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Hosting International Sport Events in Canada: Planning for Facility Legacies

Cora McCloy*

Introduction Hallmark or "mega-events" are large-scale, planned occurrences of limited duration which can have a substantial social, economic, political, environmental, and cultural impact on the host region (Essex and Chalkley, 1998; Hall and Hodges,1998; Roche, 2000). Multi-sport events such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, and Pan American Games, as well as specialist world-level international sports competitions such as the World Cup of Soccer and World Championships in Athletics (WCA) fall within the rubric of mega-events. Recently emerging literature in the area of mega-events demonstrates that cities and nations pursue large-scale sporting events for a myriad of reasons including tourism and economic development, place marketing, infrastructural improvements, creation of an image of a "world-class" city, and the development of sport facilities. Canadian researchers, Macintosh and Whitson (1993, 1996) cite the latter, sport legacy - acquiring facilities that can cater to elite/high performance athletes as well as professional franchises — as one of the most compelling reasons for cities to host. Additionally, Whitson and Macintosh expand on the numerous impacts on host communities that have emerged in the area of mega-event research. Some of the early social impact research was compiled by Colin Hall (1992) and Syme, Shaw, Fenton, & Mueller (1989), who covered a range of sporting and tourist events throughout Australia, Canada, and other countries. These researchers stressed the need for an increased examination of the economic, social, and environmental impacts on host cities and regions as they posed important questions for researchers in the area of sport and tourism. Political issues have also emerged in the research on mega-events. It has been demonstrated that those individuals or groups who pursue sporting events are invariably composed of the political and economic elite (generally referred to as "civic boosters") and tend to proceed with little public input (Hall, 1992; Lenskyj, 2000; Owen, 2001). The growth coalition or growth regime concept utilizes similar civic booster themes and examines the entrepreneurial urban policies often pursued by local governments with influential business people closely involved. These "interested actors... use their political and cultural resources to intensify land use for profit" (Schimmel, 2001, p.264; see also Burbank, Heying, & Andarnovich, 2000; Eisinger, 1998; Owens, 2001; Wamsley & Heine, 1996; Whitson & Macintosh, 1993,1996).

Purpose For the purposes of this paper I will focus on the legacy of sporting facilities from two major sporting events held in Canada combined with one prominent Olympic bid. This paper is part of a doctoral dissertation proposal focusing on legacy plans developed in three case studies: 1999 Pan American Games in Winnipeg, the 2001 World Championships in Athletics (WCA) staged in Edmonton, and the 2008 Toronto Olympic Bid. Preliminary comparisons will be drawn on issues that emerge from the Sport Canada Policy for Hosting International Sporting Events (hereafter "Hosting policy"). In addition, the proceeding literature review will provide strong evidence that previous host cities have not expressed an interest in extending post-event benefits for those outside the elite/professional realm of sport. In order to discuss user groups that do not fall within the rubric of elite/high performance I will use Chernushenko's (1994) description of community-centred sport. Chernushenko argued that most sport occurs at the community level, "whether through schools, clubs or recreational programs.. .community-centred sport recognizes that it is not appro*

Cora McCloy is a doctoral student at The University of Toronto, in Toronto, Canada.

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priate to push an elite national model of sport down into the community. The goal of community-centred sport is to provide broad opportunities for participation to the greatest number of people" (p.85). Citing the "disruptive shift" in the allocation of funds for sports and recreation the author highlights the disproportionate amount of financial support being made available for "sophisticated facilities" at high costs with less funding available for what he regards as "participatory events" (p.84). One of the goals of the present research is to address issues of accessibility to sporting facilities in the post-event period. The following key documents are used for this paper: 1999 Pan American Games Legacy Study (2000); Xin Pan American Games Final Report (2000); 8 IAAF World Championships in Athletics, Edmonton 2001 Final Report (2001); Toronto 2008 Olympic and Paralympic Games Master Plan, (1999); A Socio-Economic Impact and Equity Plan for the 2008 Olympic Games Preliminary Report (2000). In addition where key documents were not available (e.g., 2001 WCA Legacy Plans), newspaper reports were drawn upon for some insight into the proposed uses of sport facilities in the post-event period. Once again, these themes drawn from the reports are not the complete story of the legacy for the host city as more detailed analysis and investigation will be necessary to draw any conclusive results.

