Prince George City Council threw its support behind the 2015 Canada Winter Games.
As the games’ report to the city was wrapping up Monday night, council moved to spontaneously (and unanimously) give a vote of confidence to the games, while some on council pledged to donate $500 to an entry-level membership, challenging the rest on council to do the same.
Games CEO Stu Ballantyne (pictured) welcomes the positive response.
“We’ve been working hard, 46 people in the office, over 300 planning volunteers, it’s great that council recognizes that work.” he says. “Not only for our staff but for the taxpayers.”
Much of the report focused on funding, where Ballantyne says the games still need to raise $2.7 million by game time, but also estimates $3.2 million will be found before then.
Though he expects a $90 million impact to the city, Ballantyne admits funding is a constant challenge.
“Events like this would be completely unaffordable if everything every hour had to be paid for, but this is why communities rally to be a part of [the games],” Ballantyne says. “It’s great for our community, people are very proud of their home and this is a great way to show it off to the rest of the nation.”