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Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz says he's aware of the suggestion from a Toronto lawmaker, but, as the larger city, he says Toronto would have to take the lead on such a potential project.
"As a region with Toronto, yeah, that's intriguing, and certainly, if they're willing to take the lead, I think it's something we can look at," Poloncarz said.
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From The Toronto Sun: "(City Councillor James) Pasternak said if Toronto is hellbent on bidding for another summer Olympics the city should look at the possibility of a joint bid on the games with a major U.S. city. He argued such a bid may be the only way to hold an Olympics that will actually pay off for its hosts." Read More |
Poloncarz is reacting to a suggestion last week from Toronto councillor James Pasternak that the 2024 summer games could be an opportunity to submit a joint, international bid.
A Toronto newspaper reported that Pasternak also noted how the London Olympics haven't had they attendance officials had anticipated, and that Olympics games, in their current form, are "unsustainable."
"If you could have a Great Lakes Olympics where you are having cities on the Great Lakes that are partnering for events — that not only makes sense geographically, from a logistical point of view, but financially as well,” Pasternak said in the Toronto Sun (link at left).
" Geographically Buffalo and Toronto are pretty close. Detroit and Chicago would be other options as well,” Pasternak said .
Poloncarz tends to agree with the economic benefits that an Olympics provided -- which are mainly short-term, and not long-term benefits.
"It's never the big goal, or silver bullet .. for long-term economic growth. That's really what we got to focus on. Not just short-term economic growth, but long-term economic growth," he says.
Still, Poloncarz says if officials in Canada want to discuss the possibility of a future Olympic bid, he'd be more than willing to listen.
