Victoria’s 1994 Commonwealth Games covered the city in glory, and we have a chance to bring back that feeling. The city is in the running to host the Games again.
South Africa has dropped out of hosting the 2022 Commonwealth Games, and Canada is one of the countries offering to take over. Toronto, Edmonton and Victoria have been suggested as possible sites.
Toronto hosted the 2015 Pan Am Games, while Edmonton and Victoria hosted the 1978 and 1994 Commonwealth Games, respectively.
Victoria’s 1994 Commonwealth Games were successful, well-run, energizing and memorable. The region came together to welcome 2,557 athletes from 63 countries, with 14,000 volunteers who gave every indication of getting as much out of the event as the athletes did.
And the legacy of those Games lives on in Saanich Commonwealth Place, Pacific Institute for Sport Excellence and the national athletic teams that train here all year.
It also lives in the community spirit and the knowledge that our city stood with pride on the world stage.
“We’re very excited about this possibility for Victoria,” Mayor Lisa Helps said of the chance of bringing the Games back to the Island.
The odds are long, and the work just to put together a bid would be massive, but we owe it to ourselves to give this opportunity serious consideration.
“The next step is to put together a bid committee, but we need support from the region, province and federal government,” Helps said. “A lot has changed since 1994, and the biggest cost item now for the Games is security.”
It could cost as much as $1 billion, a huge amount for a city the size of Victoria. Help from the province would be key. While the B.C. Liberals have backed the bid in their platform, they haven’t committed any money to the proposal.
The competition is intimidating.
Four countries put up their hands by Friday’s deadline. The cities include Liverpool, Manchester and Birmingham in England with London considering; Sydney, Melbourne, Perth and Adelaide in Australia; and Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia.
The smart money appears to be on England, which has strong commitments in place.
Still, Victoria has experience, and an even better foundation of expertise, thanks to the legacy organizations.
“Victoria is quite capable of hosting another Commonwealth Games, and it’s a great economic and sport development opportunity for the region,” said Jim Reed, who worked with George Heller on the 1994 organizing committee.
Getting Ottawa, the province and the region’s other municipalities onside will be essential. There is hope on the third part of that, as 10 local governments met businessman David Black in 2015 and wrote a letter of interest.
The city must move quickly, because this isn’t a normal bidding process. With time short, the goal is to have a replacement for Durban in place by early fall. That might be in Victoria’s favour, because many of the underpinnings from 1994 are still in place and could be reactivated on shorter notice than in cities such as Liverpool.
No one wants to throw money at an Olympics-style celebration of wretched excess, but the Commonwealth Games are a more manageable project, where community and the love of sport are more important than spectacle. Clear heads, keen eyes and a realistic appraisal of the pros and cons must be part of any consideration of a bid.
The city has changed over the past 23 years, but even those who are too young or too recently arrived to recall the thrill have heard about the Games from neighbours and relatives who were here in 1994.
If there is a chance of bringing that feeling back to the capital region, we should take it.
