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I have remained silent long enough. As much as I loathe adding even one additional second to the fifteen minutes of fame that is being enjoyed by one very vocal opponent to Halifax's bid for host city of the 2014 Commonwealth Games, I consider it my duty as a loyal Nova Scotian and Haligonian to come forth and spill the beans.
The vocal opponent that has raised my hackles is one Bruce DeVenne of Sackville, NS. Mr. DeVenne has no association with the Halifax Commonwealth Games Committee, he speaks merely as a concerned citizen. And just so there is no misunderstanding, my problem with Mr. DeVenne has nothing to do with his absolute right to free expression and thought on any matter including the viability of Halifax as a suitable venue to host a major international event.
No, my problem with Mr. DeVenne involves a matter of loyalty to one's country and one's home town. Or in DeVenne's case, a lack thereof.
But let's go back in time just a bit so you the reader can fully appreciate the lengths to which some will go in order to drive home whatever point they are attempting to make. Earlier this year Halifax won the right to be the bidding Canadian city to host the 2014 Commonwealth Games. We will be competing with two very worthy cities - Glasgow, Scotland, and Abuja, Nigeria. The winner will be announced in November of 2007.
Unlike everyone else who has an opinion on the practicality of Halifax as host city to an international event, I am not going to ramble on about the costs of such a venture. If you, the reader have been at all interested in the chain of events leading up to November, 2007 you've heard and read the figures ad nauseam. Interestingly enough, most of economically-based ramblings have come from the opponents of the Commonwealth Games. I will say this however - if Halifax wins the bid to host the Games it is not going to come cheap. No doubt about it. And yet, with all this babble repeatedly reminding us that we cannot afford to host the Games, at least some of us still believe that the benefits will outweigh the costs.
Over the last several months one man has made it his mission in life to convince anyone willing to listen that Halifax cannot afford these Games. According to him Halifax and Nova Scotia are small potatoes in the global scheme of things and the powers-that-be are reaching for something that is way beyond our means. Obviously working under the adage, 'the squeaky wheel gets the grease', Bruce DeVenne has decided that Google is his new best friend and the 'facts' that he uses to back up his position have come from one source - the Internet. Didn't anyone ever warn him that you can't always believe what you read on the 'Net? I thought everyone knew that.
Regardless, DeVenne was persistent. Numerous letters to the editor of the Halifax Chronicle-Herald and the Halifax Daily News ensued. Seemed like every time he Googled a new tidbit of information from previous Commonwealth Game host cities, he'd fire off a new letter. The newspapers, being upstanding pillars of unbiased reporting, appeared to be more than eager to publish whatever DeVenne tossed their way.
Seemed like every day there was a new letter penned by DeVenne. And then one day a new letter was given its own space - DeVenne had become a writer of the "op-ed" or opinion editorial. He really wasn't saying anything new by then but he was saying it in more words. It was around that same time that a local talk radio host's interest was sparked.
AM radio's CJCH Hotline show host Rick Howe had also been perusing DeVenne's dispatches and apparently he liked what he was reading. DeVenne was triumphant - he had managed to change the mind of a very opinionated personality in Halifax. Rick Howe had moved to the dark side i.e. the anti-Commonwealth Games initiative. DeVenne was now not only being read but heard on Howe's morning talk show.
Which is all fine and good considering free speech and all. To give Howe credit he did give some air time to proponents of the Games including A.J. Walling and Peter Spurway. It just seemed as if DeVenne was always there, peaching The Games According to DeVenne.
But then one day, DeVenne crossed the line and he went all the way to Scotland to do it.
Not too long ago it was brought to my attention that Mr. DeVenne was frequenting a discussion board based in Scotland and the information he was providing to the Scots could be considered disloyal to the Halifax bid process. I decided to take a peek. The first message I read from Mr. DeVenne on that discussion board was posted in a Thread titled, "Official Glasgow Commonwealth Games 2014 Bid Latest". His message was in the form of a friendly greeting and reads as follows:
"Congratulations to Glasgow. I and a growing number of people in Halifax Nova Scotia not only offer our congratulations on being chosen to bid in hosting the 2014 games but we are pulling for you (or somebody else) to win."
I and a few of my colleagues were rather taken aback that DeVenne would offer his support to a city competing with Halifax...it was almost treasonous. So of course I felt compelled to read on and allow me to offer a few more tidbits of information that DeVenne was freely offering the competition who I might add were delighted to be at the receiving end:
-"We can't afford it simply put....There is no actual history of great tourist trade and we only have 800,000 people in entire province."
-"The latest poll of Halifax residents produced a 16.6% drop in support for the games. The December support was at 90% but since opposition groups have started to educate the public about what an economic disaster the games will be for a city of only 350,000 in a province of only 800 to 900,000 people support is dropping."
-"Halifax Regional Councillors and members of the press are getting tired of being told nothing because details have to be kept secret to protect our bid while our mayor quotes things about Scotland's bid. At council meeting Tuesday night the easy ride for the committee was over and they were grilled unsuccessfully by some council members. members of the press are likewise strating [sic] to demand answers, answers that it seems nobody has. A sample of reaction from today's Halifax Chronicle Herald. Is sports reporter article. "Proud to be a Naysayer" a title tagged on me a while back by a couple of local politicians. Our numbers are froming both in the public sector, the press and the council. I co-hosted a call in show on radio today and only one caller was in support of the games."
-"As a games spokesman they've hired Peter Spurway who worked for the past Provincial Premier as a spin doctor. The media have named him this not me. I've been called the Nabob of Nattering Negativity by a journalist, a naysayer by my councillor, a malcontent by both games head Scott Logan and Councillor Andrew Younger BUT they have stopped calling names and started listening as opposition grows."
-"More and more the public is realizing just what this will mean to the tax payer and so are the politicians and press and opposition is steadily rising."
I could go on and on because DeVenne certainly did. The discussion Thread is 16 pages long and most of it is comprised of posts by DeVenne and another opponent from Pictou. Not only did DeVenne post personal opinion, he also copy and pasted in their entirety, a plethora of newspaper articles and letters to the editor including of course his own.
The reaction by the Scots on that website were a mixture of pleasant surprise and gratitude for all the info he was providing and disdain for a man who could be so disloyal to his own country. DeVenne and his sidekick were eventually asked to leave and were implored to please never return.
I realize that DeVenne's presence on the Scots discussion board is no secret locally but it concerns me that the actual extent of his betrayal is not clearly understood most particularly by those who do not have access to a computer.
Now you know. So you tell me - is this a man who simply doesn't agree that Halifax should host the 2014 Commonwealth Games? Or is this a man who appears to have a hidden agenda?
You be the judge. Need more information before you decide? Bruce DeVenne calls himself HRMgamesno.
http://skyscrapercity.com but please, just read. Those poor Scots are quite sick of hearing Halifax bicker amongst themselves.
And finally, maybe we can all get back to what is really important - supporting Halifax's bid to host the 2014 Commonwealth Games, an event that will escalate this city and province onto the world stage.Halifax2014 CG official site - http://www.2014halifax.com/ BackOurBid - http://www.backourbid.com/
D.L. McCracken can be reached by email:
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