All For One And One For One

November 7, 2009 @ 15:46

My complete feelings on Southern Ontario acquiring the 2015 Pan American Games are in a posting from yesterday, but today I just had to add this.

Yesterday's celebration in Guadalajara, Mexico and a so-called victory party in Toronto were nothing more than shameless displays of self- interest.

There is absolutely nothing for the average citizen of this province to be excited about.

The Pan American Games are second rate at best and will do nothing but end up costing the taxpayers of this province tens of millions of dollars, if not hundreds. Any infrastructure benefits to our community will most assuredly come at a staggering price.

We don't have the proper government officials in place at this time to pull this off, and given the voting habits of Torontonians that's not about to change any time soon. And you watch, the unions are going to have a field day with this.

Deadlines mean threats, so expect them to fly. Cost over-runs will be the legacy of these games and the people responsible for them will walk away clean, which brings me back to my original point.

Dalton McGuinty and David Miller will not be around when the games happen, but given their dismal popularity they went after these games to establish a short term legacy and take attention away from the horrific damage they have done to both Toronto and Ontario.

They used these Games, and will use your tax dollars to prop themselves up over the remaining months of their respective regimes and then hope they've been forgotten when the depth of the damage becomes known.

As for anyone else who was hootin' and hollerin' yesterday, you can bet they too have a self interest in the Pan American Games coming to Toronto, be it through cushy jobs or inside contracts.

Those not attached to the games represent a completely different story. Not only do the vast majority have no idea what the Pan American Games are, they don't care about them and probably can't figure out what the hoopla is about.

They don't have a legacy to create or their hands in somebody else's pocket. They're just going to be left with the bills.

I defy anyone who reads this blog, without googling it, to name one great moment from the Pan American Games. Give me a freakin' break.

Personally, I'm disgusted by it all.