Local host hopefuls will consider 2027 for Commonwealth Games
https://www.thespec.com/news/hamilto...lth-games.html
The volunteer committee aiming to host the Commonwealth Games in Hamilton will shift its focus to 2027 if it can land government support.
But a move from 2026 to the off-cycle year is up to the international federation that oversees the event, says Louis Frapporti, chair of the local bid team.
“We’re in the middle of this. We don’t get to decide when the Games occur,” Frapporti said Wednesday.
Talk of 2027 comes after the Ontario government said it couldn’t afford the Games in 2026. MPP Donna Skelly told The Spectator on Monday that supporting the Games and potentially the World Cup the same summer would be too costly, especially given the financial burden of the COVID-19 crisis.
A spokesperson for Premier Doug Ford echoed her remarks, made on behalf of Minister Lisa MacLeod, whose portfolio is heritage, sport, tourism and culture industries.
The government’s focus is the pandemic, Ivana Yelich said in an email Tuesday. “We encourage the city and bid group to consider pursuing this opportunity in 2027 or beyond in Hamilton and would entertain those discussions with the parties involved.”
Yelich said Ford’s position remained the same after a meeting with Frapporti and Mayor Fred Eisenberger on Tuesday.
Without provincial funding, the $1-billion-plus Games won’t happen in Hamilton.
The private group hoping to host them had initially aimed for 2030. In February, council gave its support in principle for that plan, which was to mark the event’s return to its birthplace 100 years later.
Then, amid the pandemic, Commonwealth officials asked the bid team to consider lining up government support for a scaled-back Games in 2026 without having to compete in a bidding process.
The idea of Hamilton hosting the Games, even in 2030, has been the subject of debate in the community and at city hall.
On Wednesday, Eisenberger described the meeting with Ford as “very positive” but noted the premier’s concern about a potential “logjam” with FIFA over the 2026 proposition.
“The way we’ve left it is there’s general support for the Commonwealth Games for Hamilton from the premier, from the province.”
Coun. Maureen Wilson questioned whether it was appropriate for Eisenberger to meet with Ford on 2026 or 2027 given council had only endorsed the 2030 bid.
“It’s not clear to me that this council has formally set out that we are pursuing ... recovery monies or any kind of monies for a 2026 or 2027 bid.”
Eisenberger said he wasn’t “negotiating ... in terms of dollars and cents,” but “on behalf of the City of Hamilton for the Games bid as a whole.”
Coun. John-Paul Danko called it “extremely frustrating” to have learned about the shift to 2026 and now potentially 2027 via the media and “not through proper channels as a councillor.”
Coun. Esther Pauls, a liaison to the bid team with Terry Whitehead and Judi Partridge, said she was also “in the dark” about the latest twist.
“I’m disappointed but I know the mayor and the committee are doing their best.”
Hamilton 2026 has presented the Games as a pandemic-recovery project that will leave affordable housing as its legacy.
The latest proposal involves a $250-million capital plan for venues, down from $550 million for the 2030 bid.
The 2026 plan relies on private investment, but heavily on provincial and federal funding. As well, it calls for in-kind municipal support such as land but also roughly $22 million from the city’s Future Fund.