A cloud of disappointment settled over the crowd that gathered at Science North in anticipation of Greater Sudbury being named host city of the 2021 Canada Summer Games.
Darren Stinson, co-chair of the Greater Sudbury Bid Committee, watched on eagerly with the rest of the committee and city officials, as well as invited guests as the Canada Games Council announced Niagara Region would be host to the Games.
“I can't say I'm not disappointed it wasn't us,” Stinson said following the announcement. “The Games would have been a big boost to our standing on the national scene.”
However, all the work the committee put into developing its bid has given the city a clear picture of what its capacity is to host other event, he said.
“We know what we have to do better in terms of our facilities, and to build our inventory,” Stinson said. “A lot of the groundwork has been done already. We've done so much work and research, that when the next big event comes around, it will be easy for us to put together a bid.
“Niagara Region was the community I though we were up against as our primary competition,” Stinson said. “We put together a pretty incredible bid. Anybody who was going to beat us was going to have an absolutely awesome bid, and Niagara Region obviously did. Good on 'em. I hope they put on the best Games possible.”
Stinson said he now looks forward to the opportunity to debrief with his team, to see where Sudbury scored well with the selection committee, and where it scored not so well.
Greater Sudbury Mayor Brian Bigger said while he was disappointed with the end result, much was gained from the entire process.
“Obviously, we were very hopeful,” he said. “We felt we had a very strong bid. I'm just really proud of the effort out community made to present our city as a potential host.”
The bid process, he said, required a number of sports organizations to pull together and take an inventory of all of the city's assets.
“Bringing this group together was a very valuable exercise for us, and I am confident we'll be bidding on a number of national and provincial events to host here in Sudbury,” Bigger said.
Also vying to host the Games was Ottawa and the combined cities of Kitchener and Waterloo.
Following a Technical Phase 1 submission in May 2016, Greater Sudbury was approved for the short list of bidders by the Canada Games Council’s Technical
Review Committee in September 2016. Their comprehensive site review determined that Greater Sudbury successfully met the criteria for accommodations capacity, space and sport venues required to host the Games. Greater Sudbury Council reaffirmed their support with the approval of a full bid proposal in January of this year.