2019 Canada Winter Games
Inaugural Canada Games Torch Relay kicks of in Ottawa
First-Ever National MNP Canada Games Torch Relay Kicks Off
(Ottawa, Ontario) – Today, the first-ever national MNP Canada Games Torch Relay kicked off on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Ontario, and the Canada Games flag was raised across the country in past Host Communities. As part of Canada Games tradition, the Canada Games Roly McLenahan Torch was lit from the Centennial Flame with guest of honour Minister of Sport, Kirsty Duncan. The Canada Games Torch Lighting is a significant element of the Games and has united communities across the nation for the past 51 years. In celebration of the lighting of the torch, past Canada Games Host Communities raised the Canada Games flag. For the first time in the history of the Canada Games, the Roly McLenahan torch now embarks on a relay across Canada before arriving in Red Deer, Alberta for the Opening Ceremony of the 2019 Canada Winter Games on February 15, 2019.
“The MNP Canada Games Torch Relay is an exciting opportunity to share the spirit of the Canada Games across the nation,” said Lyn Radford, Board Chair of the 2019 Canada Winter Games Host Society. “We are proud to partner with MNP to deliver the first-ever national MNP Canada Games Torch Relay and celebrate sport and culture in communities across the nation from now until the Opening Ceremony of the 2019 Canada Winter Games in Red Deer.”
“This inaugural MNP Canada Games Torch Relay will give Canadians across the country the opportunity to experience the true spirit of the 2019 Canada Winter Games,” said the Honourable Kirsty Duncan, Minister of Science and Sport. “The flame will pass through communities in every region of the country providing Canadians an opportunity to cheer on our athletes as they strive for excellence but also to be inspired by their love of sport.”
“Alberta is proud to host the 2019 Canada Winter Games in Red Deer,” said Ricardo Miranda, Alberta Minister of Culture and Tourism. “We will be eagerly watching the torch as it makes its way across the country before arriving in the heart of Alberta. Good luck to all the torchbearers and we look forward to welcoming you to Alberta soon.”
“As the torch starts its journey on the road to Red Deer, it provides a unique opportunity for our fellow Canadians to become a part of the 2019 Canada Winter Games in their respective communities,” said City of Red Deer Mayor Tara Veer. “Through the torch, Canadians from coast to coast to coast across our country will become a part of the energy and excitement that Red Deer will experience this February when we welcome the nation to our city”.
“We are thrilled that the MNP Canada Games Torch Relay is now underway and that the iconic Roly McLenahan Torch is set to travel across our beautiful country, galvanizing Canadian pride for youth and sport,” said Tom Quinn, Canada Games Council Chairman. “The Torch visits communities that have hosted past editions of the Canada Games and a feeling of nostalgia and effervescence is sure to take over as residents reminisce about how impactful the Canada Games were to their city and community.”
“For MNP, the opportunity to participate in the coast-to-coast Torch Relay is a real honour and a wonderful way for us, as a ‘Made in Canada’ firm, to celebrate our 60th anniversary,” said Jason Tuffs, Chief Executive Officer of MNP. “We wish all the athletes, their families, Games organizers, leadership and volunteers a fun and successful 2019 Canada Winter Games.”
The first torch relay stop is Halifax, Nova Scotia on October 9 and then the MNP Canada Games Torch Relay heads west visiting almost 50 communities across Canada through a series of torch relay and community celebration stops before arriving in Red Deer for the Opening Ceremony of the 2019 Games.
Torch relays are hosted in 26 communities, information on torchbearers is available at canadagames.ca/2019/torchbearers.
For the complete MNP Canada Games Torch Relay schedule, please visit canadagames.ca/2019/mnptorchrelay.
2019 Canada Winter Games
Gift that keeps giving: 35 Alberta non-profits funded through the 2019 Canada Winter Games Legacy Fund
From the Canada Games Council
LEGACIES OF THE 2019 CANADA WINTER GAMES CONTINUE TO GROW
Legacy Fund Society awards legacy funds to not-for-profits across Alberta
The 2019 Canada Winter Games Legacy Fund Society has awarded the financial legacy from the 2019 Games to not-for-profit sport and community organizations across Alberta.
“The Legacy Fund Society is pleased to announce that we have awarded $655,000 in grants to 35 not-for-profit sport and community organizations across Alberta,” said Guy Pelletier, Legacy Fund Society Chair. “The grants support a wide variety of projects across the province. These organizations and their respective projects build on the numerous legacies of the 2019 Games.”
Through a grant application process in early 2021, the Legacy Fund Society received and reviewed funding requests for 200 projects from nearly 150 organizations at a value of over $7.1 million.
“The response to our call for applications was phenomenal. There was no shortage of meaningful and innovative projects,” said Pelletier.
“The 2019 Canada Games in Red Deer were truly transformative and continue to foster meaningful legacies across Alberta,” said Kelly-Ann Paul, Senior Vice-President of Host Relations at the Canada Games Council. “These legacy grants will enrich and uplift organizations and communities as we strive to strengthen the fabric of Canada through the power of sport.”
Requests for funding were reviewed and evaluated based on their alignment with the values of the 2019 Games and distributed in four categories: athlete and coach or official development; infrastructure or equipment development or acquisition; sport development capacity building; and non-sport or discretionary projects.
