Pan Am Games execs strike gold
57 organizers eligible for six-figure bonuses because event hit budget
The $2.4-billion Pan Am Games finished on budget, and organizers will get their gold.
Because last summer’s international sports extravaganza met its fiscal targets, 57 executives will be eligible for six-figure bonuses.
“I can say with confidence that we did what we set out to do,” Tourism, Culture and Sport Minister Michael Coteau told reporters Thursday.
“We successfully delivered the largest, most transparent multi-sport games ever held in this country,” he said of the July and August event for 10,000 athletes that attracted 1.4 million visitors and left behind 25 new and upgraded sports facilities.
Coteau said public safety and transportation cost significantly less than what was budgeted as recently as last spring, thanks largely to good luck.
Security came in at $185 million. That’s about 23 per cent — or $54 million — less than the $239 million estimated last spring because anticipated threats did not materialize.
The Ontario Provincial Police decided against searching spectators and their bags on the way into Pan Am venues, which alone saved about $10 million on security staff.
“It’s based on threat level,” Coteau said. “If something did happen I’m sure it would have cost more money.”
The minister denied charges from the Progressive Conservatives that the security budget was inflated so the government could portray itself as a better financial manager.
“Absolutely not,” Coteau told reporters. “It was based on the best information the OPP and the integrated security unit had.” Transportation c osts were roughly one-third lower than planned, at $38 million instead of the $61 million earmarked last spring.
Officials said they cut back on planned road restrictions and advertising to alert Greater Toronto and Hamilton residents of traffic and other disruptions because the public message of planning to avoid traffic jams and using high-occupancy vehicle lanes was well received and taken to heart. That also meant the Pan Am transportation system for athletes and staff went smoothly, limiting the need for extra transit services getting people to and from venues.
None of the dollar figures provided by Pan Am officials are audited and bills from suppliers are still coming in, but Coteau said he’s “confident” the financial picture won’t change. Audited financial statements will not be available until next spring.
The positive results mean executives will pocket bonuses of up to 100 per cent of their salary, including TO2015 CEO Saad Rafi, a seconded deputy minister, who will receive a $428,794 payout.
In all, about $6 million has been earmarked for the performance bonuses, which would not have been paid if the Games had not come in on time and on budget.
“I still have a big problem with a budget bonus for somebody that shows up for work,” said Progressive Conservative MPP Steve Clark.
Clark, who has asked provincial auditor general Bonnie Lysyk to probe the Games in a review expected next month, said he’s suspicious of the savings Coteau trumpeted.
“There’s been a lot of play in this budget . . . a lot of contingencies,” said the Leeds-Grenville MPP, adding “we didn’t have the threat we had on Parliament Hill, thank God.”
That was a reference to the shooting in Ottawa last fall by Michael Zehaf-Bibeau, who was felled in a hail of 56 bullets after killing Cpl. Nathan Cirillo at the National War Memorial. New Democrat MPP Paul Miller (Hamilton—Stoney Creek) questioned the value of hosting the second-tier Pan Am Games, noting that “the costs were 10 times the revenue.”
“An Olympic Games certainly has bigger revenues and worldwide coverage, and the revenue coming to Olympic sport venues is a lot larger,” said Miller.
Although ticket sales were initially slow, once the Games began there was a flurry of buying and 81per cent, or 1.14 million of 1.4 million, available tickets were snapped up, generating revenue of just under $36 million.
One key legacy is the new Canary District neighbourhood surrounding the athletes’ village in the West Donlands, where dorms are being converted into condos and are 80per-cent sold.
Those profits go to the developer that built the units, which have served as an anchor for other new buildings and services in the area.
“It’s a game-changer for Toronto,” said Coteau. “It’s a new neighbourhood.