So now that the Pan Am Games have been snapped up by Toronto, what’s next in the process?
When the celebrations from last night’s bid victory have subsided, the first thing on the games’ organizers to-do list will be to form an organizing committee.
But who will be on the committee remains to be seen — although it’s expected that some of the key names from the successful bid team will stay on in an organizational capacity.
“I think decisions on that will be taken in the next little while,” Deputy Premier George Smitherman said last night. “The Minister of Health Promotion Margarett Best within the government of Ontario, will become a much more central figure in bringing that to life and people should expect quite a bit of action on that in short order.”
Smitherman was asked if bid chairman and former premier David Peterson would be part of the games’ organizational team.
“I’m not sure what the intentions are but I would say he’s done a great job for us so far,” Smitherman said.
“He’s invested very substantially of his time in this, so whether he continues forward or not, I’m not sure, but we owe him a great debt of gratitude.”
Thornhill MP Peter Kent, who was the federal government’s representative at last night’s local Pan Am Games victory reception, said the immediate next steps will be to strike the organizing committee and find office space for the committee to call home.
Kent was asked who would form the Pan Am Games organizational team but like Smitherman said it’s too early to tell.
“At the moment, I don’t know,” Kent said. “That’s the new challenge. An awful lot of people who were involved in the bid committee will, I’m sure, take over and make the transition but that’s to be determined and that’s for Toronto and Ontario (to decide), with our support from Ottawa.”
Deputy Mayor Joe Pantalone said it’s time to get down to work.
“The next step in the process is really now to implement,” Pantalone said. “We already have the plans. Don’t forget, a lot of the facilities are already there and need to be refreshed, and some new ones need to be built. There’s a plan.”
brett.clarkson@sunmedia.ca
