Province won’t back Hamilton bid for 2026 Commonwealth Games: Skelly
https://www.thespec.com/news/hamilto...lth-games.html
Local MPP Donna Skelly says her government can’t support a Hamilton pitch to host the Commonwealth Games in 2026, but the private group behind the proposal is holding out hope that’s not the case.
Hamilton 2026’s effort to hold the Games clashes with the province’s aspiration to land the World Cup that same summer, Skelly said in an interview Monday.
Instead, the bid team should set its sights on hosting the Games in 2027 or beyond, said the MPP for Flamborough-Glanbrook.
The financial implications, including security costs, associated with two major international sports events in one summer would be too much of a burden given the blow coronavirus stands to deliver Ontario, she said.
“It’s just a very difficult ask from the government coming out of COVID,” said Skelly, noting she was also speaking for her Queen’s Park colleague, Minister Lisa MacLeod, who holds the heritage, sport, tourism and culture industries portfolio.
That was news to the organizing group Hamilton 2026, said chair Louis Frapporti, who is to appear before city council Wednesday to provide an update on his group’s proposal to host the Games.
“We are surprised to hear this, quite frankly, as Ms. Skelly had not previously communicated this to our organizing committee despite participating in meetings with us and senior representatives of the minister’s office just over a week ago at which she offered to assist in securing a letter of support for Hamilton 2026,” Frapporti said in an email.
The team hasn’t “been so advised” by MacLeod’s office, either. “Indeed, we had been given to understand from sources at Queen’s Park, that quite the opposite was the case.”
Without support from the province, Hamilton 2026’s $1-billion-plus pitch is dead in the water.
The organizing committee has counted on upper levels of government, including Ottawa, to pay for the bulk of the 11-day event.
Hamilton 2026 has told council the Games won’t tap the municipal tax levy, but rely on “in-kind” contributions. They also say it will dovetail with existing capital plans and draw private dollars.
Earlier Monday, before Skelly’s remarks, Frapporti told The Spectator that Hamilton 2026 didn’t plan to ask council for approval in principle until the province committed. “We’re very optimistic about that, but we feel we need to have that house in order before we make the city jump through hoops.”
The 2026 pitch is scaled back from an initial proposal to host the Games in 2030, which would mark 100 years since the first ones were held in Hamilton.
In February, council endorsed the 2030 event in principle.
But the bid team, originally called Hamilton 100, shifted gears, pivoting to a 2026 proposal with the support of Commonwealth Games Canada and the international Commonwealth Games Federation.
Those organizations offered a “window of exclusivity” until September to host the 2026 event, eliminating the traditional bid process.
Frapporti said Wednesday that officials had confirmed this offer could be extended to allow the city time to deliberate on the proposal.
In his email, he argued a provincial decision not to support the 2026 Games would be “premature” given it hasn’t yet had a “full briefing” on the benefits of a “no-bid Games.”
“In the end, we are all fighting for Hamilton and advocating for the many municipalities around us that are supporting this effort and we will continue to do so pending the government clarifying its position.”
Hamilton 2026 has framed the Games as a pandemic recovery project with a focus on leaving affordable housing as its signature legacy.
The latest roster of venues — some existing but requiring upgrades and others to be built anew — cuts about $300 million from the original proposal for the centenary plan, Frapporti noted.
The projected capital cost is roughly $250 million, down from the $550 million proposed for the larger event four years later.
The revised proposal — which drops soccer from its lineup — includes a $24-million Sackville Hill track-and-field park on the Mountain, a $66-million aquatics centre at McMaster University and a $41-million multisports complex at Redeemer University College.
Central to the plan is $61.8 million in private investment to revamp downtown entertainment venues through a long-term lease with the city — a project led by a consortium that includes PJ Mercanti, who’s president of the Carmen’s Group and Hamilton 2026.
Hamilton 2026 says it has secured a $12-million commitment from McMaster for the aquatics complex and $3 million from Redeemer for the multisports building. The latest proposal also aims to tap about $22 million from the city’s Future Fund.
Some councillors have expressed enthusiasm for the Games as a way to land government dollars for affordable housing, renew sports facilities and spur economic spinoff.
Others have signalled concern amid a $3-billion-plus municipal infrastructure backlog and ongoing COVID-19 challenges.
This trepidation mirrors community opposition despite the bid team’s support from major organizations, including post-secondary institutions and the chamber of commerce.
An online petition urging “no public money” for the Games had garnered nearly 1,300 supporters Wednesday afternoon. Others have written the city to register concerns.
Local amateur sports organizer Kevin Gonci has copied council on a letter to Premier Doug Ford urging a city plebiscite. In an interview, he pointed to how Calgary did that before deciding against a bid for the 2026 Winter Olympics.
The same should be done here, but so far, the city “hasn’t made any effort at all to touch base” with residents, said Gonci, chair of the Golden Horseshoe Track and Field Council. “Let Hamilton residents decide if they want to take this on or not.”