Bob Mackin
Global Affairs Canada held a high-level workshop in Ottawa to discuss the latest plans for FIFA World Cup 26 in Vancouver and Toronto.
On March 26, Secretary of State for Sport Adam van Koeverden and Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Arun Thangaraj co-hosted federal security and border control officials, diplomats from countries sending teams to play in Toronto and Vancouver, and managers from FIFA’s Canadian office and Vancouver and Toronto city halls.
The delegation from FIFA included Peter Montopoli, the chief tournament officer for Canada, and Peter Code, the executive director for safety and security.
From Public Safety Canada, director general of prevention Craig Oldham and major events manager Ralph Ehlebracht. Also, Immigration Operations Branch director general Emina Tudakovic and Canada Border Services Agency director Jeff Davidson.
Ehlebracht is a retired RCMP superintendent and former personal security officer to the Prime Minister who oversaw federal election security in 2019 and 2021.
Code is an ex-Toronto Police chief superintendent who led incident management at the Toronto 2015 Pan American Games and other major events in the city.
The security overview included talk about stadium code of conduct and efforts to mitigate human trafficking.
Political football
Will Canadians learn the total federal bill for the mega-event before it kicks off?
The federal contribution to hosting the tournament is officially $320 million. The RCMP has not released its overall security budget.
In January, the Office of the Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO) asked Canadian Heritage for copies of contracts and guarantees with FIFA, including federal tax exemptions.
But the PBO is in limbo and will not publish any new reports until its new leader is appointed.
The Carney Liberal government has nominated Annette Ryan, the deputy director of the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre (FINTRAC), to succeed interim PBO Jason Jacques. The Conservatives prefer keeping Jacques on the job.
“We continue to make progress on existing files and will resume full operations once an appointment is made,” PBO communications advisor Martine Perreault told theBreaker.news.
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