City council to meet with Hamilton Commonwealth Games organizers over plan for 2026
Hamilton city councillors will hear, in August, the details from organizers planning what the Commonwealth Games would look like if the city hosted them in six years.
Thanks to a notice of motion moved by Ward 15 Coun. Judi Partridge, council pivoted on Monday toward talking about hosting the 2026 games instead of the 2030 games.
The original notice, which seemed much more committed to the 2026 games, was amended so that there was no commitment or binding agreement to proceed with the bid.
"It is strictly to invite the members of the bodies who are working on this bid to come forward in the August meeting to answer questions and provide more information and if we were to entertain support this, what would our next steps be," she said.
Mayor Fred Eisenberger said the city may be able to dodge paying for the cost of the bid. The games themselves have an estimated billion dollar price tag, which is down from a projected $1.425 billion price for the 2030 games. The city's estimated contribution for 2030 was forecasted between $250 million and $375 million.
"All the private sector efforts being put into this and significant amounts of money being spent doesn't require our approval but does require us to understand and appreciate everything that's on the table at this moment," he said of the bid.
"My belief is they're doing everything humanly possible to almost make it a zero-cost scenario for the municipality, so before we all dig in our heels and start suggesting erroneous costs and 'one thing is going to replace another,' you don't even know that yet."
While the planning groups behind the games seem to be in support of Hamilton hosting in 2026, some councillors have concerns about proceeding.
Ward 9 Coun. Brad Clark said he's heard Hamilton has no competition for the 2026 games.
"Why are no other countries interested in the 2026 games?" he questioned.
"I suspect it's because all the money we spent on COVID. The COVID-19 deficit is $60 million currently and could hit $122 million."
Clark and Ward 11 Coun. Brenda Johnson also expressed concern about infrastructure deficits and issues in their respective wards.
"In today's meeting, we just bumped $1.2 million in capital projects to fix the end guards [at Tim Horton's Field]," Clark explained.
Other councillors also weighed in with criticisms and support — and questions that could only be answered if council listens to the organizations working on a potential 2026 bid.
The vote passed 11 to five.
Hamilton hosted the first games, at that time known as the British Empire Games, in 1930.
City council will hear from the groups at the next meeting on August 10.
How they voted
Who voted to hear from Hamilton2026, Commonwealth Sport Canada and Commonwealth Games Federation at the next meeting:
Mayor Fred Eisenberger, Maureen Wilson (Ward 1), Jason Farr (2), Sam Merulla (4), Tom Jackson (6), Esther Pauls (7), John-Paul Danko (8), Maria Pearson (10), Arlene VanderBeek (13), Terry Whitehead (14), Judi Partridge (15).
Who was opposed:
Nrinder Nann (3), Chad Collins (5), Brad Clark (9), Brenda Johnson (11), Lloyd Ferguson (12)
Clarifications
- Mayor Fred Eisenberger said during the meeting that he thought Hamilton might be able to side step paying for the Commonwealth Games. The mayor has clarified that he was referring to the cost of bidding for the games, not the games themselves.Jul 07, 2020 3:03 PM ET
With files from Donna Spencer