Thomas Jones, CEO of Commonwealth Games Canada, said Wednesday that a consultant’s draft report that persuaded the province of British Columbia and the city of Halifax to kill Canada’s bid for the 2014 Commonwealth Games was incomplete and flawed.
Jones said the picture painted by the study was imprecise and the two levels of government shouldn’t have focused so much attention on it. He said, “what should have happened, in our view…was that the draft report would be circulated to the (funding) partners…and verified and fact-checked. What happened was, that process didn’t occur” before the province and city pulled the plug.
According to the Chronicle Herald Jones said the decision to withdraw from the international bidding competition was made before the Commonwealth Games Federation in England had an opportunity to respond to the preliminary study. He said that was a mistake.
The province received the final report March 26, more than two weeks after the bid was withdrawn.
Jones said, “any time you deal with a draft report you’re essentially working from information that has not been verified, information that may or may not be factual”. According to the Chronicle Herald Jones said his organization would have preferred to see the governments make a better-informed decision about the viability of the Games bid.
Jones’ office posted a statement about the draft report on its website Wednesday saying the report’s assertion the Halifax 2014 bid society undertook an ill-advised approach to the budget is wrong. “The bid society undertook exactly what its board of directors asked – that is to build the budget based on what it would take to win, while ensuring the best possible legacies for the local and national sport communities”.
When asked about the feasibility of a private business group in Nova Scotia resurrecting the bid, Jones said revising it is impossible. “There are now two cities running for 2014”, he said.
