Greater Sudbury was the first stop for the 2021 Canada Games bid evaluation committee, and the head of the committee said the city has acquited itself well as it tries to win the event.
"From what we've seen this morning, you have a very enthusiastic and excited bid committee and they're giving us a great day today," said committee head Wayne Carew.
Carew spoke to reporters at an event at Laurentian University, where young students were bused in to take part in a mini version of the big event.
In addition to Sudbury, Ottawa, Niagara, and the combined bid of Kitchener, Waterloo, Cambridge and Guelph are also in the running. It would be held July 26-Aug. 15, 2021, and include 23 sports split in two one-week segments.
"We're here, as part of our visit to Ontario, we'll be visiting four communities in Ontario,” he said. “All four committees have already submitted some very good bids."
This is the final phase of the evaluation period. Carew said once all four sites have been evaluation, each will be scored and the committee will meet to examine each bid and make a decision.
"Generally speaking what we're looking for now is the plan that the bid committee has put in place to see whether it's thought out well enough to make it full execution of those 23 sports," he said. "You're blessed in your community with great facilities here. So we have a tough decision to make."
When asked about concerns some in the community have about hosting the $30 million-$45 million event, Carew said the Games themselves often run a surplus.
When his home province in PEI held the games, it ended up with a $3 million legacy fund for young athletes. The 2013 Games in Sherbrooke finished with a $2 million legacy fund.
"The Canada Games Council is around to help support the raising of private sector money,” he said. “There are formulas in place for the federal and provincial and municipal infrastructure. It's a pre-determined formula.”
Aside from improved facilities, the event provides great exposure for host cities, he said.
"It would be a great opportunity for Sudbury to showcase themselves to the rest of Canada," Carew said.
In addition to hosting 3,600 athletes and their families, the attention of the country will be on Sudbury for the two weeks the event is held.
Plus residents and volunteers will get a chance to see future elite athletes before they make it big.
"The exciting thing for people from Sudbury, too, is your going to get see, here, Canada's future Olympians,” Carew said.
“Catriona Le May Doan is on our national board. Steve Nash, Sidney Crosby, Eugenie Bouchard -- those are the kind of national athletes that got their start at the Canada Games. This was their first professional opportunity and went on, in many cases, to Olympian or professional stardom."
The 2017 Games are being held in Winnipeg.