The following is a listing of the organizations who were awarded funding:
2019 Canada Winter Games
2019 Canada Winter Games Chair Lyn Radford Wins STC Sport Event Volunteer of the Year Award
From the Canada Games Council
Lyn Radford, Chair of the 2019 Canada Winter Games, has been named the recipient of the 2020 Sport Tourism Canada (STC) Sport Event Volunteer of the Year Award.
The presentation of the 2020 PRESTIGE awards, postponed from last year, were hosted virtually as a gala on-line production. The presentation was hosted by Olympian, World Cup medallist and CBC Broadcaster Kelly VanderBeek.
The STC Sport Event Volunteer of the Year Award recognizes the outstanding contributions of an individual’s volunteer efforts during the hosting of one or more sport events in Canada in 2019.
Lyn Radford Background and Accomplishments
-Lyn Radford served as the Chair of the 2019 Canada Winter Games Host Society from 2014 – 2019
-Lyn oversaw the leadership, planning, execution, governance, and fundraising of the 2019 Canada Games, while serving as the primary spokesperson for the organization
-She is the first singular female Chairperson of a Host Society in Canada Games history
Lyn has volunteered her time to other major events throughout Red Deer and Alberta including the following:
- 2003, 2006 and 2007 Bid Committee member for Alberta & Western Canada Games
- Committee member for 2013 Memorial Cup Bid
- Chair of the 2006 Alberta Summer Games
- Directed the 2010 Olympic Torch Celebration
- Served as a Director for 1998 Alberta Winter Games
- Served as a Director for the 2004 and 2012 Scotties Tournament of Hearts
- Served as a Director for the inaugural 2013 Tour of Alberta cycling race
- Served as Capital Campaign Chair for Red Deer’s Ronald McDonald House
- Founding member of both the Alberta Sport Development Centre – Central and the Red Deer Leadership Centre
- Served on the Alberta Sport Connection as the Provincial Games Chair
- Served as a Director on Red Deer College’s Board of Governors
Lyn has been recognized through various other awards including:
- 2005 Alberta Centennial Medal for Volunteer Service
- 2006 Toyota Never Quit Award
- 2007 Mayors Award of Distinction for Volunteer Service
- Red Deer’s 2009 Citizen of the Year
- 2011 Women of Excellence Lifetime Achievement Award winner
- Governor General of Canada 2012 Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal
- 2019 City of Red Deer Lifetime Achievement Award
- 2019 honorary bachelor of interdisciplinary studies degree
Quotes
“The 2019 Canada Winter Games were an incredible event that showcased our nation’s top amateur athletes and left behind a legacy of infrastructure, sustainability, and community pride in Red Deer. Lyn Radford was the driving force behind how successful these Games were, and we are grateful for the years of hard work and dedication she invested in the 2019 Canada Winter Games. The Canada Games are stronger than ever because of Lyn, and we’re thrilled that she’s being recognized for all of her accomplishments.”
Evan Johnston, Chair, Canada Games Council
“Congratulations to Lyn on being recognized by Sport Tourism as the Sport Event Volunteer of the Year. What a well deserved honor. Lyn has worked tirelessly as a volunteer for all of her adult life. No task is too small or too large for her to tackle. But the legacy of her volunteerism goes deeper than just her own involvement in a myriad of activities and events. She leads, motivates, encourages, cajoles and celebrates in such an infectious manner that the result is literally thousands of people who are giving back to their community because of her passion for commitment. The 2019 Canada Winter Games was just one of many opportunities for her to lead others to impact our community. I am sure all of the nominees have been involved in their events because of an intrinsic motivation to make a difference. And Lyn was no different. Her motivation is never about self but about transforming community and people. During one day in the preparation for the Games, Lyn made an important presentation to our political leaders in the morning, helped with the orientation of volunteers in the afternoon and then was found hanging ornamental snowflakes from the light posts of main street in the evening. She exemplifies the saying ‘life is short-do stuff that matters-for and with others.”
Hugh McPherson, Vice Chair, 2019 Canada Winter Games Host Society
“Thank you to Sport Tourism Canada for recognizing the 2019 Canada Winter Games, and the hard work of our “force-to-be-reckoned with” Chair, Lyn Radford. This award recognizes the leadership, strength and fortitude demonstrated by our Chair, Lyn Radford and CEO, Scott Robinson, and the more than 5,000 incredible community volunteers. We made this once-in-a-lifetime moment ours, as individuals, as a community, and as a country in pursuit of possibilities. Congratulations Lyn on this prestigious award.”
Tara Veer, Mayor of Red Deer
About the Canada Games
Held once every two years, alternating between winter and summer, the Canada Games are the largest multi-sport event in Canada for up and coming amateur athletes. Each Games features two weeks of competition, between 16 – 19 sports, approximately 3,400 summer and 2,350 winter athletes, and over 4,000 volunteers. Hosted in every province at least once since their inception in Quebec City in 1967, the Games are proud of their contribution to Canada’s sport development system in addition to their lasting legacy of sport facilities, community pride and national unity.
The organization of the Canada Games is made possible thanks to the contribution and support of the Government of Canada, provincial/territorial governments, host municipalities and the Canada Games Council.
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