I live close to Vancouver and I love living here. I'm thrilled that Canada has now had the opportunity to once again host an Olympic games, and feel privileged to have lived in close proximity to two such events now.
Having said that, I do believe that Vancouver was something of an odd choice, but certainly not unprecedented. While I think it is great that the Olympic games are here, I do not believe that Vancouver presents the best venues for the games in large part because of its climate and geography. It is similar to Nagano in that regard—but this will not diminish the fact that the 2010 Olympics will be remembered as a huge success and a triumph for this city and this country. I believe the best choice for the Winter Olympics is always a city that showcases the best elements of winter; i.e. snow and ice. It's the same reason why I believe that warmer cities are also better choices to host the summer games. Personally, I thought the Games should go to QC, which I feel has the potential to be another Lillehammer as an Olympic host city.
I expect that the next Canadian city to host the Winter Olympics will likely be Quebec, and that the games will return to Calgary at some point after that.
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