Despite a vote Wednesday night that saw members of Essex County Council reject a partnership with the City of Windsor to host the 2014 Ontario Summer Games, mayor Eddie Francis is optimistic.
Fresh off a conference call Thursday with Sport Alliance Ontario, Francis appears confident that the summer games will happen even without Essex County participation.
The sport alliance shares the same echoes that confidence despite the fact that three to five of the events could be in jeopardy, if they are not hosted in the county
"As of this afternoon, unless something goes terribly wrong, we are moving ahead with announcing Windsor as our host,” says Blair McIntosh, CEO of Sport Alliance Ontario.
Members of county council voted 11 to two against joining the city’s bid to host the games. If a partnership was launched it would have seen the city and the county split the $1.2-million cost of the summer games, each with a $600,000 investment.
The sport alliance says it will consider satellite sites and other options before cancelling an event.
"In some cases, a sport has had to miss a cycle, because the infrastructure wasn't in place," says McIntosh.
Lakeshore Mayor Tom Bain was one of only two members of county council who voted in favour of financing the event. He says he plans on speaking with his administration to see if Lakeshore can afford to participate as an individual municipality.
"We would have to look at what benefit there would be and what could we financially handle," says Bain.
Francis however seems to doubt that individual towns can afford the cost of the game.
"A $25,000 or $50,000 contribution from one of the towns is a significant contribution, that I just don't see happening," says Francis.
