World knows we’re here, and we don’t need debt to prove it

It took brains, guts and other body parts for Halifax Regional Municipality and the province to finally state the obvious - they couldn't afford the 2014 Commonwealth Games.

However it was handled, the withdrawal of the bid last week was the right thing to do.

For Canada, it must be the first such realisation about good public spending. We can't blame the federal government for a lack of support. They were relatively quick off the mark with extra funds - within reason, for Tories. We can only guess how much support a federal Liberal government, particularly under the party's new leadership, would have given to the Commonwealth Games - or anything to strengthen the Commonwealth.

Don't get me wrong, I'm a strong supporter of the Commonwealth, and I'm a loyalist and royalist. Hell, maybe I should be in a museum. But I'm also a realist, not to mention a son of the Gael on my mother's side and not given to spending freely - my money, or anyone else's.

I believe the Commonwealth is a potential social, economic and cultural mechanism second to none on earth, and Canada and Nova Scotia could have a solid role in that organization. There is no doubt hosting the games would have given us a high profile.

Sure, it would have been great to have built the athletic facilities and infrastructure required to host such an event; there is also no doubt many of the planned facilities are necessary and even just nice to have.

Here in the Valley - not to mention how folks may feel in Cape Breton or Yarmouth - we can feel the pull of things to Halifax. Hmmm.

It's not as though Halifax and the province haven't been showcased by big international events before: the world wars and the more recent G-8 summit come to mind. Folks worldwide know we're here. We're not that needy and insecure we need to spend $1.7 billion to be in the world's face for a week or so.

The example of the Montreal Olympics is still fresh on people's minds. Three decades later, they’ve just finally paid off the venue.

We have to understand, too, when all is said and done, there was no guarantee Halifax and Canada would even have been chosen to host the games. After all, the Nigerians appear all set to show off their new federal capital, Abuja. Check out abujacity.com. Africa is big on everybody's minds right now, and will be so for the next several years. There are a lot of Commonwealth member countries in Africa. On top of that, the continent needs a major event like that.

If the games were to be held in Canada, of course Halifax would naturally be the host venue: historically, in attitude, in geographical accessibility, it fit.

The reality is, we have to ask ourselves, was there really any chance of it happening? At what cost? Was it all in our minds?

It was wise and courageous to take that most difficult step to say “no.”