See who will be carrying a torch for Canada Winter Games

Celebration planned for Nov. 30 when torch relay for 2019 Canada Winter Games stops in town

Aspeedskater, a famed goalie, a world-class curler and several politicians will carry the Canada Winter Games torch when it arrives in Kelowna next week.

The torch relay is now in Victoria, starting a 17-day journey across B.C. that includes stops in Kelowna and Vernon. The Games start Feb. 15 in Red Deer, Alta.

In Kelowna, the torch relay will be celebrated from 3 to 3:30 p.m. Nov. 30 at Stuart Park. The city plans to make Nov. 30 the first day for skating at the park’s popular ice rink.

“The MNP Canada Games torch relay is a significant element of the Canada Games and has united communities across the nation for the past 51 years,” the Games website states.

A torch celebration will also be held in Vernon on Dec. 4, from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. at the Halina Seniors Centre, 3310 37 Ave.

The Canada Games torch was lit from the Centennial Flame on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Oct. 4, and the relay has now passed through all provinces except B.C. and Alberta. Celebration events have been held or are planned in a total of 48 Canadian communities.

In Kelowna, the politicians previously selected by Games organizers to be torchbearers are Mayor Colin Basran, Coun. Maxine DeHart and Kelowna-Mission Liberal MLA Steve Thomson.

Also carrying the flame will be Accelerate Okanagan director Raghwa Gopal, former Penticton Vees goalie Ivan McLelland, who led the team to an improbable world championship in the 1950s, Renee Simons, a former world women’s curling champion, and Christina Acton, a speedskating coach with Team B.C. at the 2011

Canada Winter Games.

For the relay’s appearance in Vernon, there are no official torchbearers, but interested members of the public are invited

to come out to the celebration event at the seniors centre.

“Celebration stops are a smaller-scale event where the flame will be present. The celebration

stops are an opportunity to feel the spirit of the Games and celebrate our nation’s young athletes,” the Games website states.

Intended as a training competition

for the next generation of Canada’s international-calibre athletes, the Games in Red Deer will draw 3,600 competitors in 19 sports.

Special to The Daily Courier The 2019 Canada Winter Games torch is carried in Regina, Sask., during some suitably wintry weather earlier this month. The torch will pass through Kelowna next week.