By signing this petition you are telling Hamilton City Council NO to any more public dollars or resources going towards the 2026 Commonwealth Games bid.

On February 26, 2020 City of Hamilton Council approved and endorsed that Hamilton would seek to host the 2030 Commonwealth Games - this approval and endorsement came with an acknowledgement that the City of Hamilton "will be required to make a financial investment in the planning, delivery and legacies of a Commonwealth Games". This vague financial commitment was made by a majority of City Council upon receiving lobbying from Hamilton 100 (now "Hamilton 2026"), a reportedly volunteer run organisation led by a hotel owner.

Since this approval was made, Hamilton like the rest of the world has been hit hard by the global COVID-19 pandemic. The City is facing a deficit of millions and cuts have already been made and approved to vital services such as public transit. 

Hamilton 100 rebranded as Hamilton 2026, shed many of the apparent supporters of the pitch that were listed on their website, and reworked their pitch for Hamilton to host the 2026 Commonwealth Games, which no other cities were seeking to host. City Staff have continued to meet with Hamilton 2026 but require explicit direction from City Council to continue to work on this new bid as the previous direction was for the 2030 games only. According to staff "Should Council support in principle the shift to hosting the Commonwealth Games in 2026, additional staff resources will be required to assist in the development and assessment of a modified hosting proposal that aligns with City priorities. Staff may need to balance a combination of internal and external resources to participate, depending on specific staff availability due to the COVID-19 response."

While the commitment to host the 2030 Commonwealth Games prior to the global pandemic was questionable, it is even more so regarding the 2026 Commonwealth Games. The City of Hamilton is in a financial hole and has had to fundamentally reorder how it functions as a corporate entity in the face of an unprecedented global pandemic - the commitment of paid staff time and public dollars to this project must cease. We need to tell our City Council to say NO to committing any more public dollars or resources to this project!

Recent news:

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamilton/commonwealth-games-hamilton-2026-1.5579352

https://globalnews.ca/news/6570463/hamilton-council-2030-commonwealth-games-2/#:~:text=City%20Council%20has%20voted%2010,as%20the%20British%20Empire%20Games.