The Can-Am Police-Fire Games are coming to Thunder Bay in 2016.
Thunder Bay Mayor Keith Hobbs officially made the announcement at city council on Monday. Thunder Bay beat rival bidders Kingston, Ont. and Ames, Iowa for the honour of hosting the biennial competition.
“Those games will bring about $6 million to the city,” Hobbs said. “(The bidding committee) did a great job and I have to salute the fire chief and the police chief."
The Games offer up about 45 different sports and competitions, from the traditional to the not-so-traditional.
Mainstream sports include archery, basketball, bench press, bowling, three types of pistol shooting, distance running, soccer and hockey. The non-traditional list includes a narcotics dog competition, a cook-off and a Texas Hold 'Em poker tournament.
Can-AM games dignitaries came to Thunder Bay in September to tour some of the venues available. Thunder Bay Police Service Chief J.P. Levesque said that tour helped to make the city stand out.
“Having an international airport was huge and certainly when they did the venue tour,” Levesque said. “We’re looking at over a thousand participants and their families. I think the bidding team had pride of service and not only the city but also our two services. We’re very pleased.”
Thunder Bay Fire and Rescue Chief John Hay said he was pleased with the results but credited the success to the bidding team.
“It was that committee work along with Paul Burke from the city, police and firefighters, volunteers that got this bid in place,” Hay said. “Throughout the whole process we beat some really good cities. Our hats go off to Kingston and Ames. We also beat out Chicago, Atlanta and a number of other cities. We did really well. We look forward to all the good things that will come forward with this.”
With files from Leith Dunick
