Prince George city council will vote on whether to submit a bid for the 2030 Special Olympics Summer Games at its next meeting, a spokesperson tells The Citizen.
Prince George is already set to host this summer's 2025 Special Olympics BC Summer Games on July 10, 11 and 12, but city council voted at its Dec. 17, 2024 meeting to submit a letter of intent to organizers that it is interested in bidding on either the 2028 Special Olympics Canada Winter Games or the 2030 Canada Summer Games.
Since then, a spokesperson said, the city has decided which event it would prefer to bid on.
They said in an email that it was decided summer games would be a better fit than the winter games “for a few reasons including the lack of ski hills in the nearby vicinity but also due to the fact we’re hosting the Special Olympics BC Summer games this July, which hopefully gives assurance to the organizing bodies around our facilities and volunteer groups, etc.”
The vote on whether to approve the bid will take place at the Monday, Feb. 24 council meeting.
Prince George’s bid won’t be uncontested. The radio station 989 XFM in Antigonish, N.S. reported on Wednesday, Feb. 12 that St. Francis Xavier University is submitting a bid backed up by the local county council.
At its Tuesday, Feb. 11 meeting, the board of education for School District 57 voted unanimously to lend its support to Prince George’s bid.
The board received a letter from Lindsay Timmermans, the city’s event co-ordinator, asking for its support.
“We would like to request a letter of support from School District 57 for our bid and are also looking for suggestions and/or input on how we can engage our local school district with the 2030 Games if we are successful bidders,” Timmermans wrote.
“Below is some information on what Special Olympics Canada is looking for regarding community partnerships, and I think our elementary and secondary schools would be great part of this.”
The quote Timmermans referred to from Special Olympics asks applicants to “describe how inclusivity, diversity, equity, and accessibility will be embedded into all aspects of your games and promoted/influenced throughout the community and partnership.”
The letter asks that the school division provide its letter of support by Monday, Feb. 24 if it decides to grant its support to the bid. The city’s bid is due by March 1.
During the discussion, Trustee Sarah Holland asked what it would cost the school division should school gyms be used as venues and school buses be used to transport athletes for the games.
Secretary-treasurer Lynda Minnabarriet said that the district is assisting with this summer’s BC games by offering the use of schools as accommodations for visiting athletes. To make that possible, she said, there’s a lot of staff in-kind work being done to get the schools ready.
The bulk of actual expenses relating to these games will be in additional utilities and custodial costs.
By comparison, she said, the 2030 games are proposing to house athletes in hotels, meaning that any costs to the district would likely be the cost of utilities.
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