Canadian Government Involvement in Large-Scale Sporting Events Since the first British Empire Games (now the Commonwealth Games) were held in Hamilton, Ontario in 1930, the Canadian government has played a pivotal role in supporting the hosting of international sports events. Canada has hosted several international sporting events since the 1930 event, most notably the Commonwealth Games in Winnipeg (1967 and 1999), Edmonton (1978) and Victoria (1994); the Summer Olympics in Montreal 1976 and Winter Olympics in Calgary 1988. Prior to the 1980s, substantial capital outlay for new sport facilities occurred in conjunction with the major international sport events mentioned. However, the federal government felt that few benefits had accrued from these facility developments specifically for high performance sport. In 1981, the federal government issued a policy statement that Sport Canada would develop a hosting policy to greatly increase the development of high performance sport in Canada. The Hosting policy came to fruition in 1983 (Macintosh, Bedecki & Franks, 1987). This first Hosting policy limited the federal government's support to international multi-sport "games" but has since expanded and "applies to the hosting of major games (e.g. Olympics, Pan-American Games), strategic focus events (e.g. North American Indigenous Games) and single-sport hosting (e.g. world championships, world cups)" (Canada,1996; Canada, 2000). The federal government, since the initial Hosting policy of 1983, continues its intent to direct its investment and seek specific objectives that are to be met by bidding groups seeking federal financial support.

Legacy The term legacy has been used in several ways. Cashman (1999) notes: "Almost every Olympic city [mega-event], since the Games were revived in 1896, has some form of legacy" (p. 183). Owen (2001) divides legacy into positive and negatives for the host city and region and a compilation of research in this area highlights many of her themes: finance (e.g., Montreal 1976 is a notable and well-known example, see Kidd, 1992; for Los Angeles 1984 for the generation of a substantial surplus, see Edwards, 1988); endowment funds (e.g., Calgary 1988 is a key model in this area); tourism and economic development (Chalip, 2001); human resources, such as volunteer bases for future sporting or community events including trained sport officials (Smith, 2001); infrastructural improvements (Essex and Chalkley, 1998; Hiller, 2000); new or upgraded world-class sport facilities (Cashman, 1999; Owen, 2001; Whitson and Macintosh, 1993, 1996); central training centres; state-of-the-art sports equipment; and, sports programming.

Hosting Policy With the advent of the Hosting policy in the early 1980s, the federal government has played an instrumental role in the direction that sporting events will take. The Hosting policy is essentially a decision-making framework for determining federal involvement in the hosting of international sport events. The Policy clarifies the federal government's role in hosting and provides a transparent, decision-making tool for the government to assess proposals against strict criteria. By this I mean that specific governmental objectives are stipulated for hosting groups and such requirements stress a particular focus in catering to predominantly high performance sport, especially in the long-term, post-event period. Sport development has also been a key cornerstone to hosting events and explicit efforts must be met within this requirement. In particular, the Hosting policy that has been updated on at least two occasions since 1983 stresses the provision of legacies: "Franchise holders and host societies must invest directly in the associated sport programming legacies. Submissions [for federal support] must contain strategies to ensure continued sport programming and reasonable access to facilities for high performance athletes in perpetuity. Economic, social and cultural legacies related to the provision of services and benefits to the community at large will also be considered' [italics added] (Canada, 2000). The prioritization of high performance is quite evident in this section

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of the Hosting policy with fitness and community recreation falling within the rubric of social benefits (detailed below) that do not carry the weight of the wording surrounding high performance stipulations. In assessing whether the federal government can potentially gain net benefits, the Hosting policy will only support those events that "advance national policy objectives; accrue significant net sport, economic, social, and cultural benefits; and ensure significant legacies" (Canada, 2000). Within the legacy objectives, the emphasis on high performance is stressed, including strategies for facility access (including preferred times and rates), athletes' preparation, coaching education and employment, and sport medicine/science programs in perpetuity for all areas of legacy. Aside from providing detailed legacy plans, other federal objectives include social benefits for the community and Canadians at large. Bid groups seeking federal support are encouraged to attain, comply, and support a number of objectives including youth involvement, gender equity, Aboriginal awareness and appreciation, public support, and fitness. The latter objective would ideally involve the bid group "outlining plans and/or programs designed to improve the general level of fitness of the population, to provide opportunities for broad-based participation in physical activity, and to contribute to the development of safe, active and healthy communities" (Canada, 2000).

