‘Cool.’ Island leaders upbeat after ’30 Olympics bid pitch

Victoria Mayor Lisa Helps says she is enthusiastic about the potential for the Island to be involved in the 2030 Winter Olympics.

“It’s a really exciting opportunity and an inspiring vision,” she said. “It’s a recovery and community-building opportunity. It would be exciting to pursue.”

The concept of a provincewide B.C. 2030 Winter Olympics bid met with generally positive reviews in a video-conference meeting that included bid proponent John Furlong and Island politicians and business leaders. Furlong was president and CEO of the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics.

“It was a great briefing,” said Helps. “We did it once before with Victoria and Vancouver sharing the 2019 world junior hockey championship and it’s a great opportunity to do it again to showcase B.C. communities to the world.”

There has been speculation about 2030 curling being held at Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre and cross-country and Nordic skiing events on Mount Washington.

The bid, however, is in the early stages and nothing specific has been decided.

The vote on where the Games will be held will take place in 2023 during an International Olympic Committee session in Mumbai, India. In Canada, Quebec City has expressed interest, while other jurisdictions around the world who would like to play host include Salt Lake City, Utah; Sapporo, Japan; and Barcelona-Pyrenees, Spain. Only one Canadian bid can move forward.

The Winter Olympics are scheduled for Feb. 8-24, 2030.

Anthony Everett, CEO of Tourism Vancouver Island, who was chair of the 2015 Canada Winter Games in Prince George, called the concept of letting smaller B.C. communities be part of a bigger event “terrific.”

Bruce Williams, CEO of the Victoria Chamber of Commerce, said it’s a “cool idea in that it spreads the economic benefits around the province.” “This was just an exploratory first meeting but it could lead to a great outcome for Victoria and the Island.”

Furlong, who has strong Island connections from his time as Nanaimo regional director of parks and recreation from 1979 to 1987, said while the 2010 Games “left a profound mark on all of us,” the Lower Mainland got most of the benefits.

“This 2030 bid spreads it around,” he said. “It allows communities [outside the Lower Mainland] to dream about being part of the Olympics.”

The early bid process has been remarkable for the lack of talk about provincial government involvement. Furlong has proposed a mostly private-sector bid. “What we are proposing is unprecedented — a fully selfsustaining Games,” he said.

The bid envisions no funding for new facilities, with all events taking place in existing venues. Furlong said B.C. communities looking to be part of the Winter Games could apply to provincial or federal infrastructure programs to upgrade their venues to Olympic standard. Each interested community would be responsible for submitting their own proposal to be part of the B.C. 2030 Games.

Furlong said he would like to hear something from the provincial government, which has remained largely tight-lipped about the potential bid.

The federal government will also likely be involved in helping to stage the 2030 Commonwealth Games in Hamilton, Ont.