TORONTO, 8 March — Canadian Olympians, including hockey heroes, who brought home gold medals will be honored on the floor of the House of Commons in Ottawa , according to an official announcement.
Disclosing official plans for celebration, the Federal Heritage Minister Sheila Copps said the Olympians and Paralympians will be honored on Monday (April 15), followed by a grand reception. She wouldn’t officially call it a holiday. But, then again, she wouldn’t specifically say it wasn’t a holiday.
“Let’s just have a grand celebration and we’ll see where it takes us,” she said in the Parliament. If the day was declared holiday by the Prime Minister Jean Chretien, then it will be a long weekend.
A senior official in prime minister’s office, meanwhile, said so far there has been no discussion of declaring April 15 an official holiday. At least two countries, the Czech Republic and Australia, have declared national holidays to celebrate sporting achievements in recent years.
Canadian athletes won a record 17 medals at the Salt Lake City Winter Games, including six gold — and both top spots in hockey. The Paralympic Games are now taking over the venues in Salt Lake. The athletes from the Olympics and Paralympics will be invited, along with Canadian artists, to the Museum of Civilization, the minister said.
Copps said she would like to see an open-air celebration on Parliament Hill, but said the museum was chosen as a backup in case of rain or snow. “We’re hoping to have thousands of Canadians who will celebrate at the museum,” she said.
“This is probably the most spontaneous explosion of Canadian pride we have seen in three generations, so of course we’re encouraging people to do things across the country.” Copps also suggested local communities across the country plan celebrations for our athletes, leading many to suggest the temptation for Canadians to take a long weekend will be irresistible.
Progressive Conservative Leader Joe Clark said he doesn’t believe the day should be deemed a holiday, but he backed the idea of a national ceremony. The deputy leader of the Canadian Alliance, Rahim Jaffer, said Canadians will find a “lot of consent” from employers if they want to party in honor of our Olympians.
“I would only ask whether the money being spent on that type of event, could it have been better used to fund our athletes when they really needed those resources?” he said.
Copps acknowledged it will be tough to have any Team Canada hockey players in attendance, since the regular National Hockey League season ends the night before and most players on the gold medal team will be preparing for the playoffs.
