Article content continued

The mayor’s office confirmed Saturday that Montreal has renounced its bid to host the games, which were awarded in 2011 after Montreal’s chief of police proposed the idea in 2010. The total cost of hosting the event was estimated at $20 million, several million of which the city has already spent on infrastructure.

Coderre said the city was making the responsible choice to try and preserve the games by shifting them to Toronto, and that it was refusing to cave in to “blackmail” on the part of the unions.

“It’s a shame that they chose to engage in petty politics and, ultimately, the decision is falling on the backs of its members,” he said.

Montreal is in talks with the organizers of the games, based in California, and the mayor of Toronto to try and have the event shifted to that city, since it has the infrastructure in place following its hosting of the 2015 Pan Am Games. Otherwise, the event risks being cancelled altogether, for the first time in its 31-year-history.

Coderre said the effect to Montreal’s economy will be minimal given the 10-day games were slated for late July and early August, when Montreal is packed with tourists during its busy summer festival season.

Montreal’s firefighters’ union said in a statement Saturday it learned of the decision to cancel the games “with a certain sadness,” but said it felt it had no option but to boycott given the “intransigence” of the Montreal administration over labour negotiations.