The 2010 Winter Paralympics Torch Relay was a 10-day event leading up to the 2010 Winter Paralympic Games in Vancouver. It began on March 3, 2010, in Ottawa and concluded at the Games' opening ceremony on March 12. Held entirely within Canada, the host country, it has been described by the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games as "an important event to connect Canadians to the Games", by "demonstrating the fire inside each individual and how it inspires others".
The Paralympic Flame was lit at a ceremony in Ottawa, with the participation of torchbearers representing each province and territory of Canada. Setting out from Ottawa, the Torch was due to be carried through Quebec City on March 4, Toronto on March 5, Esquimalt and Victoria on March 6, Squamish on March 7, Whistler on March 8, Lytton and Hope on March 9, before spending the final three days in Vancouver. On March 10, it was scheduled to visit Riley Park and Maple Ridge, then the campus of the University of British Columbia on the following day. On March 12, after being borne through downtown Vancouver, the Flame was to be taken to BC Place Stadium for the Games' opening ceremony.
The Organising Committee stated that "[t]his relay is distinct from typical relays as it will happen in and around the Celebration Communities". A celebration ceremony will be organised at each stop of the relay, involving the community.
In Ottawa, the celebration was a Lighting Ceremony, during which "the local First Nations communities of the Algonquins of Pikwàkanagàn and Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg" would light the Flame. The Torch would then travel to Parliament Hill. At the end of the day, it was to be extinguished, to be relit on March 4 by the local First Nations of its next stop.
In Quebec City, celebrations were held on the campus of Laval University; in Toronto, on Nathan Phillips Square; and in Esquimalt, at the Archie Browning Sports Centre. The Flame was then to be taken to Victoria by water taxi and on an "Aboriginal traditional canoe", for celebrations at Ship Point (Victoria Inner Harbour). In Squamish, celebrations were slated to take place on Cleveland Avenue; in Whistler, at Whistler Village Square, after being carried, "on various modes of transport, such as skis and a snowboard", "to the peak of the Blackcomb Mountain and taken on the Peak 2 Peak Gondola to Whistler Mountain". In Lytton, celebrations "will take place on 4th street at Fraser", and in Hope, at Memorial Park, on Wallace Street. Finally, in Vancouver, they were organised to take place at Riley Park Community Centre, Spirit Square, the University of British Columbia and Robson Square.
The Flame was scheduled to be borne by "approximately 600 torchbearers" including "Canadians from all walks of life" as well as athletes.
The first bearer of the torch was single-leg amputee marathon runner Rick Ball, triple world record holder.
Other torchbearers:
Dr. Robert Steadward, founding president of the International Paralympic Committee from 1989 to 2001
Rick Mercer, broadcaster, comedian and commentator who "has significantly raised the profile of Paralympic sports through his work"
Jasmine Gerein, daughter of Clayton Gerein - seven-time Paralympic gold medallist who was a torchbearer at the 2010 Winter Olympics torch relay and died on January 9, 2010
Chelsea Gotell, successful Paralympic swimmer who broke two world records at the 2008 Summer Paralympics
Erica Noon, eighteen-year-old single-arm amputee para-swimmer
Simon Koomak, golfer suffering from brittle bone disease
Jared Funk, two-time Paralympian wheelchair rugby player
Rick Goodfellow, "executive director of the non-profit organization Challenge Community Vocational Alternatives; provider of employment support and training to people with disabilities in Yukon"
Colin MacLeod, ice sledge hockey player with spina bifida and hydrocephalus
Justin Hines, singer-songwriter with Larsen Syndrome
Dean Bergeron, four-time Paralympian hockey player
Katherine Elkin, competitive para-swimmer
Sabrina Pettinicchi Durepos, four-time Paralympian wheelchair basketball player
