OTTAWA - Former gold medallists and mascots joined Prime Minister Stephen Harper on Parliament Hill on Thursday to unveil the Olympic flag marking the one-year countdown to the 2010 Winter Games.
Former speedskater Gaetan Boucher and former alpine skier Nancy Greene Raine, now a senator, were among those attending the brief ceremony.
Harper issued a statement inviting Canadians to celebrate the countdown and expressing his hope the Games in Vancouver and Whistler, B.C., will "capture the heart of our great nation."
The prime minister says he, wife Laureen and children Ben and Rachel look forward to cheering Canada's athletes on and helping show the world "what it means to be Canadian."
The event was one of several across the country to mark the one-year countdown.
Elementary children sang "O Canada" and shook noisemakers at Fredericton City Hall. Randall Haslett of Fredericton is hoping he'll have a chance to carry the Olympic torch for a second time.
He was 43 when he jogged through Hartland, N.B., with the torch as it headed for the 1988 Olympics in Calgary.
Meanwhile, Gov. Gen. Michaelle Jean hosted a lunchtime at Rideau Hall while a rare honour is being given to the Games at Parliament Hill in the evening as the Peace Tower bells will ring and the Olympic flag is raised.
In Newfoundland, musicians will play a symphony from the boats in St. John's harbour, while a week's worth of community sporting events have been going on in Manitoba.
In Calgary, the last Canadian city to host an Olympic Games, they're dusting off the torch from the 1988 Winter Olympics to light their own Olympic cauldron.
The host province is holding several major events. The Olympic torch was unveiled early in the day in Whistler, B.C., the host of the nordic, alpine and sliding events in 2010. Later in the day, government and Olympic officials will gather for a celebration at the speedskating oval in Richmond, where IOC president Jacques Rogge will issue his official invitation to the world's athletes to come compete in 2010.