Literature Review of Canadian Sport Legacies Within the Canadian sport scene, Macintosh and Whitson (1993, 1996) question the use of public funds (historically all three levels have been involved in hosting) to support high performance and professional sport to the detriment of the vast majority of citizens who do not fall within such elite levels. Exploring issues of accessibility to sport facilities in the post-event period is a key concern in light of evidence from past events hosted in Canada. Macintosh and Whitson (1993) argue that the construction of arenas for NHL hockey coincided with the hosting of international games in Canada. Following Montreal 1976, federal and provincial support became a substantial base of support to host large-scale games and to create cities attractive to major league franchises. The researchers note that a 1978 Edmonton Commonwealth Games budget item included a 16 000 seat indoor arena that had no use for those games. Senior government funding had been expressly utilized to fund a stadium for a professional hockey team, the Edmonton Oilers. Macintosh and Whitson note the Commonwealth Games also brought a new $23 million stadium which included an artificial turf to be installed after the games were over. In designing the new venue the explicit needs of the Canadian Football League (CFL) Edmonton Eskimos came into play. The role of politicians, businessmen, and key sports figures (i.e., civic boosters) were instrumental in skewing the civic agenda, not unlike the case in Calgary for the 1988 Olympic Games. Calgary 1988 also illustrates efforts by civic boosters to attract professional hockey by promising the newly arrived Flames team an arena suitable for the league. The arena promise was built into the Olympic bid plans. Hiller (1989) and Reasons (1984) expressed reservations with respect to the after-use of the new facilities built in Calgary, specifically drawing attention to the forgotten or neglected recreation needs of average citizens in the city. With respect to high performance sport facilities, the Calgary Olympics have set the bar on planning for a legacy with its endowment fund working to advance high performance sport for present and future generations of elite athletes. The range of services for elite athletes is staggering and has emerged as a very strong legacy for such identified groups. However, in a recent article in the Globe and Mail, Laura Robinson cites a different story of sport legacies associated with Calgary. Robinson demonstrates that accessibility is a very real concern for marginalized groups in Calgary and surrounding areas, specifically Aboriginal youth who cannot always afford the fees to access the facilities or even enter Olympic park for biking, running, etc. (there is a $9 entrance fee to enter the grounds). Thus, while Calgary has been viewed as the model for Canadian and other future Olympic hosts, the legacy does not provide for extensive community access. An important ongoing ethnographic study of the Olympic Oval, undertaken by Doug Brown at the University of Calgary, will provide much needed insight into the range of users that, from early reports, includes high performance teams such as women's ice hockey, athletics, cycling, and speed skating in addition to senior citizens walking groups, little league soccer, and disabled athletes and recreational skaters.1 Finally, other beneficiaries of sporting events hosted in Canada have been universities. Macintosh and Whitson (1993) note that the University of Calgary, for example, received student accommodation from hosting the 1988 games. While not considered a partisan decision mainly because the style of dormitories fits well with past athlete villages, issues have been raised with respect to the displacement of large number of university students during the period of the 1988 Olympics. Lenskyj (2000) offers a more scathing critique of the role of universities in their complicity with what she terms, the Olympic industry. She suggests that universities such as Calgary provided a legacy of facilities funded primarily by public money and later used by professional teams, high performance athletes, and university students. The latter group can arguably fall within the rubric of recreational athletics (e.g., intramural sport); however, Lenskyj argues that the university itself is an elite institution and is not widely accessible to all citizens. A key point drawn from the previous examples is that, in both Edmonton 1978 and Calgary 1988, citizen complaints were waged over the large expenditures of public funds on venues suited primarily for professional and elite sport. Such community opposition has had a history in mega sporting events across a number of countries (see Eisinger, 2000; Lenskyj, 2000; Rutheiser, 1997) but a

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detailed examination of this issue extends beyond the confines of this paper. The following sections will highlight key themes that emerged from the documents and can be linked to previous sports events hosted in Canada.

