Gallant doesn't 'know exactly when' he recused himself from Francophonie Games decisions

Former New Brunswick Premier Brian Gallant spoke to reporters Friday for the first time since the controversy over the skyrocketing price of the 2021 Francophonie Games broke.

Since the news last week that costs had ballooned to $130 million, the official opposition's office said Gallant would not be commenting because he had recused himself from cabinet decisions on the games, because of his personal relations with people on the organizing committee.

"It's something that I decided to do to make sure we be on the up-and-up, as they would say," Gallant told reporters outside the legislature Friday.

"I wanted to recuse myself, not because I had to, but because I thought it was the right thing to do."

"I don't know exactly when."

Gallant was asked about his connections to organizers.

"Everybody just has to go on Facebook, I suppose," Gallant said, while explaining he had several friends on the committee, including executive director Eric Larocque, board president Eric Mathieu Doucet, and board member Kim Rayworth — both of whom resigned this week over the controversy.

"And there's other people that I would know on the board as well."

But he said the "catalyst" for the decision to recuse himself was "most likely" when good friend Eddie Rutanga joined the committee in the winter or spring of 2017.

Rutanga, a groomsman at his wedding, became the committee's head of government and community relations.

Gallant said that he had no role in hiring Rutanga and that he was seconded from a federal job.

Says little about original bid

Gallant said very little about the province's winning bid to host the 2021 games in Moncton and Dieppe.

A report prepared by a federal consultant said the original $17.5 million bid significantly underestimated the costs of running an international sporting event of this magnitude.

The province's original bid simply used numbers provided by the International Organization of the Francophonie in the application handbook.

"I want to be careful commenting too much on a file that I had recused myself from, but I will say in a very general sense that this is an unfortunate situation," Gallant said.

Gallant was involved in the early stages of the bid: he signed a letter to Francophonie officials in July 2015, met with officials who came to evaluate the province's proposal later that year, and in 2016, he recorded a video as part of the bid presentation.

"We were very vested in trying to get anything that helps our economy … but we certainly share the concern the proposed budget is exorbitant."

"Everybody involved — everybody's doing their best, and I don't think it'll serve anyone to try to place blame," he said.

In 'federal government's court'

An independent consultant concluded the best option was to hold the games for $115 million, and the absolute cheapest scenario was $72 million.

But Premier Blaine Higgs said whatever the number, the province isn't putting in more.

"We still have $10 million," Higgs said Friday. "We've committed to that ceiling."

Asked if that meant the games were essentially cancelled, Higgs said, "it's in the federal government's court."

"They can make that decision."

But he said if the games needed to be cancelled, he would do it sooner rather than later.

"If you're digging a hole, and you're getting deeper in the hole, and you see no ability to get out of that hole with the project being completed, you don't just keep digging."

"You say 'OK, enough's enough.'"

Nothing has been signed yet, and New Brunswick could technically pull out.

"I don't feel we're under any particular obligation, other than it's a shame it got to this point. It's a shame we ended up inheriting the problem."