Francophonie Games are on the chopping block without federal funding: Premier Blaine Higgs

Premier Blaine Higgs says he’s more than willing to cancel the Francophonie Games if the federal government doesn’t step in to cover some of the ballooning costs.

The original bid for Francophonie Games, or Jeux de la Francophonie, was placed for $17 million in 2015. Earlier this week, the organizing committee for the games announced that the cost would be $130 million.

Four members of the committee have since resigned.

READ MORE: 4 members resign from 2021 Francophonie Games organizing committee

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The $130-million price tag is something that critics, including Higgs, says the province simply cannot afford.

“It is coming from all over the province that we cannot do this anymore and I concur with that. So, that means the federal government has to be a big component here and basically take this on,” Higgs said.

The province had originally committed to paying $10 million and Higgs says that won’t change.

“That is it. That is the limit,” he said, adding that if the federal government does not agree to pay more than 50 per cent of the games — that they may be cancelled.

But the problem is that the province could be legally bound to host the international event, regardless of the cost.

New Brunswick was awarded the bid in 2016 as an official member of Government La Francophonie, a group of 88 member states and governments from five continents which share Franch as a common language.

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Former Treasury Minister Roger Melanson and MLA for Dieppe doesn’t know the implications of pulling out of the bid.

“At the end of the day, New Brunswick was selected to hold these games,” he said. “I want to see the games move forward. I want to see them be successful but we can’t just throw caution to the wind here.”

Higgs says he has yet to seek legal counsel on the matter.