Hello from Halifax!

Farewell to Halifax & the 2011 Canada Games
by Michele Walker, SIRC

The 2011 Canada Winter Games are now officially closed and Halifax has bid farewell to their guests. The Games' 90-minute Closing Ceremony featured a variety of East Coast musical performers and the traditional parade of athletes, with the Games' torch being marched in by a group of Nova Scotia medal winners and handed over to the officials in charge of hosting the next Games in 2013 in Sherbrooke, Quebec.

Quebec easily finished in first place in the overall medal standings earning 137 points for their hardware, 27 more than the runner up Ontario (British Columbia finished in third place with 88 points). But it was the powerhouse team from Ontario that once again, for the 19th time in 23 Games, who won the Canada Games Flag – for the most points accumulated by scores recorded by every athlete that participates in an event, not just the top 3 finishes (they had 312 points to Quebec’s 301).

Nova Scotia took the Centennial Cup, which is awarded to the team that shows the biggest improvement over their performance in the last Winter Games. They improved from zero gold medals to five, and from seven total medals in 2007 to 12 in 2011 (four of their medals were in boxing which is a shame for their program because boxing is being removed from the Canada Games program).

And it was also the host province of Nova Scotia that won the Jack Pelech Award which goes to the team who showed the best competitive performance, good sportsmanship and spirit of fair play!

The next Canada Games will take place in the summer of 2013 in Sherbrooke, Quebec followed by the next winter Games in 2015 in Prince George, British Columbia.

Way to go Halifax! Well done!