Prince Edward Island will host the 2009 Canada Summer Games. The announcement was made official today by the Honourable Elmer MacFadyen, Minister Responsible for Sport at the Ministers of Sport Meeting in Bathurst-Campbellton, NB, site of the 2003 Canada Winter Games.
"We are very excited to announce our intention to host the 2009 Canada Summer games in Prince Edward Island," says Premier Pat Binns. "I am confident that, through our tremendous volunteer efforts and the work of talented leaders in the sport community, we can make the 2009 games a resounding success leaving a legacy for sport in the province for many years."
"I am pleased to be able to confirm that we will take our turn as host province in 2009, in accordance with the agreed upon rotation," says Minister MacFadyen. "As our first summer games, this is our opportunity to show the rest of Canada our world renowned hospitality, skilled athletes and wonderful hosting abilities. Now we must set to the task of engaging the community in developing a solid plan."
The formal invitation to host the games will not come from the National Canada Games Council until the fall of 2004. The province will spend the next 18 months developing a strategic plan for hosting the PEI-Canada Summer Games in 2009. This process will include a recommendation to organize a host society separate and distinct from government to run the games.
Recent summer games have cost approximately $22 million. In accordance with a multi-party agreement that is signed between the host province, federal government and participating municipalities, the province will be asked to contribute approximately $2 million toward the capital costs of the games and $1.1 million toward the operating costs. The remaining costs are covered by the host municipalities, federal government and the host society.
The Federal Secretary of State for Amateur Sport, Paul Devillers, in a recent meeting with Minister MacFadyen and Sport PEI, indicated that the federal government was willing to play a significant role as a funding partner in the 2009 Canada Summer Games in Prince Edward Island.
"We are ecstatic that PEI will host the 2009 Canada Summer Games," says Canada Games Council Chairman Larry Smith. "When the games begin in 2009, it will have been 18 years since PEI hosted the Canada Winter Games in 1991. Many changes will have occurred in the games and the Canada Games Movement since that time. As the council moves into a new era with the opening of the 2003 games in New Brunswick, we hope that in 2009 PEI will be well situated to benefit from the direction we are taking."