Friday, January 4, 2002
Canadian Paralympic Committee names Games vice president
OTTAWA -- Canadian Paralympic Committee (CPC) Board of Directors announced yesterday that Louis Barbeau of Repentigny, Que., has been named its Games Vice President. The assistant Chef de Mission at the Summer Paralympics in Sydney, Barbeau's mandate will be to chair the CPC's Games Committee as well as the advisory High Performance Committee, a recent inclusion to the CPC's strategic plan.
"The Paralympic Games are evolving at an incredible pace and in a few years will reach new heights, especially in terms of media coverage. And since Canada is an international force, the Games committee must continue to invest its energy to play its role here," mentioned Barbeau, also a sports committee representative for cycling with the International Paralympic Committee.
A heavy schedule ahead for the Games' committee "The CPC Games Committee also wants to work with the Vancouver/Whistler 2010 group to support the 2010 Winter Paralympic Games bid", Barbeau added, "having the Paralympic Games in Canada would directly influence the development of the sports and the Canadian athletes."
At the national level, the Paralympic movement wants to continue its integration with the Canadian sports community while respecting the distinctiveness of Paralympic sports. "We're seeing this integration at the international level and the CPC wants to continue in that direction. Coaches are working full time with Paralympic athletes but it's still in its developmental stages. We must also play a leader's role in creating opportunities to host more international events."
The Canadian Paralympic Committee is a non-profit, charitable, private corporation that is recognized by the International Paralympic Committee(IPC). The CPC governs and supports the Canadian Paralympic teams at both the Summer and Winter Paralympic Games including athletes from several disability specific groups. Canada is a world leader in promoting and supporting its athletes with a disability. Canadian Paralympians have consistently shown they are among the world's very best. In Sydney, Canada's athletes won 96 medals including 38 gold. Canada expects to send its strongest team ever to Salt Lake City 2002 and Athens 2004.
2002 Games Paralympics Coverage
