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Sweeney condemns selection process for 2008 Summer Games February 21, 2007 George Sweeney, MHA for the District of Carbonear-Harbour Grace, says he is extremely disappointed with the manner in which government announced the awarding of the 2008 Summer Games. "The selection process used for awarding the 2008 Summer Games reeks of politics," said Mr. Sweeney. "On Friday night in Corner Brook, Premier Williams, who happens to be the local MHA, announced the awarding of these games to his district. The official announcement did not come from the Minister of Tourism, Culture and Recreation until several days later. There is obviously something wrong with this process. "The Towns of Carbonear and Harbour Grace had submitted a bid to host these games and it appears they weren?t even given a second thought. If the premier is going to hand-pick which communities are awarded these games, I suggest that he state this at the beginning of the process and not waste the time of individuals who put their hard-work and effort into preparing bids." Mr. Sweeney also noted previous decisions that were made to award the games, even though proper procedure wasn?t followed. In his latest report, the Auditor General raised questions about the awarding of the 2006 Winter Games to the Humber Valley region as they did not submit a proposal. "The process for awarding the games appears to be fundamentally flawed. The Summer games are the only provincial games that every region in the province can host. Not every region has access to the facilities needed to host a successful Winter games. Our region has proven that we can effectively organize these games as was demonstrated in 1992. I am extremely disappointed that we were not given such an opportunity again and I question what role or potential interference government members may have had in the process. "I am certain the people of Corner Brook will host a wonderful Summer games, however, I am disappointed with the process. I hope the awarding of the next games will be more open and transparent to ensure certain individuals do not get to influence the decision of where these games are held for the benefit of the youth of our province, and especially entire regions who will benefit from the legacy of improved infrastructure."
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