Turtle mascot chosen for Canada Summer Games
A turtle will fill the role of mascot for the Canada Summer Games 2021 in Niagara.
The Games host committee unveiled the concept before hundreds of enthusiastic school kids at White Oaks in Niagara-on-theLake Thursday.
Children are being invited to name and design the mascot, which was chosen for its connection to Niagara’s Indigenous community and natural habitat. The 13 panels on its back represent the Region and its 12 lower-tier municipalities.
The reptile was not picked to represent the pace at which the host committee is receiving about $98 million in funds promised for facilities construction — although the parallels are also striking.
The federal and provincial governments are supposed to be partners and supply more than two-thirds of the capital funding. However, they are locked in an impasse some people describe as a partisan effort on the province’s part to undermine the Liberals’ hopes in the Oct. 21 federal election.
Doug Hamilton, chair of the Games host committee, recently made the rounds of the local government — Niagara Region, St. Catharines and Thorold — and gathered about $28 million in capital spending commitments.
The final piece of that puzzle was Thorold council’s commitment on Tuesday of $5 million for Canada Games Park and another $2 million to service the property, the grounds of Brock University across from regional headquarters.
“We are moving forward to show we have all our local commitments in place,” Hamilton said. “Our message is that we have some hard deadlines; we need to start construction this year.”
All the facilities must be ready for the opening of the Games on Aug. 6, 2021. The host committee doesn’t have the luxury of waiting. The shovels need to hit the ground this fall.
“The fact is, if we can’t get past the impasse, then much of the infrastructure will not happen,” Hamilton said. “The commitments we have from Brock, St. Catharines, the Region and Thorold are contingent on receiving further funding from the provincial and federal governments.
“We would have to revisit everything. If the federal or provincial governments don’t honour their commitments, we will be back at the drawing board. We aren’t there now, and we don’t ever want to be there.”
Hamilton said the impasse is provincewide and having an impact on many different projects. All are in a queue waiting for the funds to start construction this summer.
Hamilton said he hasn’t heard any suggestions that the province will pull the plug on the joint-funding program as part of its deficit reduction efforts.
“It is the opposite,” he said. “The province has signed the funding agreement and is supportive of the games. About six weeks ago, they announced they are supportive of the ICIP Funding Program. We need that program to open up, so we can make our applications, get commitments and start construction. We are ready. We need the funding stream to open up.”
The Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program, or ICIP, is a $30-billion, 10-year federal program designed to create longterm economic growth through infrastructure cost-shared.
Information on the mascot naming challenge for Niagara youngsters is available on the website www.Niagara2021.ca. The website also has a short video explaining why the turtle is the perfect mascot for the Games.