Funding for Sport Legacies The 1999 Pan American Games received a federal contribution of $59 million with the province of Manitoba adding $23.5 million. The 2001 WCA received $40 million in cash and services from the federal government and were matched by the province of Alberta. Both contributions demonstrate the degree of federal commitment to hosting international events in Canada. In the case of providing for a sport legacy (as a requirement of the Hosting policy and a precondition of receiving federal funding), both host cities allocated a post-event sport programming legacy. The 2001 WCA created the Edmonton 2001 Athletics Legacy Fund of $5 million which was supplemented with an additional $3 million from the event surplus. The 1999 Pan Ams accrued a surplus of $8.85 million of which $4 million was placed in an endowment fund with the Winnipeg Foundation (a Community Trust) with the benefactor being the Canadian Sports Centre (Manitoba). The Manitoba centre receives interest payments from the endowment on a yearly basis, which it then uses to fund programming. It would be fair to project a similar substantial base of support from all three levels of government if the Toronto bid won in light of the sheer magnitude of the event.

National Training Centres As noted previously, the Hosting policy has clear stipulations for hosting groups to provide legacies for high performance athletes. In the case of the Pan Ams, the National Training Centre became the primary benefactor from the surplus and endowment fund. The Centre itself was established in 1997 two years prior to the games but through hosting the event, some provision of economic stability and facility legacies for high performance sport were realized. The starting level for assistance by the Centre is for those athletes provincially funded by the Athlete Assistance Program, designated members of recognized Provincial Teams, and high performance clubs and Canada Games programs that are supported by Manitoba's provincial sport organizations including Manitoba's universities. According to the General Manager of the National Sports Centre, "the Pan Am legacy will strengthen our support for our athletes. It will allow us the viability needed to establish long-term, world class support for athletes and coaches throughout their careers. And most importantly, this legacy will help keep our best in Manitoba." (Cyrenne, 2000). In the case of the 2001 WCA, legacy documents on the spending plans for the $8 million have not been made available. However, with respect to the development and support for a national training centre, a surprise announcement by the then Secretary for Amateur Sport, Denis Coderre, during the 2001 WCA, touted Edmonton as becoming the Centre of excellence for athletics in Canada. Many sport officials were taken off guard by the announcement and no detailed plans have yet to be announced on the subject. Two main track and field facilities will undoubtedly play an important role in future sport development: Clarke Stadium, adjacent to Commonwealth Stadium and site of the warm-up venue for the 2001 WCA, was completely rebuilt to include a grandstand, dressing rooms, washroom facilities, field, Mondo track and grass field, and 2500 seats at a cost of over $4 million. A second facility, Rollie Miles Athletic Park, site of the training venue for the 2001 WCA, received $2 million for upgrades that included a Mondo track, new grandstand, equipment rooms, and 1000 seats. The Toronto 2008 Olympic bid was important with respect to plans to sustain, through the financial legacy, a National Sport Centre-Toronto (NSC-T). The proposal for a newly built Olympic Velodrome and Multi-Sport Centre also included earmarking the site as home for the NSC-T. Similar to the Pan Ams and 2001 WCA, the Toronto bid had hoped for an extensive centre that would be capable of playing host to international competitions in sports such as badminton, cycling, gymnastics, table tennis, taekwondo, and wrestling. The importance of providing training and services at home for both Canadian and Ontario athletes and serving as an attraction for international athletes was stressed in the bid plans. Further parts of the Toronto bid plan expanded on the post-event use of competition venues stating that "the Games will provide outstanding new and improved accessible facilities for high performance sports, with endowment funds to assist with the programming, administration, and maintenance of these facilities" in line with the Calgary 1988 model of legacy opportunities. Thus all three case studies demonstrate strong indications of extensive support for high performance athletes through the development and support of National Sport Centres or, in the case of Edmonton, a specific centre catering to the needs of one sport.

Sport For All The 2008 Toronto Olympic bid created legacy plans around the concept of sport for all. More well-known within the European sporting community and developed in Chemushenko's work (1994), the Sport For All movement has as its aim the promotion of the Olympic ideal that sport is a human right for all individuals regardless of race, social class, and sex. The movement encourages sports activities that can be exercised by all peoples (http://www.olympic.org). Donnelly (1993) addresses ways in which Sport For All can achieve its goals by, for example, including adequate facilities and funding for programs geared to all citizens.

