Five years ago it was just an idea.
Why not bring the 2015 Canada Winter Games to Prince George?
Today that idea turns into reality. For the next 17 days this city is in for a national gathering of Canadians the likes of which we have never seen.
Prince George is the focal point for athletes, coaches, trainers managers, family members, and sports enthusiasts who have traveled from all over the country to celebrate the best we have to offer in sports, arts, music and culture. For the 74,000 or so residents who call Prince George home, this is a chance to mingle with strangers and show them the kind of friendly open-arms hospitality the city is known for while taking part in an event that can best be compared to an mini-Olympics.
It's not hard to tell there's a buzz around town about the Games. City streets are busy with traffic, vacant hotel rooms are hard to find, shoppers are flocking to stores and malls, and restaurants and bars are lined up. That electricity will reach a crescendo tonight when a mystery guest carrying the Canada Games torch lights the cauldron at the opening ceremonies at CN Centre.
Tom Quinn has seen what an event like the Canada Games can do to change a host city. This is his his fifth time around as chair of the Canada Games council and he knows Prince George is in for a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
"Prince George will see some of our younger developing athletes who are going to go on to become Olympic stars or NHL hockey players and they'll see them competing with the Prince George athletes who are on the B.C. team and they will see a variety of sports in one area that you never get to see," said Quinn. "It's always a great event and I think everyone's going to enjoy it."
The legacy of facilities created for the Games, such as Lakewood Dental Arena (Kin 1) and the biathlon range at Otway Nordic Centre will remain in Prince George and Quinn says that guarantees future generations will be encouraged to get involved in sports.
"You get a base of volunteers that come out of the Games and the expertise that's developed in the community, as well some of the structural things to facilities like the changes made to the skier cross runs (at Tabor Mountain) where they can two feet of snow and still hold the event -- that set a standard for ski hills across the country," Quinn said.
"You see it coming in at the airport and talking to the taxi drivers, everyone is engaged in the community. The base of volunteers and the board and the whole team that's involved have been exceptional. It's long hours, but when they see what they've done for the kids and the community it's unbelievable. This is the first time a First Nation (Lheidli T'enneh) has been joint host of the Games, which is absolutely exceptional."
Prince George won the right to host the Games on Sept. 17, 2010, beating out competing bids from Kamloops and Kelowna. Ever since then, the clock has been ticking down on preparations for the Games.
2015 Winter Games chief executive officer Stu Ballantyne served a similar role with the 2009 World Police and Fire Games in Vancouver and was on the ground floor of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver-Whistler as project director of Molson Canadian Hockey House, the party pavilion of the Games. Ballantyne says even if people aren't into watching the 19 Canada Games sports being offered or don't have the money to pay for tickets to watch the events, there are plenty of free activities.
"There's a live site at Canada Games Plaza downtown for the opening and closing ceremonies, we have fireworks every night, there sports as low as $5 for a ticket, we're on TSN, we've got 900 hours of webcasting and we have our Canada Games TV magazine show online and it's all free," said Ballantyne.
"The partnerships we've formed with the Lheidli T'enneh, with the sporting community, with Cold Snap with the Arts Council -- everything all came together because we needed everybody to come together in order to be able to host it."
Hired in August 2011, Ballantyne has lived in the city ever since and while he's had many sleepless nights planning the Games and working with the committee to line up thousands of volunteers to make it all possible, he figures it will be well worth the effort.
"It's very emotional, it's a lot of work but the reality is once that cauldron gets lit it changes everyone," Ballantyne said. "I think the volunteers are already showing us that it's something to be happy about and coming into the weekend it will be amazing.
"People are happy to say they're from Prince George and they're proud to be able to show it off over the next two or three weeks."
Prince George-Valemount MLA Shirley Bond was born and raised in Prince George and says the Games will forever change the attitudes of people who look down their noses at the city as being inferior as compared to other Canadian cities. They will see the positive aspects of Prince George and what it has to offer with its sports facilities, postsecondary schools, economic potential and the natural beauty of the city's surroundings to finally shed its tarnished but undeserved reputation as simply a grubby old mill town.
"We get to experience incredible athletic competition and we get to experience amazing cultural activities, but this is more about what it does for us as a community," said Bond. "It knits people together and it very reminiscent of that feeling we had at the Olympics.
"As a lifelong resident, I want people to experience the Prince George we know and love, the hospitality and spirit and great opportunities, and I think there is the possibility to change the image we have on the national stage. There's lots to do, there are pavilions that are open, there's fireworks and entertainment throughout the city and I really hope people take advantage of it and get involved."
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