It is hard to believe, but it has been almost a decade since the 2010 Olympic Games and Winter Paralympics swept through the Lower Mainland and the Sea to Sky.
There is no question that the Olympics have had a lasting impact on our area.
“The Olympics were a game-changer for Squamish. More for Squamish I would say than any other area,” said former Squamish mayor Patricia Heintzman, adding that the biggest impacts weren’t during the games, but the infrastructure upgrades that were completed prior to the first torch relay run.
The road more travelled
The $600-million Sea-to-Sky Highway Improvement Project was completed in 2009, in time for the Olympics and was built to handle increased capacity until 2030.
The new highway, with additional lanes and wider shoulders is a safer version of the mountain pass than what previously wound its way through Squamish. With the improved drive came the commuters.
“Without the highway expansion, we would not have the growth that we have had, and still have, which everyone at the time thought was greatly needed. But ironically, the rate of growth today is a concern to many. When a government makes a $700-million investment they do so expecting a return. That return is land development,” Heintzman said in an email to The Squamish Chief, adding she wishes that the more costly high-speed rail, rather than a highway, could have been.
“On the whole, [the Olympics] was a positive for the town. I wish we’d gotten a train and not a bigger highway, it would have been a much better, more sustainable choice into the future.”
Squamish’s Corridor Trail, too, came out of the Olympics, Heintzman notes.
John French, who worked for two years for the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (VANOC) as community and media relations manager, also notes the infrastructure gains from the Games.
“It gave us some amazing legacy venues, like the cross country ski trail at Whistler Olympic Park and the biathlon range and the ski jumps,” he said, adding that Legacy Park was another gain for Squamish.
The Sea to Sky Nordics Club too came together out of the Games.
“And it is a solid club with some really talented young skiers,” he said.
The Games created tourism awareness that never would have been created without that level of world focus, French added.
He acknowledges that Squamish could likely have gained more and that some in town were disappointed their expectations were not met.
“The council of the day had tremendous opportunity, and they didn’t capitalize on it. The council of the day expected far more than it realistically should have,” he said. “Ultimately, VANOC opted to find other solutions outside of Squamish for things like parking and transportation hubs.”
Asked if other towns should see the potential of the Olympics as a boon, French said it depends.
“What it would depend on is the existing venues, and what it would take to build venues that aren’t already built. For an event like the Olympic Games, any city that has a scenario that is similar to Vancouver, where there are smaller outlying communities where events can be located, I would say it is really ideal,” he said. “In my mind, the way Vancouver, Whistler functioned in 2010 — with most of the snow events being in the Whistler area — it worked really well.”
Squamish Nation gains
Squamish Nation Coun. Kwitelut Kwelaw’ikw (Carla George) worked toward the 2010 bid for the Olympics and was on her first term on council during the Games.
The Games celebrated the four host nations on whose territories the Games occurred — the Tsleil-Waututh, Musqueam, Lil’wat and Squamish Nations.
George said there were many positives for the Nation.
“Right from thinking of our youth who were dancing on the floor during the opening ceremonies... along with our heads of state who participated with all these government officials, all the Royalty. [The Olympics] were very, very inclusive of our four host First Nations,” she said.
Enhanced Nation-to-Nation building has grown from the Games, she said.
“Working together under the four host First Nations and just collaborating within our own communities has been phenomenal,” George said, noting land development as one example of collaboration.
“Going beyond that to municipal, regional, provincial, federal government... I believe the relationships have changed,” she said, pointing to the City of Vancouver acknowledging the territories of the First Nations of the area.
“That has really changed to where we are at today and I really attribute a lot of that to looking at what the Olympics brought to our communities.”
The Squamish Lil'wat Cultural Centre and Whistler Nordic Centre came out of the Games and were built by the Nation’s Newhaven Projects Limited Partnership.
“Having those opportunities was pretty phenomenal,” she said.
The Sea to Sky Squamish-language signage encouraged the current revitalization of the language, which, for a time, had dwindled to a handful of speakers.
“It was our opportunity to say, ‘We have a language, we are still here. We haven’t vanished,’” she said.
“We have continued on with the revitalization of our language in our own communities.”
The First Nation Snow Board Team is another legacy of the Games too, she said.
The Fun
Everyone The Chief spoke to about the Olympic experience said that they have fond memories of the camaraderie and fun they experienced during the Games.
Squamish’s Tsawaysia Spukwus (Alice Guss) recalls her family drumming, singing, storytelling and getting other people dancing at Totem Hall.
“We shared our language and culture with the Czech Republic Bobsled Team and they told their paralympic team, so we did it for them also,” she recalled.
George recalls the torch relays on the Nation’s traditional territories and the crowds of people at the Aboriginal Pavillion in Vancouver.
She met many heads of state, Olympians and Princess Anne, which was a highlight.
“It was so cool,” she said, adding getting tickets to go to many of the events was exciting for many members.
French described his Olympic experience as “amazing.”
“I personally got so much out of it, in the way of connections and new experiences, I am really thankful that the Olympics came to our area.”
