Brandon bid to host 2017 Canada Games rejected

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The City of Brandon's bid to host the 2017 Canada Games has been rejected by the Canada Games Council.

The City of Brandon issued a release regarding the decision, stating that the province will instead, work with the City of Winnipeg and adjacent Capital Region communities to host the 2017 Games. This will be done despite the fact that the City of Winnipeg did not officially submit a bid to host the Games during the bid process.

Brandon was the only Manitoba community to bid for the 2017 edition of the Games, and had spent a number of months preparing a bid to host a 16-sport event in Brandon and a number of other Westman communities in 2017.

Following its official bid submission at the end of July 2012, the Bid Committee hosted a contingent of CGC officials during a site visit in September 2012 and had been awaiting word from the Province of Manitoba regarding the CGC’s decision.

“It is distinctly disappointing to learn that the Canada Games Council has decided it will not work with Brandon on the 2017 Games,” said Bid Chair, Jeff Cristall in the release. “Brandon was the only Manitoba community that stepped forward in the spring of 2012 and displayed the passion and commitment to host such an important Canadian event, so it is extremely disheartening to learn that the CGC could not share our vision for what the Games could be in Brandon and the Western Manitoba area. The move away from the smaller markets to the large urban centres is an unfortunate consequence of the growth in the scale and scope of the Games."

“Of particular concern to the CGC was the lack of an indoor eight-lane 50 meter pool," said Brandon Mayor Shari Decter Hirst. "City Council was not prepared to incur the costs of constructing a new indoor aquatic centre and had hoped that the option of an outdoor facility that would eventually be converted into a water park would meet standards. This option was rejected by the CGC”.

Brandon hosted the Canada Games in 1979 and 1997.

With files from City of Brandon release