"Last Minute Harper" and He's Still Staying Home. Probably a Good Thing.

Harper backing city's Pan Am bid

McGuinty off to China to lobby sports officials at Olympics to boost Toronto area's chances
Aug 08, 2008 04:30 AM
Be the first to comment on this article... Robert Benzie Queen's Park Bureau Chief
Prime Minister Stephen Harper is backing Toronto's $1.77 billion bid for the 2015 Pan Am Games.
Harper yesterday gave Ottawa's endorsement of efforts to host the international sports event in Toronto and a dozen other Golden Horseshoe municipalities.
"It's very positive. It's a boost for the entire region," federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty told the Star last night.
"Toronto hasn't had a major sporting event in many, many years," said Flaherty, who is Harper's Greater Toronto Area minister.
He added that in difficult economic times, the Pan Am Games would "create jobs and construction activity" and leave behind an infrastructure legacy in the GTA and beyond.
Flaherty emphasized that Ottawa's funding commitment is still being finalized because security costs are being calculated with the OPP, the RCMP and other agencies.
Ottawa's move, which came months earlier than expected, led Premier Dalton McGuinty to start packing to fly to China to lobby sports officials at the Olympics.
"The premier will be taking the important next step of going to Beijing Aug. 13 to 15 to speak with key national Olympic committee chairs, to make sure Ontario has the best opportunity to make a winning case," said press secretary Jane Almeida.
"Moving forward, we will be working closely with the federal government and municipalities."
McGuinty had been gearing up for the lobbying trip. "I am ready and raring to go," the premier told reporters on July 23.
"To say I'm really, really, really keen on this is a gross understatement," Michael Chambers, the Canadian Olympic Committee president, told the Star's Jim Byers in Beijing. "I really believe we can do this and that it's not a shot in the dark. It's a bid we can win.
"We'll have tremendous games and it will be a building block for what we're seeing here in China."
Chambers said the southern Ontario bid will be officially presented to Pan American Sports Organization officials at Canada Olympic House in Beijing on Aug. 14.
The Pan Am Games, open to 42 nations in the Americas, are held every four years. They were held in Rio de Janeiro last year and will be in Guadalajara, Mexico, in 2011.
Other cities expected to bid for the 2015 Games are Bogota, Colombia; Caracas, Venezuela; and Lima, Peru, but insiders say Toronto – one of the largest media markets in North or South America – has a great shot at hosting them. The winner will be chosen next year.
There had been concerns that Ottawa would not have completed its study of the bid before the Pan American Sports Organization's general meeting in October.
While the municipalities, the province and Ottawa will each be on the hook for about $620 million, Queen's Park has agreed to cover any overruns to the expected $1.77 billion tab.