Winning the right to stage the Olympic and Paralympic Games forever .

             changed the face of Sydney, Australia. The now-familiar images of .

             Darling Harbour, Homebush Bay and Bondi are only part of the most .

             recent stunning Olympic legacy.

             Urban renewal, environmental conservation, recreational and sporting .

             venues, and a renewed national amateur sports program were all set .

             in high gear when Sydney was awarded the Games.

             When TO-2008 announced its master plan for hosting the Olympic and .

             Paralympic Games one year ago, there were five objectives: improve .

             our environment, upgrade our city infrastructure, provide better accessibility .

             for the disabled, more housing downtown (including ``affordable'' .

             housing) and create a prosperous economy.

             At this stage, seven months before the vote, there is still a chance .

             that Juan Antonio Samaranch, president of the International Olympic .

             Committee, will pronounce Toronto the winner this July, when the IOC .

             announces the official host city of the 2008 Olympic and Paralympic .

             Games. Winning the Games will forever change the face of Toronto. .

             Our Olympic plan is an ambitious and innovative one, which will generate .

             long-awaited waterfront redevelopment, the construction of permanent .

             facilities, new roads, rapid transit upgrades, new downtown housing,.

             and much more.

             The best news today is that we don't have to wait for 2008 to see .

             the benefits of our Olympic dreams. The Toronto 2008 Olympic Bid (TO-.

             2008) has already set in motion a process of urban revitalization,.

             amateur sports renewal and civic rejuvenation that is underway whether .

             it wins the right to host the Games or not.

             Toronto is a waterfront city. And yet for most of this century, much .

             of our waterfront has remained a barren stretch of industrial portland. .

             Earlier this year, the Fung Task Force Report described the site as .

             ``. . . nearly 2,000 acres of undeveloped, misused or derelict lands .

             . . a significant portion of the land is environmentally degraded,.