Media outlets are full of speculation about who will light the Olympic cauldron at B.C. Place Stadium during the opening ceremony of 2010 Games.

The public favourite appears to be Betty Fox, mother of Marathon of Hope runner Terry Fox, who is probably the most popular British Columbian in history.

There's a Facebook group of almost 130,000 people pushing for this to happen.

Another  popular choice would  be Wayne Gretzky, a hockey icon and executive director of Team Canada's gold-medal winning effort in 2002.

Broadcaster Dan Russell, host of a sports-talk show on CKNW Radio, recently suggested on his program that Canada's four living hockey icons--Gordie Howe, Bobby Orr, Mario Lemieux, and Gretzky, take the torch in a relay, with the Great One lighting the cauldron.

I'm betting that Vanoc will go in a completely different direction and make a political statement, while at the same time trying to appeal to Canadians who don't care or who are unhappy about Vancouver hosting the 2010 Winter Games.

The Olympic organizing committee has already laid the foundation for doing this by making sure that  some popular choices have been or will be honoured  in different ways.

February 19 is Gretzky Day at Molson Canadian Hockey House, where the Great One will make a speech. This is one way of shining a light on the former hockey star.

On February 27, Vanoc will present the Terry Fox Award at a public ceremony to an athlete who embodies Fox's selfless ideals. This will take care of the Fox family and reduce the sting of Betty Fox not being chosen.

After Vanoc chairman Jack Poole died of pancreatic cancer in October, I thought that perhaps his widow Darlene might light the cauldron. But she carried the torch in Poole's hometown of Mortlach, Saskatchewan, so she's out of the running.

Senator Nancy Greene, a gold- and silver-medal winning skier at the 1968 Winter Olympics, held the torch in Kamloops, which is near the Sun Peaks resort that she helped create. So I doubt she'll also light the cauldron in Vancouver.

Similarly, hockey phenom Sidney Crosby carried the torch in Halifax. Another A-list candidate, wheelchair athlete Rick Hansen, was named the volunteer mayor of the Olympic Village for the month of February when the Games are taking place. And speed skater Clara Hughes will carry the Canadian flag during the opening ceremony, which might make it difficult for her also to  light the cauldron. So I would say that these three can be ruled out as well.

I wouldn't be surprised if the Harper government  has tried  to shove a Canadian soldier into the Olympic opening ceremonies. Ever since Stephen Harper was elected as prime minister in 2006, the military has been trying to link the Canadian Armed Forces with sports, including the Stanley Cup and Grey Cup, as well as with Canada Day and other events.

The International Olympic Committee would be horrified if a soldier lit the cauldron because it would send an overtly political message and get in the way of its long-cherished dream of winning a Nobel Peace Prize. So that one is a no-go.

Vanoc's consolation prize to the  federal government  was letting Chief of the Defence Staff Walt Natynczyk carry the flame near the start of its journey across the country.

It's possible that Vanoc might ask Michael J. Fox, a former Burnaby resident, to light the cauldron in part because it could attract a lot of interest in the United States, where NBC is going to lose more than $200 million. But at the risk of sounding crass, Fox would be the second person in 14 years with Parkinson's disease to do this. (Muhammad Ali was the first in Atlanta.) It might look like a bit of a copycat move, notwithstanding Fox's courage in trying to educate the public and in promoting stem-cell research.

So with that said, here are my three bets to light the cauldron  in order of their likelihood:

1. The chiefs of the four host First Nations

The Games are taking place on unceded aboriginal territory, so it makes sense that Musqueam Chief Ernie Campbell, Tsleil-Waututh Nation Chief Justin Sky George, Squamish Nation Chief Bill Williams or Chief Gibby Jacob, and Mount Currie Band Chief Leonard Andrew of the Lil'wat Nation would light the cauldron together.

This would accomplish two major objectives. It would reinforce to the world that Vanoc has tried to include aboriginal people in the planning process of the Games.

It would also offset the sting of a huge protest in the streets of Vancouver on the first day of the Games on February 12. Part of that  demonstration will centre on the fact that the Games are taking place on stolen aboriginal land. It's conceivable that Native protesters might even set fire to the Olympic flag, which was taken from Vancouver City Hall in 2007, never to be seen since. I'm expecting it to resurface during the Olympics as part of a protest, possibly on opening day.  

2. Two or four First Nations children--all from the host First Nations

This welcome would play up Olympic officials'  and politicians' repeated  claims that the Games are about inspiring youth. Choosing First Nations kids would  help offset the impact of the February 12 protest (see above).

Keep in mind that the Harper government ensured that Canada was one of only four countries--along with  Australia,  New Zealand, and the United States--to vote against the United Nations  International Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in 2007.

Australia under Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has since  reversed its position. The United States might change its position under the Obama administration, and the New Zealand government has also come under pressure in this area.

There's a chance that Canada could be the last holdout in the world, which is an embarrassment to Vanoc and to Premier Gordon Campbell  on the eve of hosting the Olympics.

Putting aboriginal  children on the world stage in this way would be a smart propaganda move to defuse criticism of Canada's shameful treatment of  Native people.

Another option in this vein  would be to have members of the First Nations Snowboard Team light the cauldron. It was  formed in  2004  by 10 youthful members of the Squamish and Lil'wat First Nations.

3. An aboriginal icon, such as National Chief Shawn A-in-chut Atleo, along with Governor General Michaí«lle Jean

As the head of the Assembly of First Nations, Atleo would be a logical choice to join Jean in  welcoming the world to Canada. [It's actually not the "world" because most athletes at the Winter Games are from Europe, the U.S., Japan, and China.]

Even though  Atleo isn't from one of the four  host First Nations, he is from British Columbia and he is held in high regard by chiefs across the province.

Atleo is also very articulate and engaging, and would come across well  in subsequent interviews with the  international media.

However, I think if Vanoc wants to get its protocol right, it will choose a person from one or all of the four host First Nations.

Choosing Jean would appeal to Quebec, which lost the right to bid for the Games to Vancouver many years ago.

Ever since, Vanoc has tried assiduously to court Quebec, where there's a high level of apathy about the Olympics.

Jean is a former Quebec-based broadcaster for CBC. Having her light the  cauldron with Atleo and then inviting Celine Dion to sing in the opening ceremony would generate some goodwill among Quebeckers and reinforce Vanoc CEO John Furlong's constant refrain that these are Canada's Games.

There are two other reasons to include Jean. She was born in Port au Prince, which has suffered so greatly after last month's earthquake in Haiti. This would be broadcast to viewers around the world, conveying the impression that the IOC and Canada care about the world's poor.

She is also an immigrant, and Vancouver won the right to host the Games in part because of its pitch to the IOC that Canada is some sort of multicultural paradise. Most Canadians know this isn't true [for more, see this and this and this], but it fits well with Vanoc's messaging.  

Follow Charlie Smith on Twitter at twitter.com/csmithstraight.