TORONTO — A week before the deadline to compete to host the 2024 Summer Olympics, officials said they're still trying to determine whether bidding for the Games would be good for Toronto.
Toronto Mayor John Tory and Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne said Tuesday that many crucial questions remain surrounding the costs and responsibilities involved, and they're not sure the answers will come in time.
"There are a lot of questions that haven't been answered and it's a very short time period so Mayor Tory and I will continue to try and get those questions answered as we move towards some of those dates," Wynne said at a joint news conference in Toronto.
Nailing down the information on short notice has proved tricky, Tory said, noting it's still unclear whether facilities built for the Pan Am Games could be repurposed for the Olympics. City staff are preparing a report on the issue.
The final costs and expenses of the Pan Am Games have also yet to be released.
Without that information, it's impossible to commit to funding the Olympics or determine which level of government would cover which costs, the pair said.
"I think it would not have been reasonable for me to come to say to her, 'Will you just sign a blank cheque,'" Tory said. "I can assure you she did not."
The mayor said he only began researching the feasibility of a bid as excitement for Pan Am Games rose this summer. No one had raised the prospect when Tory came into office in December, he said.
"I don't apologize for a second for the fact that we were a bit behind on that because no one had really been pursuing this until quite recently," he said.
Cities interested in hosting the 2024 Games have until Sept. 15 to register with the International Olympic Committee.
Tory doesn't need approval to file a letter of interest with the IOC but he needs the support of city council as well as the provincial and federal governments to proceed with a bid.
The federal election campaign currently underway has made it difficult to get a clear picture of the support that could be expected from Ottawa, Wynne said.
Toronto unsuccessfully bid for the 1996 and 2008 Olympics and Tory has said he doesn't want to lead a third failed bid.
Los Angeles has voted in favour of bidding for the 2024 Games, which it estimates would cost about $6 billion in public and private spending.
Rome, Paris, Hamburg, Germany, and Budapest, Hungary, have also expressed interest in competing to host the Games.