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Sport For All commitments were made in the Toronto 2008 bid with the goal of leaving a legacy from the bid and the Olympic and Paralympic Games that would "re-energize and re-vitalize sports, recreation and physical activity in Canada at every level" (Toronto, 1999, p.4-15). Physical activity in schools, youth leadership in coaching, high performance role models for children and youth, community participation opportunities, and school sport were cited within Sport For All legacies. A key plan in the Toronto bid was the proposal that recreation facilities be placed in areas of greatest need and in line with the needs and desires of the residents of that area. Although a large portion of the Pan Ams Legacy Report (Cyrenne, 2000) extols the benefits for the National Centre, there is some reference to "agreements" that have been signed which guarantee community access to the facilities [built for the games] (p.6). References are made towards a significant legacy that can emerge from hosting with respect to the high performance athletes and community users. Community development is cited alongside the health benefits of sport with Cyrenne's report contending that a number of initiatives are in place in order to provide recreational opportunities for youth at risk. A specific Aboriginal youth and recreational initiative has been earmarked funds from the federal government's share of the Pan Ams surplus. However, no specifics are included in the document and this warrants more investigation. In addition, the Province of Manitoba has indicated that its share of the surplus will be spent on the expansion of community-based sports programs (Cyrenne, 2000, p.33). In terms of facilities that may be available for recreational users in Winnipeg, the Pan Am pool, originally built for the 1967 games boasts a wide variety of activities but accessibility remains an issue as children and youth single public swims cost $1.852.95. Prime time adult and senior single admission is $4.25 with seniors receiving no discounts until six-month passes are bought. The web site for the Pan Am pool advertises "one of the best deals in town" but it is questionable whether this view of accessibility would fit within definitions of Sport For All espoused by Chernushenko (1994), Donnelly (1993) and Harvey (1988) as catering to a variety of marginalized groups (including seniors). On an interesting note, the web site includes a list of upcoming aquatic sporting events held at the Pan Am pool, from the local to the international level. Citing mainly weekend disturbances in normal recreational schedules, users are advised to understand the need to welcome visitors to Winnipeg as "athletes, coaches, family, the press, and others [can] have a very, very positive impact on the number of tourists per year" (http://www.city.winnipeg.mb/ca). While it is easy to challenge the primarily elitist nature of facility usage stemming from the Pan Ams, an important legacy has been the ability to host the 2002 North American Indigenous Games. The upgraded sport venues from the 1967 and 1999 Pan Ams have been a key success story for Winnipeg sport and cultural groups. Current venues required no upgrades or new facilities and Winnipeg could boast its capacity to play host to over 8000 athletes and an equal number of cultural performers (http// www.2002naig.com/english2/venues.htm).

Beneficiaries Professional Sport Aside from the financial surplus providing support for National Sport Centres through agreements made with the host society and governmental representatives, other beneficiaries continue to include professional sport franchises. As noted previously, the Edmonton Eskimos football team, primary tenants of Commonwealth stadium since the 1978 Commonwealth Games, continue to benefit from an amateur sporting event. The 2001 WCA Local Organizing Committee (LOC) included several known supporters of the Edmonton Eskimos football team and Edmonton Oilers hockey team. Noteworthy among the LOC was President and CEO, Rick LeLacheur. Credited with playing a key role in securing the WCA 2001 to Edmonton, the LOC member was also instrumental in his involvement with the organizing committee for the 1978 Commonwealth Games (Hunter, 1999). As noted previously, the 1978 Edmonton Commonwealth games were a windfall for both Edmonton pro teams. A similar pattern emerges in the case of the 2001 WCA, whereby the benefits for the Eskimos can be illustrated firstly through the purchase of a $6 million world's largest Sony Jumbotron with a state-of-the-art sound system. Viewed by the media as the "first legacy" of the WCA 2001, the jumbotron actually arrived much earlier than even many Eskimos supporters and the coach of the team believed possible. Assembled two years in advance of the WCA 2001, the video screen was viewed as placing Commonwealth Stadium as a leader in stadium experiences for the fans of the CFL games. Frequent comparisons in the media to the older, smaller jumbotrons in Toronto stressed the superiority of Edmonton in the sport facility realm and how this technology was instrumental in moving the CFL team into the 21 century. The jumbotron and expansions to the east and west concourse (3000 square metres) came at a cost of $22 168 000 of predominantly public funds. Certainly in order to win the bid to host the 2001 event, the stadium would require specific upgrades; however, the Edmonton media more often than not spent their column space extolling the benefits for the Eskimos team rather than any other aspect of athletics or other amateur sports.2 In the case of Winnipeg Stadium, refurbished for the 1999 Games, the CFL pro football team, Winnipeg Blue Bombers, will receive some benefits through the approximately $3 million in government funds to revitalize sections of the stadium.

