Canada’s Governor General was named honorary patron of the 2010 Olympic Truce yesterday.
The truce, which aims to inspire peace through sport, is based on the ancient Greek tradition that was revitalized in the early ’90s.
Gov. Gen. Michaëlle Jean, who took part in a youth forum on the Olympic Truce at the Ismaili Centre in Burnaby, asked the crowd of about 100 high school and university students to “make a firm commitment to building peace.”
“I believe that sport, like art, has the power to unite us around this ideal (peace) to which humanity has aspired since the dawn of time,” Jean said.
VANOC CEO John Furlong said the program is based on the idea of letting athletes pass safely to get to the Games.
“Over the past number of years, there have been situations in some countries that, without co-operation, the athletes may not have made it to the Games,” he said. “And that’s what this aims to do.”