Arnold Boldt, three-time Paralympian track and field athlete
Justine Belair, former competitive figure skater, representing the Algonquins of Pikwakanagan First Nations
Visually impaired four-time track and field Paralympian France Gagné
Jeff Adams, six-time Paralympian, "one of Canada’s leading wheelchair athletes" in track and field
Brian Gray, a local community coach in hockey and several other sports in Esquimalt; he has cerebral palsy
Peter Lawless, director of the Coaches Association of British Columbia and Coaches of Canada, founder of "the first wheelchair athletic training group on Vancouver Island"; he has trained several successful athletes with disabilities
Matt Hallat, single-leg amputee alpine skier at the 2006 Winter Paralympics
Andrea Drynock, successful double-leg amputee former competitive swimmer
Heather Stewin, visually impaired founder of "Storytime in the Park", "a program dedicated to addressing literacy issues in the community" in Hope, British Columbia
Priya (Jasdeep) Sekhon, paraplegic fourteen-year-old
Jennifer McKenzie, equestrian competitor at the 2008 Summer Paralympics
Bonita Sawatzky, associate professor in orthopaedics (in the spine division) at the University of British Columbia, competitive cyclist with a disability
Laurel Crosby, Canadian flagbearer at the 1988 and 1992 Summer Paralympics; former president of the Canadian Paralympic Committee
Denis Laflamme; the Manager, governmental affairs and health policies for Pfizer Canada
Johannah Jackson, daughter of Dr. Robert Jackson, one of the founding fathers of the Canadian Paralympic Movement
Janet Dunn, Paralympic movement coach and rehabilitation volunteer for over 25 years
Blair McIntosh, Canadian Paralympic Committee 2010 Chef de Mission for Team Canada and Team Ontario
Ken Melamed, Mayor of Whistler
Jason Dunkerly, three-time Paralympic runner with a visual impairment
Vancouver, Hillcrest and Riley Park, March 10
Jane Blaine, Executive Director for BC Blind Sports and Recreation Association and also the Executive Director/CEO for Canadian Blind Sports
George Hungerford, Olympic rower
Vancouver, downtown, March 11 and 12
Athena Cooper, Web Administrator and Designer at 2010 Legacies Now
Aiden McKee. contributor to book With Glowing Hearts
Terrie Moore, co-chair of the CPC Classification Task Force, Executive Director of SportAbility BC
Bianca Solterbeck, journalist with ShawTV
Walter Wu, partially blind Paralympic swimmer, Terry Fox Hall of Fame inductee
Eron Main, Secretary General of the International Wheelchair Rugby Federation, on the Board of the Canadian Wheelchair Sports Association
Tracey Keith, wife of Steven Keith, Director, Olympic Activation at Suncor Energy
Michelle Stilwell, Canadian Paralympian, wheelchair racing and wheelchair basketball
Senator Joyce Fairbairn, former Chair of "Friends of the Idiots ", chair of Canadian Paralympic Foundation
Ozzie Sawicki, founder and president of Pozitive Results Sport Strategies Inc. Head Coach and Program Director for the Canadian Disabled Alpine Ski Team from 2000 to 2004, Head Coach of the Canadian Para-Athletics (Track and Field) Program with Athletics Canada, sits on Boards for the Canadian Paralympic Committee, Coaches of Canada, the Canadian Ski Coaches Federation, and Coach Alberta
Jack Christie, sport journalist for the Georgia Straight
Lauren Barwick, Canadian Paralympian, para-dressage equestrian
Sonia Gaudet, Canadian Paralympian, wheelchair curling, ambassador for the Rick Hansen Foundation, CPC, VANOC
Cindy Crapper, record-setting track and field thrower, member of the International Day for People with Disabilities Celebration, BC Sport Group, BCRPA, City of Vancouver's Sport Strategy, Active Communities Initiatives, CAAWS; Women in Leadership and a member of the British Columbia Recreation and Parks Association
Josh Vander Vies, Canadian boccia player, Athlete Council Representation on the Canadian Paralympic Committee Board of Directors
Elisabeth Walker-Young, four-time Paralympian, member of the Athlete and Coach Selection Committee for Para-swimming Swimming Canada, Classification Specialist for VANOC for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games
