Montreal pulls out of 2017 World Police & Fire Games due to boycott
The City of Montreal has cancelled the 2017 World Police and Fire Games after several unions have said they intend to boycott the event.
Mayor Denis Coderre’s office confirmed the decision to CBC News on Saturday.
A growing number of police and firefighter unions worldwide have declared support for their Montreal counterparts, who are engaged in a labour dispute with the city.
Slated to coincide with Montreal’s 375th birthday celebrations, the games were expected to draw 10,000 athletes as well as their families and bring in estimated revenues of $100 million to the city.
Montreal’s police and firefighters unions had vowed to boycott the games in protest over provincial legislation spearheaded in large part by Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre to reduce pension payments, and over the suspensions and firings of firefighters who participated in protests. In recent weeks they have won the support of police unions internationally who said they too, would boycott the games, threatening attendance figures and risking a multi-million dollar loss for the city. This week, the 60,000 members of the Canadian Police Association voted to join the boycott. In February, thousands of Australian firefighters pledged to boycott the games as well.
Coderre said he has been in talks with the mayor of Toronto to take over the games in 2017, and has pledged to provide support, La Presse reported. Montreal beat out the cities of Toronto and Chengdu, China in 2011 for the rights to host the games.
If Toronto does not hold the games, they could be cancelled altogether.
