An Olympic bid is the talk of Toronto these days, as the city basks in the afterglow of the Pan Am and Para Pan Am Games. Canadian athletes did well; in the Pan Am Games they came second to the United States, in the Para Pan Am Games, second to Brazil.
Now the Canadian Olympic Committee is strongly encouraging a bid for the 2024 summer games, but Toronto Mayor, John Tory, said he will not make a final decision until preliminary figures from these recent games are revealed.
September 15th, 2015 is the deadline for cities to register their interest with the International Olympic Committee.
“It is up to the public to demand changes to the rules for the way the games are hosted”
Janice Forsyth, past director of the International Centre for Olympic Studies, says despite new rules by the International Olympic Committee, in an initiative called Agenda 2020, to make bidding and hosting more affordable, the process is still too expensive.
ListenThe International Centre for Olympic Studies, at Western University in London, Ontario, is one of several Olympic study centres, but it is the only one that is independent. It receives no financial backing from the IOC and therefore is in a position to analyze the socio-economic benefits and challenges.
“Don’t make the public pay for private games. Change the Olympic charter”
Janice Forsyth says “it’s a business first and foremost and the bottom line is always their priority… the more worldwide interest there is in the games, the more money they make.” And the costs keep soaring; London, when all is factored in, cost in the vicinity of $40 billion US and Sochi was in the $50 billion range.
Janice Forsyth says the introduction of ‘Agenda 2020‘ in December 2014 shook things up. It addresses restructuring the bid phase with the IOC paying for some of the visits by dignitaries, and restructuring the way hosting can happen, as in cities being allowed to combine their proposals to co-host games. Forsyth says there aren’t many cities left that want to host the Olympics..
“The city will always pay for the hosting of these private games… it’s a private industry that comes into town and sets up shop and the public pays to have that privilege.”
“Agenda 2020 is a policy attempt to try and address this worldwide concern for a lack of interest in hosting the games because of the costs the public will incur, and Montreal is a good example.” Forsyth says. “The public always pay; you know the IOC has this nifty rule written in to the Olympic charter, the guidelines for how you run an Olympic games,”
The charter stipulates that the IOC is exempt from all financial obligations for the Olympic Games and the sole responsibility for the cost of the games go to the city. Forsyth emphasizes that means the public, the taxpayer.
Janice Forsyth says the economic benefits or spin-off argument no longer holds water. Independent research has proven there are few benefits. “It is up to the public to demand changes to the rules for the way the games are hosted. We’re talking about a multi-billion dollar corporation… so why are we paying to host their games?”
Forsyth says,”Olympism has been the best marketing scheme ever devised”
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