The Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) has intensified its call for transparency regarding the contracts between the City of Vancouver and FIFA, demanding that Mayor Ken Sim follows the example set by Toronto and releases all contract details without delay.The demand comes as Vancouver prepares to join 15 other cities across Canada, the United States and Mexico in hosting the FIFA World Cup in 2026, with Vancouver slated to host seven out of the total 104 games."With other host cities like Toronto and Seattle releasing their contracts with FIFA, there’s absolutely no excuse for Sim’s secrecy. Sim must stop the secrecy, be upfront with taxpayers and release the unredacted contracts," said Carson Binda, CTF B.C. Director.This plea for transparency follows a concerning incident in March 2023, where a heavily-redacted contract was released to a Vancouver journalist in response to a freedom-of-information request. Nearly every page of the contract was rendered unreadable due to redactions, raising questions about the level of transparency surrounding the event.Moreover, concerns regarding the financial burden of hosting the FIFA World Cup games have been mounting. In 2022, the provincial government estimated the cost of hosting the seven FIFA games to be between $140 and $160 million. However, Tourism and Sports Minister Lana Popham recently indicated that these costs have "changed substantially," without providing updated figures to taxpayers.Binda stressed the taxpayers' right to know the financial implications of hosting the prestigious event, stating, "Taxpayers have every right to know how much we’re paying to host seven soccer games. The city and province must be transparent with taxpayers instead of hiding the details."
