A historic agreement has been reached between the Montréal 2006 Gay Games VII Organizing Committee and Radio-Canada, which will be covering the Games for both the public broadcaster and the Gay Games. Radio-Canada Television will air the Games’ opening and closing ceremonies, showcase one hour of competition highlights per day over eight days, and produce special social and cultural programming. The latter content will be broadcast both before and during the Games. All of the corporation’s French-language media lines (network television, RDI, radio, Internet) will be involved in Gay Games VII coverage.

Gay Games VII will take place in Montréal from July 29 to Aug. 5, 2006, and will encompass 30 sporting events over seven days of competition. Participants are expected from more than 100 countries. The athletic competitions will include opening and closing ceremonies, as well as various cultural activities. The Gay Games three fundamental values are inclusion, participation, and personal best. The Games are open to all, regardless of race, gender, physical ability or sexual orientation.

The Montréal 2006 Gay Games VII Organizing Committee, whose offices are located in Olympic Park, is already actively engaged in planning and preparations for this unique event. Funding for the Games comes from athletes’ registrations, sponsorships, sales of tickets for special events, fundraising programs, merchandise sales, as well as grants and subsidies from the city of Montréal and the Québec and Canadian governments.

“We are pleased to be partnering with the 2006 Gay Games,” said Daniel Gourd, executive vice-president, French Television. “Public television is a key vehicle for promoting openness to and raising awareness of the wider world. It is used to venturing into uncharted territory and covering the events that matter to people across the country.”

More than 250,000 visitors are expected to attend the Montréal Games, which are expected to pump some $200 million into the local economy.