Francine Landry, former minister responsible for La Francophonie, and former Premier Brian Gallant celebrating National Acadian Day a month after the province submitted its bid in 2015. (Brian Gallant/Facebook)

Information contained in thousands of pages of internal correspondence and documents obtained by CBC News under access to information details just how invested the former Liberal government was in obtaining the 2021 Francophonie Games.

Friday was the deadline for countries to submit their bid to host the Games after New Brunswick's withdrawal at the end of January. It is unclear whether anyone is still interested in taking on the Games, thought to be the largest sports and cultural event in the French-speaking world.

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After he personally signed off on the bid in July 2015, former Premier Brian Gallant continued to be the face of New Brunswick's candidacy.

During a visit of an international delegation that November, Gallant showed off his tennis skills.
He had planned to be on the court mid-match, wearing a custom-made New Brunswick 2021 polo shirt, just when officials would come tour the facilities.

He would then stop his game to greet them. Everything was planned out and detailed in staff emails days in advance.


He hosted a cocktail reception that evening, where he talked about the impact going to the Jeux de l'Acadie had on his life and how inspiring he believed the Francophonie Games would be for francophone youth.

"To support people who are in a minority situation, it's incredibly important," he told delegates.
The next night, it was up to Francine Landry, former minister of post-secondary education, training and labour —  and also the minister responsible for La Francophonie — to host a lobster and champagne dinner.

"We're in 'operation seduction' mode all week," wrote a provincial protocol officer to ministers Donald Arseneault, Victor Boudreau, Bill Fraser and Roger Melanson, requesting their presence at the Shediac dinner and asking they attend as many events as possible that week.

Gallant would host another cocktail reception in Paris the next month, before shooting a promotional video talking about Acadian culture for a presentation in Ivory Coast in February 2016 — the final touch in New Brunswick's candidacy.

"It's our one chance to sell ourselves and touch the heart," read a note from Hawk Marketing, the firm hired by the province for the video. "Because persuasion is always more effective when it's emotional, not rational."

"We've managed a tour de force! Impeccable presentation. Touching, convincing to the highest point," wrote one government official afterwards.

Efforts were made to beat out Sherbrooke, who also submitted a bid to host, including advising Gallant to lobby Justin Trudeau to support New Brunswick rather than Quebec.

The documents also cast doubt on whether Gallant was involved in some discussions as late as March 2018, despite saying he recused himself earlier because his close friends were the organizers.

At that time, public servants were preparing a note to send him regarding a debate over whether to add cycling as a discipline.

Didn't have experience

The people behind the original $17-million bid are referred to as a "group of citizens" in the documents.

At least two, Eric Larocque and Eddie Rutanga — who both went on to be part of the organizing committee — were close friends of Gallant.

After New Brunswick had won the bid in March 2016, one note read there wasn't "much trust" in the committee, but it wasn't clear why.

"There were some very good people involved in the bid process," wrote the province's director of sports and recreation in an email, after finding out the true cost of the Games in early 2018.

"However, it may be unfair/unrealistic to assume they had the experience, expertise, and capacity to fully appreciate the full magnitude of the resources required for Games of this level/calibre."

Rationalizing the difference between the original bid and the $130-million budget was referred to as a "stumbling block" and a "hurdle."

"They didn't offer much explanation for this huge difference," wrote another tourism official. "Typically, the business plan is developed prior to applying for these types of events," he noted.

It was our Premier who wanted these Games.- Jeffrey LeBlanc, director of sports and recreation

Little is found in the documents in terms of explanation, except that the province couldn't benefit from Sports Canada experts because Ottawa did not want to show favouritism between the two competing bids.

"It resulted in a 'fend for ourselves' situation," one note said.

Even after the skyrocketing cost began casting a shadow on the success of the bid, Gallant's name was brought up again.

"It's also important to remember it was our Premier who wanted these Games," wrote a tourism official.

Public perception mattered

The documents also mention the decision to submit an initial low budget was a "more prudent approach from a public perception point of view."

In reviewing newspaper articles in January 2016, Eric Mathieu Doucet — another friend of Gallant's who went on to be on the Games organizing committee — noted Sherbrooke had come out with a proposed budget of $50 million.

"I think that's an advantageous argument for our candidacy," he wrote in an email to government.

Even after organizers went to government with their budget ask, they suggested elected officials not make the dollar amount figure public until after it was signed off on.

"In order to favour these discussions go well, in a climate of discretion, it is strongly recommended not to make any public communication regarding the budget before the conclusion of the discussions," the committee's presentation read.

Treasury Board worried

But in early 2018, the Treasury Board was worried about the numbers and even wondered whether certain items on the budget were inflated.

"What makes this more reliable than the previous numbers?" asked one of its senior advisors, noting government had been presented with three sets of vastly different figures to date.

In April 2018, the Treasury Board decided to finance the organizing committee on a month-by-month basis, rather than yearly.

It had also created a committee of deputy ministers to try to find savings and get explanations from the organizing committee.

Banking on federal help

The documents reveal just how much New Brunswick was banking on the federal government upping its contribution toward the Francophonie Games, even long before the scandal broke out publicly.
Canada has a long-standing policy of funding up to 50 per cent of the cost of big sporting events, but no more.

A note from March 2018 said the organizing committee wanted the province to convince Ottawa to contribute a much larger percentage.

In the following months, that idea was floated around quite a bit, with public servants calling the funding objectives 'unrealizable' for a place like New Brunswick.
By mid-October, the cash requirement from the province was estimated at $60.5 million, and it had already reached out to Ottawa.

"Potential solutions may include tapping into other sources of federal funding, such as infrastructure funds," read one note.

In the end, the province spent close to $1.7 million on the scuttled Francophonie Games, and the federal government close to another million. The province told CBC News this week it was not expecting any additional cost.