TORONTO — If Toronto’s mayor plans to bid for the 2024 Summer Olympics, he’ll have to quell concerns in his own council about the financial risks involved.
The head of the city’s budget committee said Tuesday that now that the excitement over the Pan Am Games has faded, he is feeling more uncertain about proceeding with a possible Olympic bid.
“I’m taking a cautious step back now and looking at the numbers very carefully,” Gary Crawford said.
“There are a lot of unanswered questions at the moment that need to be answered: who’s going to be paying for the bid — $50 million to $60 million — where’s the support from the provincial (and) federal governments, that’s an absolute key necessity, and where the private sector is.”
Cities looking to host the 2024 Games have another two weeks to officially register their interest with the International Olympic Committee, which secures them the right to submit a bid.
Toronto Mayor John Tory doesn’t need council’s approval to send an application letter, but he does need it to move forward with a pitch.
The mayor said he’s spoken briefly to Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne and Prime Minister Stephen Harper about the possibility of a bid, but wants to confer with the remaining federal leaders and city council on the matter.
Tory also maintains he wants to carefully weigh the pros and cons before deciding whether to even submit a letter to the IOC.
“Concerns about finances are on my mind too,” he said. “That’s why I’m not just blindly saying let’s just sign a letter and go ahead with this.”
A municipal study previously estimated bidding alone would cost between $50 million and $60 million, and hosting the Games would cost between $3.3 billion and $7 billion.
The Canadian Olympic Committee, which has been pushing for Toronto to enter the race, says new rules from the IOC would make both bidding and hosting more affordable, but at least one expert says the price will likely be higher than the city previously predicted.
Crawford said he won’t support using taxpayer money to finance the bid, and should Toronto officially throw its hat in the ring, he won’t agree to a contract that would leave the city on the hook for any cost overruns.
Boston’s mayor rejected a similar agreement in July, effectively pulling the city from the race. Los Angeles has indicated it would step in as a replacement, and city council there was poised to vote on the issue Tuesday.
Rome, Paris, Hamburg, Germany, and Budapest, Hungary, have also expressed interest in competing to host the 2024 Games.