11/13/09 - The Canada Games Council Completes 2015 Bid Evaluation Technical Visits in British Columbia
(November 13, 2009) Ottawa – The Canada Games Council (CGC) six-person 2015 Technical Review Committee has completed visits of the three potential communities bidding to host the 2015 Canada Winter Games in the Province of British Columbia. As part of Phase I, the Technical Review Phase of the 2015 bid evaluation process, the CGC 2015 Technical Review Committee visited the communities of Prince George - November 9th, Kamloops - November 10th, and Kelowna - November 11th.
“The Canada Games Council is excited that three worthy communities entered the race to be chosen as the host of the 2015 Canada Games,” says Tom Quinn, Chairman of the Canada Games Council. “These communities already understand the hard work it will take to produce a final bid. It will be a very competitive process.”
In June of 2009, the Canada Games Council embarked on a 15-month process to select the host of the 2015 Canada Games. After an information session attended by many BC communities, the official launch took place and the CGC received three Letters of Intent to Bid from British Columbia communities in August of 2009.
During each separate site visit of Phase I this past week, all three communities met with the CGC 2015 Technical Review Committee to provide detail, showcase locations and answer questions. Phase I, the technical review phase, represents the first level of evaluation and is intended to identify the communities that have the quality and capacity of venues necessary to meet the standards established for the Games village and the sports that are central to the successful delivery of a Canada Games. These visits provided an opportunity for each Bid Community to expand on their written technical material only and to take advantage of the opportunity to showcase their proposed Games village and venues.
The CGC Technical Review Committee will now undertake a technical assessment of each bidding community with respect to the hosting standards established for the venues. From the Technical Review Process emerges the list of communities that will be invited to develop and submit a Comprehensive Host Community Bid Proposal that represents Phase II of the Host Community Selection Process. A report will be provided to each community on their results to date and to the CGC Bid Evaluation Committee and the Canada Games Council Board of Directors.
Once the Technical Review Phase is complete and subject to recommendations in the report, the next step will be for the communities to advance to Phase II of the selection process and submit a Comprehensive Host Community Bid Proposal. The deadline for this proposal is May 28, 2010. For the 2015 bid process, the CGC 2015 Bid Evaluation Committee will be chaired by CGC Board Member and President of the 2007 Canada Winter Games, Piers McDonald.
British Columbia hosted the Canada Summer Games in New Westminster/ Burnaby in 1973 which was only the second Canada Summer Games hosted in Canadian History. British Columbia also hosted the 1993 Canada Summer Games in Kamloops. The 2015 Canada Games will be the first time the Province will host a Canada Winter Games.
The CGC 2015 Bid Evaluation Committee will assess the Comprehensive Host Community Bid Proposals, conduct site visits for Phase II and then provide a final ranking and report to the CGC Board of Directors. The final recommendation from the CGC Board of Directors will be delivered to the Province of British Columbia and then announced publicly by the CGC and Province of British Columbia in October 2010.