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University The creation of National Sport Centres in Canada has grown out of early efforts to focus a group of track athletes in the sprint discipline at York University in 1981 and for middle distance runners at the University of Victoria the following year. Suffice to say that coaching staff, high level athletes, and support staffs (e.g., sport medicine and sport psychologists) are more readily available at many universities than can be found elsewhere. The 2001 WCA provided the University of Alberta with $7 million towards the creation of a new stadium, Foote Field. Built as a training site for the athletic competition, the 1200 seat venue contains both artificial and natural grass surfaces, and a Mondo track. Media reports contend that the university had originally applied to receive $13.8 million to construct a 5 000 seat Golden Bears football stadium with parking for 850. Foote Field is described on the Faculty of Physical Education and Recreation web site as "a multi-use training and competition facility...along with the University of Alberta, communities, recreational sport leagues and school sport programs are expected to make extensive use of this first-rate facility for training and competition" With the official legacy plans from WCA 2001 not complete, it is difficult to determine the extent to which all of these users will gain reasonable access to the facility. And in line with Lenskyj's (2000) remarks on the elitism of the university, it is doubtful whether marginalized groups will find access both affordable and reflective of their needs. The 1999 Pan Ams utilized a number of University of Manitoba (U of M) sites including the track and field stadium originally built for the 1967 Pan Ams which was retrofitted for the 1999 event and is now considered a world class facility. The key venue that illustrates significant benefits for the U of M is the Investors Group Athletic Centre. With an over $8 million contribution, the largest single contribution for any sport facility from combined government sources, this centre boasts three international sized basketball/volleyball courts and a 3000 seat capacity. An access agreement was made which would allow for other user groups from outside the university but details of this agreement are not widely known.3 The Toronto 2008 bid also incorporated university facilities within its bid plans. Specifically, York University would play host to the Modern pentathlon and be the recipient of a new 50 metre pool and 35 000 seat stadium. The University of Toronto, in addition to York and other colleges and universities in the city of Toronto, might also have been sites for national acclimatization centres that would have allowed for substantial refurbishments to already existing sport facilities or areas for new venues.

Conclusion Further work will address user groups that access facility legacies, all the while understanding that there tends to be a seamless web between young, talented sportspeople at the local, and provincial levels and the identified and carded athletes at the national and international levels. Keeping close to the definition of community recreation user cited in this paper, my doctoral work will attempt to explore more fully the real beneficiaries of large-scale events hosted in Canada. Preliminary analysis has demonstrated that professional sports teams continue to reap substantial gains from the city hosting a large amateur sporting event. Proponents of the CFL and other professional franchises receiving large sums of money from governments contend that such teams increase community pride among other booster themes. Certainly a case can be made in the Canadian football community; however, the literature points to a myriad of problems that stem from the supposed economic benefits to be accrued to cities and communities that hold a professional sport franchise, not the least of which are the highly touted economic benefits. Furthermore as Burstyn (1998) notes, referring to the views of two leading sports writers in Canada, "Olympic megaprojects (or other sport mega-projects) do not represent effective strategies for urban development. They do not have a track record of improving municipal economies or - most important - of helping to make active physicality more accessible to ordinary people" (P-17). The Toronto 2008 Olympic bid demonstrated a positive commitment to ensuring a sport legacy in line with the Sport For All concept. Of course it is much easier to create a legacy document for the bid book and quite another to win the bid and follow through on the promises, but it is the direction that is promising. Similarities can be made to the Cape Town 2004 Olympic bid. An impressive plan for facility legacies would have allowed for maximum usage from as many citizens as possible especially in disadvantaged areas. Such areas were targeted as a means of utilizing sport and recreation to develop and rejuvenate communities torn apart by apartheid (Hiller, 2000). It is worth noting, however, that Olympic bids tend to have more resources to plan a legacy in advance of the event. The 1999 Pan Am Games, for example, had approximately $150 000 to proceed with the bid (contrasted with the several million dollar bids for Toronto 2008 and Vancouver-Whistler 2010), leaving legacy issues to the wayside at least until the post-event period.4 While the Cape Town and Toronto bids hold out some promise with respect to large-scale events catering beyond the usual beneficiaries, Burstyn makes an important assertion regarding elite sport: "Olympic sport should not be regarded as a vehicle to advance either the physical well-being of the majority of Canadians, or the political well-being of democratic societies...they do nothing to advance supports such as access to safe streets and public places, affordable facilities, services and programs, and paths, trails, and green space" {Monitor cited in Burstyn, 1998, p. 17). While acknowledging Burstyn's views on the inevitability of mega-

