Organization
Robert Bourassa, then the Premier of Quebec, first pushed Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau to advise Canada's monarch, Elizabeth II, to attend the opening of the games. However, Bourassa later became unsettled about how unpopular the move might be with sovereigntists in the province, annoying Trudeau, who had already made arrangements. The leader of the Parti Québécois at the time, René Lévesque, sent his own letter to Buckingham Palace, asking the Queen to refuse her prime minister's request, though she did not oblige the premier as he was out of his jurisdiction in offering advice to the Sovereign.
The torch relay was relatively short given the distance between Greece and Canada. This was mainly due to the innovative use of a satellite transmission that carried the Flame as a signal from Athens to Ottawa.
Read more about this topic: 1976 Summer Olympics
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