Toronto 2015 Fires Chief Ian Troop, Hires New CEO

The Toronto 2015 Pan Am/Parapan Am Games Organizing Committee (TO2015) board of directors has revealed it has fired chief Ian Troop and replaced him with Saad Rafi as their new CEO.

Reports suggest Troop (pictured) was made redundant following ‘leadership issues’ and also follows criticism of his expenses. 

“On behalf of the board of directors, I’d like to extend our sincere gratitude to Ian for all of his hard work, his commitment and his contributions,” said Peterson. “Our capital projects are on time and on or under budget. We wish him well.”

Troop will be replaced as of Jan. 6 by deputy Health Minister Saad Rafi, who earned $428,000 last year for running the largest provincial department with a $49-billion budget.

Rafi takes over the leadership of TO2015 as the organization begins to move from the planning stage to the operational stage in advance of the Games.

Rafi currently serves as Ontario’s Deputy Minister of Health. In this role, Rafi administers an annual budget for the Health Ministry of $48 billion, which is the largest health budget in Canada. During his 25-year career, Rafi has also built a successful advisory practice in infrastructure and was a partner with Deloitte and Touche, LLP.

“I am very excited that Saad has agreed to take on this important role,” said Peterson. “This is a huge, complex endeavour and Saad has all of the necessary experience and expertise to ensure these are the best Pan Am/Parapan Am Games ever.”

The operational phase of the Games involves the coordination among a number of Games partners including all levels of government, representatives of the sport community and members of the 41 Pan American Sports Organization (PASO) nations. TO2015 is tasked with the responsibility of planning, managing and delivering the Games.

It is expected to cost taxpayers at least $2.5 billion to host the Games, which will host 7,666 athletes competing in 51 sports at venues in 14 municipalities, including Toronto, Hamilton, Milton, Ajax, Whitby, Oshawa, Caledon, St. Catharines, and Welland.

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