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events to disenfranchise the most vulnerable in society, I believe it is necessary to make room for knowledgeable sportpersons on organizing committees to ensure that more of the public funds do indeed reach a wider base of citizens.5 Finally, the lack of priority on host committees to address the wide range of sport and physical activity users in post-event plans can be viewed as emanating from the Hosting policy which does not hold host societies accountable to the majority of ordinary citizens. The policy document only pays lip service to those outside the high performance/sport development model and if benefits accrue to the community at large, then this appears as merely a bonus or by-product of hosting.

Endnotes 1

On-line Communication, Sport History List Serve, January 25, 2001

2

See for example the Edmonton Sun, October, 17, 2000.

3

On-line Communication, Bob McMahon, Chief Operating Officer, Pan Ams 1999, August, 2002.

4

On-line Communication, Bob McMahon, Chief Operating Officer, Pan Ams 1999, August, 2002.

5

The Toronto 2008 bid Legacy and Community Enhancement Committee was chaired by Professor Bruce Kidd, former Olympian and Olympic scholar. Kidd was instrumental in pursuing the delivery of the Socio-Economic Impact and Equity Plan for the 2008 Olympic bid and in ensuring the wide range of legacies within the concept of Sport For All.

References Burbank, M., Heying, C , & Andarnovich, G.. "Antigrowth Politics or Piecemeal Resistance? Citizen Opposition to OlympicRelated Economic Growth," Urban Affairs Review, vol. 35, no.3, pp. 334-357,2000. Burstyn, V. "The Politics of Globalization, Ideology, Gender and Olympic Sport", Proceedings of the Fourth International Symposium for Olympic Research, The University of Western Ontario, 1998. Canada. Sport Canada Hosting Policy. Ottawa: Fitness and Amateur Sport, 1983. Canada. Sport Canada Policy for Hosting International Sport Events. Ottawa: Department of Canadian Heritage, 1996. Canada. Sport Canada Policy for Hosting International Sport Events. Ottawa: Department of Canadian Heritage, 2000. Cashman, R. "Olympic Legacy in an Olympic City: Monuments, Museums and Memory," Proceedings of the Fourth International Symposium for Olympic Research, The University of Western Ontario, 1998. Chalip, L. "Leveraging the Sydney Olympics to Optimize Tourism Benefits," Paper Presented at the International Conference on the Economic Impact of Sports, Athens, 2001. Chernushenko, D. Greening Our Games: Running Sports Events and Facilities That Won't Cost the Earth, Ottawa: Centurion Publishing and Marketing, 1994. Cyrenne, P. 1999 Pan-Am Games Legacy Study. February 25, 2000. Donnelly, P. "Democratization Revisited: Seven Theses on the Democratization of Sport and Active Leisure", Society and Leisure, vol. 16, no.2, pp. 413-434,1993. Edwards, H. "The 1984 Los Angeles Olympics," in J. Segrave & D. Chu, (Eds.), The Olympic Games in Transition, Champaign, Illinois: Human Kinetics,1988. Eisinger, P. "The Politics of Bread and Circuses: Building the City for the visitor Class," Urban Affairs Review, vol. 35, no. 3,316333,2000.

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