The Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) is calling on Mayor John Tory not to sign the $150,000 “firm commitment to bid” letter for the 2024 Olympics.

The deadline for the mayor to submit a commitment letter is September 15, but to date there has been no public debate about this multi-billion dollar undertaking, and taxpayers remain in the dark about what a successful bid could cost them.

“The time for public debate over whether or not Toronto should bid on the 2024 Olympics was during the past two years, not days before the International Olympic Committee expects a firm commitment to bid,” said CTF Ontario Director Christine Van Geyn. “Saying public debate will happen after the Mayor has made a firm commitment to bid is just a strategy of kicking the Olympic can further down the road so the mayor and premier can further their 2024 vanity bid without pesky public opinion getting in the way.”

Ontario is faced with an $8.5 billion deficit, and spends nearly a billion dollars each month on interest alone. An Olympic bid will cost between $50 and $60 million, and to date there is no information about where that money will come from. A successful bid will cost billions more. The Sochi Olympics cost over $51 billion, and since 1980, the average cost overrun for the summer Olympics has been 252 per cent.

“Given the lack of either transparency around a 2024 Olympics bid, and given Ontario’s current fiscal situation, now is absolutely the wrong time for Mayor Tory to sign a firm commitment to bid. The Canadian Taxpayers Federation implores the mayor not to make a commitment to bid on the Olympics, and to put taxpayers first,” Concluded Van Geyn.