Now that Victoria’s Inner Harbour walkway belongs to David Foster, at least in name, the Saanich-raised star intends to wield his influence.
“The city deserves a beautiful performing arts centre right on the water,” Foster said, at a surprise, star-studded announcement in front of the Fairmont Empress Hotel on Friday afternoon. “Mayor, I’m going to be on your ass for the next 10 years,” he said, turning to Dean Fortin.
Foster was joined by Michael Bublé, Pamela Anderson, Rick Hansen and other stars from B.C. to unveil a pathway sign in his name.
The newly-named David Foster Way runs from Ogden Point to the Johnson Street Bridge. Eventually, the city plans to extend the walkway to Rock Bay.
The idea for the naming came from Bublé.
“Mayor Dean Fortin, I drove him nuts,” said Bublé. I called him about a year and a half ago and told him that I believe David represented this city so well and he’d made a huge impact on culture and I said that it was about time that Mr. Foster had a street named after him.”
Foster called the honour much bigger than a Grammy.
“This is right up there, honestly, with the birth of my children,” he said.
With a little prompting, three of the four Canadian Tenors on hand for the unveiling gave an impromptu performance of Hallelujah for the crowd.
In the audience were Foster’s extended family, including sisters, kids and grandkids.
He concluded with this thought: “Thank you again to all of Victoria. I wave the Victoria flag every day of my life, I promise you I do. You can hold me to task on that.”
rholmen@vicnews.com
