February 2009
Canada prepares to greet athletes from around the world in English and en français!
Athletes from around the globe are poised to meet the challenge that will await them in Vancouver in 2010, during one of the most recognizable and most-watched sporting events in the world—the Olympic Games. As individuals from around the world are watching, athletes will strive to show why they deserve the top honour of competing in these Games while proudly representing their country.
The 2010 Games provide Canadian athletes with the exceptionally rare opportunity to compete in their country of origin—for only the third time in the history of the Olympics. Montréal hosted the Summer Games in 1976, while Calgary hosted the Winter Games in 1988. In many ways, our athletes will join thousands of Canadians to play host at this sporting event, which will be a showcase of Canada’s rich history and cultural diversity in both official languages.
Last December, the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages launched a study entitled Raising our Game for Vancouver 2010: Towards a Canadian Model of Linguistic Duality in International Sport, which examines the steps taken by the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (VANOC) to hold Games that reflect Canada’s linguistic duality.
At the launch of the study, the Commissioner of Official Languages stated “The 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games are a high-profile global event, and a unique opportunity to show the world that linguistic duality is a fundamental Canadian value. This event is also an opportunity to celebrate the richness of the English- and French-speaking minority communities across the country.”
“We appreciate Commissioner Fraser’s interest in our project, his constructive recommendations and his recognition of our progress to date. At Vancouver 2010, we are working tirelessly to deliver a magnificent outcome for this country in all facets of Games operations—an outcome that fully respects Canada’s linguistic duality,” said John Furlong, CEO of VANOC.
“Delivering bilingual Games is a huge undertaking. While there will be challenges ahead of us, we are counting on our sponsors and partners, including the Francophone communities of Canada, to help us in this endeavour. This is who we are. This is the country we all live in and love as much as we do, so this really for us wasn’t so much just about language, it’s about this spirit of duality,” Furlong added.
The study provides recommendations that will help VANOC hit the ground running on February 12, 2010 by pre-empting problems in order to ensure that services are offered in both official languages. In addition to simultaneous interpretation and the recruitment of bilingual volunteers, the recommendations refer to signage, sponsors, the role of the Federal Games Secretariat and the resources allocated to the Official Languages Function.
VANOC encourages Canadians who can speak both official languages to apply for volunteer positions, and to help them staff those hard-to-fill roles related to sports, medicine and press operations. So far, 15 per cent of VANOC’s paid staff is bilingual and 10,000 volunteer applicants have a conversational level of French. VANOC continues to accept applications for volunteer positions at vancouver2010.com
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