Steve Milton: Hamilton100 hasn’t quite given up on Commonwealth Games

Three weeks after the bid lost its preferential status, the private group which had sought to bring the Commonwealth Games back to Hamilton for its 100th anniversary will still keep the pilot light burning.

On Wednesday, a community group based mostly in Alberta's two largest cities confirmed that it has entered the official exploration phase" of hosting the 2030 Games in Calgary and Edmonton, as well as several smaller communities across the province.

Alberta 2030 Commonwealth Games Corp says a collaboration of private and public stakeholders will determine the feasibility of pursuing the bid for 2030. It has commitments from all three levels of government to invest financially in assessing whether or not to submit a formal bid, which must be submitted to the U.K.-based Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) by Aug. 31.

In the wake of that announcement, PJ Mercanti, president of Hamilton100 Commonwealth Games Bid sent a release to Hamilton and area First Nations and municipal leaders, which said in part, We have confirmed with CSC (Commonwealth Sport Canada), the City of Hamilton and the Province of Ontario, that we remain ready, willing and able to recommence discussions at a later date should the opportunity arise."

That refers to the possibility that the Alberta group might eventually decide a Games bid is not workable or that the international CGF could find shortcomings with the Alberta proposal.

In the event that a Alberta bid is finalized and submitted to the CGF, we expect to explore this region's support and participation in the Games effort in some capacity as the home of its founding and a strong supporter of the Commonwealth Games sporting movement," Mercanti wrote Wednesday.

Commonwealth Sport Canada had worked for years with Hamilton's private-sector/community group overseen by Mercanti and local lawyer Lou Frapporti in formulating multiple bids for first, 2030, then a revamped bid for 2026, then again for a regionalized 2030 bid which had preferred status" as Canada's choice to host the 2030 Games. Mercanti reiterated that the preferred status" was transferred to Alberta in mid-February when the Province of Ontario failed to provide the imperative letter of support by a Feb. 13 deadline. The province had already missed the original deadline of late January.

In an email to The Spectator in mid-February, Neil Lumsden, Ontario's Minister of Tourism, Culture and Sport, said that the province hadn't received some key information it needed about the bid. On Wednesday, his Alberta counterpart, Jason Luan, said as part of an Alberta 2030 release, Alberta would welcome the 2030 Commonwealth Games with open arms."

Steve Milton is a Hamilton-based sports columnist at The Spectator. Reach him via email: smilton@thespec.com