Winter Games Will be Profound Experience Says Furlong
Wednesday, April 4, 2012 @ 10:25 AM
Prince George, B.C.- “This experience you are about to have, will be profound” those are the words of John Furlong, CEO of VANOC and the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games on the impact the 2015 Canada Winter Games will have on Prince George.
Furlong has been offering advice to the 2015 Games Society, “I’ve already provided them with some support and some help” as he says he has been trying to offer some insight on what they, and the community, can expect in the way of challenges and the impact the Games will have on Prince George.
“It (the 2015 Games) will be one of the great experiences in the City’s history, no question about it” says Furlong.
Furlong says the Canada Winter Games will be to Prince George, what the Olympics were to Vancouver “It’ll touch every citizen, no matter how hard you try to stay away from it, you won’t be able to and that’s a good thing. When you come out of the Games, you will have facilities you put in place for the Games, you will dress the city up, but the truth is, the most important legacy will be the human one you left behind, the feeling that you can do anything, that you have this capacity to take anything on.”
With family connections in Prince George ( his son lives in P.G. ) Furlong says when he comes to Prince George he feels he is “coming home” and he was delighted P.G. was awarded the Games “Honestly, its time, it’s time Prince George had such a chance as the Canada Winter Games , you are truly a northern community, and for certain you won’t have any problems with it being cold enough and that’s good, because weather can be heart breaking.”
Furlong says the Games are far more than a sports event, “There will be a glow on the City that will catch you by surprise.” He says it is astonishing to watch how a community comes together, that people become inspired to be great ambassadors for their community “If people allow themselves to get involved they will find this really is quite a special thing to do.”
The Games will be taking place during Prince George’s centennial, and Furlong says the Games can be just part of that celebration to ensure the “glow” continues “You should look at everything planned for the course of that year and say, lets push that underneath the glow, you’re going to have this microscope on your community, the Country is watching, you will be the centre of attention, and you should look at it and say can we take that event, and all the other things we’re doing that year and make them far grander than they are?”
“There is a great spirit in Prince, George, great facilities, you have a great team that is very positive to me and I think you are going to have a great time with this. I think that when you look back on this, you will be quick to say, I’d do it again.”
At 61, Furlong has no immediate retirement plans, he is about to embark on a new project, but is not yet at liberty to reveal the details.
John Furlong will be the featured speaker at the Bob Ewert Memorial Lecture and dinner on April 14th and will be present when the 2015 Games Society unveils its “brand” and launches it’s drive for Volunteers April 14th at the Pine Centre Mall.
Comments
In much the same way Vancouver and BC couldn’t afford the Winter Olympics, Prince George is heading down the path of huge debt with little return. I enjoy good sporting events as much as anyone but with the economy being so fragile right now and debts being at an all time high I suggest that a moratorium on these types of high cost activities would be prudent right now….
Exactly, mercenary. I fear that the “profound experience” will take the form of the city spending a lot of tax money and people experiencing a lot of inconvenience for an event whose local financial benefits do not begin to compensate for the costs.
As usual a small group has the ear of city hall and the majority have no say in the resulting tax increase.
Fix the roads and forget the games and profound experience.
To some people it is a prestige thing.
To others it is an uplifting experience.
To athletes who compete from this region it is a pride thing.
There are also a lot of people who wished for various reasons that the gamnes would have been taken on by someone else.
But, you know, there would have been just as many, if not more, who would have said … “Kelowna (or Kamloops) always get these events. We are the forgotten folks up here in the northern half of the province.”
Can’t have it both way, folks. It’s here. There is absolutely no amount of bitchin’ which will change it.
If you do not like it, and you feel that more people should have been involved in the decision making such as borroing money for these projects or increasing the taxes for such projects then let your Councillors and Mayor know. Better still, the next time you elect people for three years, make sure you know their position on such spur of the moment expenditure decisions.
The only profound experience is more debt, and since we are already deep in debt the only experience is a realization that the mayor and council have no idea when to stop spending what we cant afford.
It’s really sad to see the negativity. These games will be a chance for PG to shine and all you folks can do is dump on it.
What’s the best way to make this a great experience for PG? What’s the best way to ensure we get the absolute best bang for our buck? What’s the best way to show Canada that we’re not just some crime ridden rat hole?
Simple…if folks would get involved, take some pride, quit their arm chair whining and complaining and help make these Games as succesful as possible we would have a tremendous start on all of the above and more!
Or you can just sit back behind your computer and dump on folks trying to make PG better. I expect that’s exactly what most folks on this site will do and that’s just sad.
The games are ok for the Atheletes, however the rest of it, ie; building buildings, and spending money is BS.
We have these games all over Canada every second year. Winter Games , then Summer Games. People run around and make a lot of hoopla, and then go home.
The Games were held in Whitehorse Yukon a few years ago, and in Grande Prairie before that. Very few people even knew they were held, let alone attended them. So dont expect Prince George to be remembered for more than two weeks after the games. (if that)
The biggest attendence will come from all the Managers, Atheletes, Volunteers, etc.
ie; 3000 Managers, Atheletes, 5000 volunteers. 8000 people running around like chickens.
You can rest assured that the City will do some paving in the areas where the Managers, and Atheletes will be travelling, however this means that other areas will continue to be short changed.
Nero fiddled while Rome burned. The Queen and her Court of eight Councillors will preen, and pontificate for two weeks, and bask in the glory of the games.
Once they are over, back to the old grind, pay taxes for services you never receive, and watch the City go down the tube.
Palopu: Right on . I Couldn’t have said it any better myself.
No one is looking to crap on the atheletes, voluteers, managers and all the other earnest Ernies.
We can’t afford it. It’s as simple as that.
Being in debt is an experience. Being more in debt after these games will more “profound”.
Pothole free roads would a more favourable “profound experience”.
Comments for this article are closed.