Soaring cost of Francophonie Games 'terrible timing' for Higgs

Premier Blaine Higgs's tightrope act on language may be getting more complicated.

The Progressive Conservative premier saw his first month in office end with calls that he ante up tens of million dollars to cover the ballooning costs of the 2021 Francophone Games, to be held in Moncton and Dieppe.

The stunning news that the games could cost almost eight times the original estimate landed as Higgs balances his cooperation with the People's Alliance and his attempts to reassure francophones that he'll defend their language rights.

"It's terrible timing," says Frédérick Dion, executive director of the association of francophone municipalities. "It puts the Higgs government in a very difficult position."

Moncton city councillor Paulette Thériault said the onus is on the games' organizing committee to provide more details about the cost increase.

"I really hope that this will not turn into a language issue from a political perspective. I think we need to be very cautious with that," she said. "That involves all parties and all levels of government."

But both Dion and University of Moncton political scientist Roger Ouellette say they believe francophones recognize the higher cost of $130 million is unacceptable.

"I think for people in New Brunswick, francophone or anglophone, that's not a linguistic issue," Ouellette said. "We cannot afford it. That's it. We're a poor province and we have a big debt burden right now."

Higgs relies on the People's Alliance to keep his minority government in power, an equation that has led some francophones to fear the party, which opposes some elements of official bilingualism, will influence PC policy.

An internal document obtained by Radio-Canada says Higgs will honour the original $7-10M commitment "but will not increase its funding level."

A spokesperson for the Department of Tourism, Heritage and Culture said Friday the province "is determined to work with all parties" to ensure the games go ahead.

Not one dollar more: Austin

Alliance leader Kris Austin said Friday his MLAs would not vote for any additional funding.

The Alliance won't oppose the original $7-10 million the province promised, "but if it's one dollar more, you want to bet we're going to be standing up fighting against it."

At the same time, the federal government — which recently attacked Ontario's PC government for cutting French-language services in that province — is pressuring Higgs to commit to more funding.

"It's important now for New Brunswick to assume its responsibility, and we'll be an important partner in the games," federal cabinet minister Dominic LeBlanc said last week.

The Francophone Games are open to all athletes from 58 member countries of La Francophonie regardless of the language they speak. The international organization is made up of countries that use or have a historical connection to the French language.

Cost balloons to $130 million

The original cost estimate for the 2021 games when Moncton and Dieppe won the bid to host them was around $17 million. Each city promised to put in $750,000, with the federal and provincial governments covering the rest.

But Radio-Canada reported last week that the projection has ballooned to $130 million thanks to a new "business plan" not included in the original bid.

Liberal MLA Roger Melanson said Friday the previous government learned of that estimate in April and told the organizing committee to revise the figures to a more acceptable amount.

No details on soaring cost

The organizing committee has yet to explain what the additional costs are, but it would translate into the province having to pay about $65 million. That equals half of this year's projected budget deficit.

University of Moncton political scientist Roger Ouellette says he thinks the premier will be able to say no to the higher cost without too much backlash from francophones.

"I don't think there will be a political price to pay if the government said 'we can't afford it,'" he said. If the games were cancelled, Ouellette said, "it's not because of the government. It's because somebody somewhere messed up."

'The sky's not the limit'

Dion agrees. "There isn't anyone, including francophones, who will say we want to hold that event at any price. It's not reasonable," he said. "The sky's not the limit. A middle ground has to be found, a reasonable amount.

"The question now is: how do we save the event, and what is the acceptable amount we should spend to do it?"

Higgs's government delivers its first capital budget Tuesday, a document that lays out its spending plans on infrastructure.

The executive director of the organizing committee said last week the new business plan includes an infrastructure request, though the original bid said no new infrastructure would be needed.

In a press release late Friday, the committee said the original, more modest estimate was submitted as part of the bid before the committee had even been put in place.

It said the larger figure in the business plan incorporated "several tens of millions of dollars" of infrastructure needs identified by the host cities during consultations.

The release did not provide any detail on what those needs were and said the committee would not comment further "to maintain a positive climate" during negotiations with governments.

'Black hole'

Ouellette says Ottawa and the province should investigate the organizing committee.

"It's a black hole," he said. "What's the cost? Is it for infrastructure? Is it for travel? We don't know."

Dion said he worries that the fiasco will feed an existing sentiment that francophones get special treatment from the government, but "the solution can't be a blank cheque.

"The situation, regardless of the political context, regardless of whether language was involved or not, is unacceptable," he said.

Austin said while it's "great" that the games are coming to New Brunswick and he supports them, he opposes any tax dollars being spent on them.

"We've got nurses that are underpaid," he said. "We've got paramedics that are underpaid. We've seen cuts across every department of essential services. This idea of throwing tens of millions of dollars at games is just ridiculous."