Hamilton could lose 2026 and 2030 Games
New Victoria proposal takes dead aim at 2026 Commonwealth Games
Could a new proposal from Victoria, B.C., cost Hamilton its chance at hosting the Commonwealth Games?
And not just Hamilton’s heartily debated pivoted bid for 2026 (now more likely aimed at 2027), but even the centenary 2030 Games which has more local sentimental support?
“On the surface it would sound like a yes,” says Brian MacPherson, CEO of Commonwealth Sports Canada, the Games’ national overseer.
But, MacPherson added, the CSG is still committed to Hamilton — which hosted the original event in 1930 as the British Empire Games — as the Canadian bidder for 2030. Also, with nothing official yet from Victoria, they’re still in for 2026-27 here and for months have worked closely with the Commonwealth Games Federation which had asked Hamilton’s private, volunteer, bid group to make that abrupt shift.
That could all change if Victoria can make this a provincial government funding-commitment race, and win it.
The international federation’s constitution currently advises against any one region, let alone one country, hosting back-to-back Commonwealth Games.
In an opinion piece in the Vancouver Sun, David Black, chair of Victoria’s ultimately abandoned bid for the 2022 Games, wrote that his group proposes a budget of $1 billion to host a regionalized 2026 Games, which includes sports in Vancouver and nearby. He suggested it won’t cost the municipalities any of their own money.
Like Hamilton’s restructured 2026 bid, Black pitches pandemic economic recovery through tourism, construction and affordable housing and provincial/federal seed funding.
Black, who lives in Victoria, is well known throughout B.C. and is an influential voice in the province. He is the majority owner of, and runs, Black Press, which owns dozens of community newspapers in B.C. and Alberta, as well as publications in Ohio, Washington State and Hawaii.
The CSG helped Victoria regionalize its bid for 2022, now set for Birmingham, but the B.C. government declined funding. Victoria hosted the 1994 Games after beating Hamilton at the Canadian bid stage. But, MacPherson told The Spectator, “Our stand is to get the Games to Canada as swiftly as possible, and because of timing, practically speaking the first city that submits a full strong hosting plan to the CGF with financial backing from governments is going to be awarded the 2026 Games.”
“Cities around the world, including but not limited to Victoria, see the value in a Games,” said Lou Frapporti, speaking for Hamilton2026, which awaits funding-inprinciple clarity from the province. “The certainty of getting the 2026 Games here was in part about avoiding the cost and risk of bidding for 2030, when we could lose the opportunity again.