Olympic bid deadline looms without commitments from government or sponsors

Premier Kathleen Wynne says Ontario has not made any promises ahead of a Sept. 15 deadline.

Thestar.com
Sept. 8, 2015
By Jennifer Pagliaro

With a deadline looming to put Toronto’s name into the contest to host the 2024 Summer Olympic Games, Mayor John Tory has no assurances from higher levels of governments that they would cover cost overruns.

“Those are the kind of discussions that we’re having. Those are the kinds of questions, because you can’t talk about cost overruns until you talk about costs and what the costs would actually be,” Premier Kathleen Wynne said following a meeting with Tory at Queen’s Park.

“There are a lot of questions that haven’t been answered, and it’s a very short time period.”

With Tory unwilling to put Toronto taxpayers on the hook - amid campaign promises to keep taxes in line with inflation - a commitment from senior governments that they would help with overruns is essential to moving forward with a bid.

A letter to the International Olympic Committee stating Toronto’s intention to bid is due Sept. 15.

When pushed on covering cost overruns, Wynne hinted that commitments from the federal government would be necessary, adding later that it’s difficult to commit future governments to something that could be “unreasonable” or “undoable.”

“There are three levels of government that would be involved in any conversation about a bid, and so the answers to those questions are in some ways contingent on what the other levels of government would be willing to do,” she said.

But with a federal election campaign now in full swing, none of the parties has publicly committed to supporting a bid.

“That is an added challenge,” Wynne said. “It makes it more challenging to get a clear picture of exactly what the support would be.”

Provincial governments agreed to take on the responsibility of cost overruns during Toronto’s 2008 bid to host the Games and the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.

Tory said earlier he would be speaking with leaders behind the scenes.

“I continue to be involved in a very intensive collection of both information and opinions that will allow me to make a considered decision about sending a letter or not,” Tory said Tuesday, insisting the letter would only state Toronto’s interest and not lock the city into carrying forward a bid.

But next week’s deadline, which the IOC calls a “commitment to bid,” would officially launch Toronto into the process. In the past, that process itself cost the city more than $20 million. An estimate last year suggested to could cost the city upwards of $60 million this time around - though those familiar with the updated bid process have argued that it could in fact be much lower.

Toronto would face stiff competition. Los Angeles, Paris, Rome, Hamburg and Budapest all want to host the Games.

Tory has said the hard work of determining whether a bid is feasible would begin after a letter was submitted. He said he wants private sponsors to cover the cost of a bid so as not to burden Toronto taxpayers.

But it’s not clear whether any major sponsors have expressed interest in stepping up.

The Royal Bank of Canada, the longest-standing sponsor of Team Canada, has not yet committed to signing on, telling the Star it would not comment until there is a formal bid.

On the tight timeline, Tory said he has only had a couple of months to deal with the Olympic question after it surfaced amid the enthusiasm of the Pan Am Games.

“I don’t apologize for a second for the fact that we were a bit behind, because nobody had really been pursuing this until quite recently,” Tory said.

Wynne said the public doesn’t yet have enough information to support a bid or not, saying citizens would have the same questions about cost.

“As we get answers to those questions, then we’ll move closer to a decision,” she said. “We’re doing our best.”

For the next step, that decision is just seven days away.