but there were no television cameras to show it to Canadians. There was no broadcast.
Games after games, we have cheered and waved the biggest flags possible to carry our athletes to do their finest. Many win medals, approaching the podium with smiles and pride for their country. Chantal Petitclerc, whom Senator Champagne knows well and spoke about during her speech, the most outstanding female wheelchair racer in the world, was awarded the 2008 Lou Marsh Trophy for Canada's Athlete of the Year. The Lou Marsh Trophy is not for women only, not for disabled athletes, but for Canada's overall top athlete of the year. Her career spans 17 years, during which she has won 21 Paralympic medals and knocked the socks off her competitors in Beijing, China.
Our sledge hockey team, which has taken home many medals in past Paralympic Games, is currently ranked first in the world and is a strong contender for gold in Vancouver next year. We have amazing wheelchair rugby and basketball players, runners and skiers, both alpine and cross-country.
We have the McKeever brothers from the mountains near Banff where the oldest brother, Robin, left the Olympic sports team in order to guide his visually impaired brother Brian as a gold medal pair in Salt Lake City and Torino, and they are now looking forward to Whistler.
Our blind downhill skier Chris Williamson continues to barrel down those slopes with his guide nearby and again has brought the flag home to Canada from Salt Lake and Torino.
Our outstanding downhill skier Lauren Woolstencroft blazes down hills with prosthetic lower legs and one pole and has led the pack to the Paralympic podium time after time and is ready to do it again. Already in the advance competitions leading up to the 2010 games, she has gathered up a number of gold medals around the world and is continuing to get ready for the year ahead at Whistler.
Along with these athletes, many others are working endlessly hard not just for themselves but for their families and their country. They are also well aware that success finds its way into the lives of others with disabilities who want to come forward and do a great deal to encourage others to get physically active.
In order to do so, Canadians in all areas need to have the opportunity to watch these athletes, their skill and their spirit, their pride of each other and of their country. Over the past years, Canadians have had little chance of knowing who the Paralympians are and how they have the courage and goodwill and determination to overcome these disabilities and leave people, young and old, across Canada to know that there is a road ahead on which lives can change and grow.
Along with supporters and friends from across this country, we have tried to follow the courage and generosity of our athletes by creating a Canadian Paralympic Foundation to encourage other Canadians to support this effort. The goal is to open the doors and opportunities to those with physical disabilities and give them a chance to move forward in daily life and in sports.
It is imperative that parents and children across this country have the opportunity to see what can be done. The slogan of our athletes is, "Yes I Can." They want to offer their own efforts to the families in every part of this country. Clearly the way to do it is to give Canadians a chance to see these athletes compete and succeed on the world stage.
Senator Champagne has encouraged the Senate of Canada, and she has worked extremely hard, to persuade our government to promote the 2010 Paralympic Games and its athletes by ensuring that a broadcasting agreement will be made. These games must be televised while the athletes are performing and not weeks after the games are over. Surely, as hosts to the world, our government and our citizens can make sure that what takes place in that beautiful part of our country will be seen here in Canada and beyond our borders.
I encourage honourable senators on both sides of this chamber to stand in line behind our colleague who has taken a great deal of time and effort to make the doors open. I would hope that the Senate of Canada can come together and send a message that says "Yes We Can."
This is like a march, and I urge all of us in whatever way we can to persuade our friends across the building that now is the time to give these folks a fair chance to lift our country. We have never had this kind of opportunity before. Let us make the best of it.