ICBC shows its 2010 Olympic spirit, backing new license plates

ICBC is showing its Olympic spirit by joining a partnership to produce special, one-of-a-kind 2010 Winter Games Licence Plates.The plates will be available to B.C. drivers for purchase starting Apr. 16.”British Columbians are excited and proud to be hosting the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games and these licence plates are one more way for all of us to show that pride,” B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell said in a press release. “I want to thank ICBC and VANOC [the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games] for providing this innovative opportunity for British Columbians to get involved in supporting the 2010 Winter Games as we countdown the 1,038 days until the Opening Ceremony.”The six-year partnership between ICBC and VANOC designates ICBC as an official supporter in the “motor vehicle insurance” category of the 2010 Winter Games, including sponsorship rights for the Canadian teams participating at the Beijing 2008, Vancouver 2010 and London 2012 Olympic Games. In addition to the introduction of the 2010 Winter Games licence plates, ICBC will also be the official supplier of motor vehicle insurance for VANOC’s fleet of approximately 4,500 General Motors passenger vehicles.”ICBC is extremely pleased to support the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games and help make these the most successful Winter Games ever,” said ICBC president and CEO Paul Taylor. “ICBC’s sponsorship provides BritishColumbians with a number of opportunities to directly support the 2010 Winter Games and promote BC.”The B.C. licence plates will feature the 2010 Winter Games emblem, the province’s slogan, “The Best Place on Earth,” and will be valid through 2012.The mountain-scene on the 2010 Winter Games plate is that of Mount Garibaldi in Garibaldi Park, located 13 km north of Squamish, 97 km north of Vancouver along Hwy 99 on the road to Whistler.The licence plates will be available for an initial fee of $35, starting Apr. 16, through Autoplan Insurance brokers across the province. Net proceeds will go towards the staging of the 2010 Winter Games.”With the addition of ICBC to our family, we’re driving the Games onto every highway and into every driveway with a top B.C. company synonymous with safety and community building,” said VANOC CEO John Furlong.The 2010 Winter Games joins five recent Winter Games that have introduced licence plate programs, including Montreal 1976 and Calgary 1988.