Joyous benefits of pulling together as one
You go, Niagara! Unaccustomed as I am to handing out fulsome praise, it is undeniable that landing the 2021 Canada Summer Games is a tremendous achievement for Niagara.
The bid battle was an intense competition against Waterloo Region, Sudbury and Ottawa, all of which put their best foot forward. And Niagara came out on top.
In your faces, oh-so-high-techgroovy Waterloo and bureau-cratfat Ottawa!
Truth be told, I’m not sure how much resonance the Summer Games have with the general populace. Most people would probably be hard-pressed to recall where the last Games were held and who’s the host city for the upcoming one. (Answers: Sherbrooke in 2013; Winnipeg this year.)
That said, they are a noble, worthy endeavour, bringing together thousands of top amateur athletes from across the country for highlevel competition in a multitude of sports.
It will be the biggest sports event Niagara has ever hosted, certainly in terms of the number of participants, and residents will have a wonderful opportunity to not only watch young amateur athletes demonstrate their skills in various viewer-friendly sports, but also to become actively involved by signing up for what will presumably be a number of volunteer roles.
Then there are the legacy components. Investments will be made in local sports infrastructure; plus, there is the knowledge and experience gained from hosting a 16-day event of this magnitude.
Still, there’s more to it than that when selling the concept to prospective host municipalities and their inhabitants.
Economic impact figures are tossed about. Using a never-to-beunderstood multiplier effect, it is always asserted oodles of dollars will be spent in the community, creating more than a thousand jobs which translate into millions upon millions in wages.
When Bram Cotton of the Niagara Sports Commission appeared before St. Catharines city council in February 2016 to first drum up support for a potential Games bid, he said the event could bring $85 million to $100 million to the region in investment and spending.
After Niagara was announced as the host municipality Thursday, Regional Chairman Al Caslin said the Games will have “$200 million of economic impact.” Wow, talk about inflation. Caslin also said he wanted to be “the first person to welcome right now 30,000 visitors, 5,000 athletes and 400 members of the media to Niagara … to witness the Canada Summer Games in 2021.”
Four hundred members of the media? I’m guessing he must be using the broadest possible definition of the term. It’s also probably the first time the local media has ever heard Caslin welcoming them.
I have more modest wishes. I’m just hoping there are as many as 400 full-time journalists still working in Canada by 2021.
Anyway, as noted, the Games are a great get. Equally important for the region’s psyche is that it demonstrates what can be accomplished when various components of Niagara’s makeup work together and focus on a goal.
This was a legitimate, shining example of Niagara pulling together as one to achieve something of note that was far from a certainty when the process was launched, unlike, say, the phony baloney political posturing to bring full GO train service to the region.
Folks, it can’t be stated often enough that when the province launched in 2009 an environmental assessment to determine the feasibility of bringing GO train service here, a GO spokeswoman said the government agency’s strategic plan had targeted a 2020 start-up.
Last June, the province announced trains would start running to Grimsby in 2021.
Remember that when municipal politicians seeking re-election in 2018 crow non-stop about the important role they played to get GO.
OK, where was I? Oh yeah, handing out fulsome praise. Man, this is tougher than I thought.
Congratulations to everyone involved in preparing the Games bid and to those who supported the effort, both in spirit and through making financial commitments.
Victory is sweet.