Chances of landing 2015 Pan Am Games good, Ont. premier says

New Olympic-sized swimming pools, a competitive cycling velodrome, and track and sports training facilities will all be built in Ontario if Toronto clinches the 2015 Pan Am Games, says Premier Dalton McGuinty.

He added that there's a good shot residents will be welcoming the new infrastructure as he prepared to fly home for Thanksgiving after officially launching the bid in Acapulco, Mexico.

"I think we've got a really good chance, I'm feeling very optimistic based on the reception we had," McGuinty said Saturday.

"We've got a great product to sell, we didn't have to make any of this stuff up. Toronto and the region is incredibly diverse, we've got some magnificent facilities already there."

McGuinty made a formal presentation and mingled with delegates over several days at the annual meeting of the Pan American Sports Organization.

The $1.77-billion bid involves Toronto and at least 11 other municipalities throughout the Golden Horseshoe and as far north as Barrie.

In McGuinty's first official opportunity to sing the province's virtues to the international organization, he characterized the pitch as "polished and warm.

"It capitalized on a warm feeling that we sometimes underestimate in terms of how people view Canada and Toronto and Ontario," he said.

About $2 billion in economic activity, 17,000 new jobs, 250,000 visitors and several thousand athletes would be expected  for the Games, and McGuinty expressed excitement for new building projects that would complement already popular Toronto facilities.

"Those are all things that are great for the economy and they're great because they'll be around, of course, for decades after the Pan American Games," he said. "They'll create more opportunities for kids of all backgrounds to participate in amateur sports."

The federal government has already pledged $500 million in support for the Games, while the province has agreed to pony up funds to cover any cost overruns. McGuinty said he's confident money won't be an issue.

"Often as Canadians, we're always looking back at the Montreal Olympics, but the fact of the matter is that a number of international sporting events — Olympics and Pan Am Games — have taken place since then, where they've come in on time and on budget."

The next step in the bid process involves submitting detailed plans by the end of April and giving an on-the-ground tour to an evaluation committee.

In September 2009, the province will make one last formal presentation in Guadalajara — site of the 2011 Games — before a vote.

Former Ontario premier David Peterson is heading the bid, which if successful would be the province's first major international sporting event since the 1930 Commonwealth Games in Hamilton.

Winnipeg was the last Canadian city to host the Games, in 1999.

Lima, Peru, and Bogota, Colombia, are challenging Toronto for the Games. A third competitor, Caracas, Venezuela, announced Friday that it had declined to table its bid.

The sporting event brings together athletes from 42 countries every four years.