SENATORS’ STATEMENTS — Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games 2026

Honourable senators, I am sure you will agree that the 16 days in Milano Cortina did us good. We experienced some magical moments when everyone across the country seemed to be looking in the same direction and smiling at the same time.

Honourable senators, I don’t know about you, but I felt it. These games pulled us together. For a couple of weeks, Canada was cheering with one heartbeat.

Our athletes gave us plenty of reasons to feel proud by bringing home a total of 21 medals: five gold, seven silver and nine bronze.

What stands out most in my mind are the stories, the comebacks after injury, the refusal to give up, the surprises and the tears of joy.

What can we say about our flag bearers at the closing ceremony, Valérie Maltais and Steven Dubois? That was high performance at its best. This is an example of two different paths leading to the same place: When you continue to move forward even when things get tough, you end up inspiring an entire country.

That is the power of sport. It is never just about medals. It is about what we learn from the people who chase excellence. It is about what it does to a kid who is watching, cheering, thinking, “Hmm, maybe I can do that, too. Why not me?” And that is priceless.

I would like to say one thing that has often been repeated over the past few days. If we want to stay at this level, we need a properly functioning sports system. Safe, inclusive, barrier-free sport is not something that can be improvised. We need stable support and proper funding, from playground to podium.

Because pay-to-play should not be the price of representing Canada. If we want more podium and, most importantly, more participation all across, we need to commit and invest.

Today, we are celebrating.

Today, we say to all the athletes, coaches and support teams, “Bravo, and thank you!” You made us proud, but it’s not over yet.

We are not putting our flags away just yet. Now, we are getting ready to cheer on our Paralympic athletes who will once again deliver incredible performances and teach us about resilience, creativity, determination and excellence.

Let’s get ready now for the Paralympic Games. Let’s show up, loud and proud, and keep building a Canada where everyone gets a real chance to belong and to excel.

Thank you.