Toronto's 2015 World Expo bid is dead: mayor
Last Updated: Tuesday, October 24, 2006 | 8:48 PM ET
CBC News
Toronto Mayor David Miller said Tuesday that the city's bid for the 2015 World Expo is dead, blaming the provincial and federal governments for refusing to be financial guarantors.
"It's, I think, a very sad day for our city that those governments couldn't agree on a path forward, a way to, yes, a way to make this happen," David Miller told CBC Tuesday.
"But it's Canada's bid, not Toronto's bid. Those are the rules."
The International Bureau of Expositions, a Paris-based organization which awards world's fairs to cities, requires bid countries to agree to pick up a potential deficit.
Ottawa refused to take responsibility for a deficit, citing a 1995 policy that provincial governments act as the financial guarantor for major events such as expositions.
On Tuesday, Ontario's premier made it clear that the province would not act as the financial backstop for the bid.
Premier Dalton McGuinty said the province doesn't have the money to be the financial guarantor and pointed the finger back at the federal government.
"If any level of government can provide some guarantee for any cost overruns, that would be the federal government," McGuinty said.
Expo could have pumped $5.3B into economy
'If any level of government can provide some guarantee for any cost overruns, that would be the federal government.'-Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty
Miller lamented the bid's collapse, saying it would have been beneficial not only for Toronto, but for all involved.
"A world fair is something that works for everyone," he said. "It would've been dynamic, exciting, creative, vibrant. And we could've done it as Torontonians."
Coun. Brian Ashton said it is estimated the world's fair would generate $5.3 billion in revenue, mostly for the provincial and federal governments, but could run up a deficit of around $600 million.
Bids for the world exposition were due on Nov. 3.
Canada has hosted two world expositions, one in Montreal in 1967 and the second in Vancouver in 1986.
