The Canada Games Council Conducts Site Visit in Brandon

Courtesy of Canada Games Council

(September 10, 2012) Brandon, MB – The Canada Games Council (CGC) Bid Evaluation Committee (BEC) is conducting a site visit in Brandon, Manitoba today as part of the evaluation process to choose the host of the 2017 Canada Summer Games. Taking place in a landmark year, 2017 will mark Canada’s 150th anniversary as well as the 50th anniversary of the Canada Games.

The nine-member evaluation team, chaired by Canada Games Council Board Member and Vice-President of the 2009 Canada Summer Games Host Society in PEI, Wayne Carew, will be comprised of six evaluators, two Canada Games Council observers and a provincial observer. The Canada Games Council team will visit Brandon to provide context relevant to Brandon’s bid proposal which was submitted July 30, 2012. Venues identified by the BEC that will need to be seen include the Keystone Centre, Brandon University, the Sportsplex, the Festival site and the Brandon Municipal Airport.

“During this site visit, information is provided to the CGC Bid Evaluation Committee based on requests for supplemental information and a recommended agenda,” says Wayne Carew, Bid Evaluation Committee Chair. “It is the Canada Games Council’s role to ensure that the hosting standards and the integrity of the Games are upheld in all areas of operations.”

The overall objective of each CGC bid process is to create a fair and equitable process by which a bid can be assessed while focusing on the key areas that will clearly articulate and allow the quality of the respective bid to be evident in relation to the hosting of the Games. Although only one community is vying for the opportunity to Host the 2017 Canada Games, the Canada Games Council’s Bid Evaluation Committee remains responsible for a detailed review of the bidding community and making a recommendation on the award of the Games, including any and all conditions, to the Council’s Board of Directors and the Province of Manitoba.

Following the site visit, a final report will be prepared and presented to the CGC Board of Directors in December 2012 and if approved, a joint announcement by the CGC and Province of Manitoba will follow.

The 2017 Canada Summer Games would mark the third time Manitoba will have hosted the Canada Games. Brandon hosted the 1979 Canada Winter Games and the 1997 Canada Summer Games.

In February 1967 for the first time in Canada’s history, athletes from Canada’s Provinces and Territories gathered to compete at the Canada Winter Games in Quebec City. As the country celebrates its 150th milestone birthday in 2017, the Canada Games will commemorate 50 years of celebrating the unifying of our best young athletes from coast-to-coast-to-coast representing their communities, Provinces, and Territories with pride.