According to a new study by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, the Halifax 2014 Commonwealth Games Bid Committee failed to properly assess the costs and benefits of hosting the Games.
The study was released Monday and says the bid committee failed to do a cost benefit analyses as required by the Canadian government, reports the Canadian Press (CP).
Report co-author Michael Bradfield says the bid committee “grossly over-estimated” both the economic benefits of a Games in Halifax and the amount tourists would spend.
Co-author James Wildsmith says sporting events the size of the Commonwealth Games “usually do not even cover the costs of running them and the public is left to foot the bill for infrastructure and long-term maintenance.
“In most cities the infrastructure is expensive to build, costly to maintain, and inappropriate to local needs”, he said.
According to its website the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, based in Ottawa, Ontario, is an independent, non-partisan research institute concerned with issues of social and economic justice.
