Maybe Mayor Mel messed up more than we thought he did. This from www.canoe.ca

Lastman controversy hung over Toronto's presentation MOSCOW (CP) -- Toronto's Mayor Mel Lastman wasn't on stage, but he was still front and centre Friday in Toronto's final pitch for the 2008 Olympic Games.

Toronto's 45-minute presentation began with a traditional native welcome and ended with African delegates granting forgiveness to the city's mayor.

Two aboriginal singers and a dancer opened the show, a mix of live performances, music and video aimed at winning the 2008 Summer Games over Beijing, Paris, Istanbul and Osaka, Japan.

The one thing missing from the live show before International Olympic Committee members was Lastman, who spoke in a pre-recorded message shot in Toronto.

But Lastman and racist comments he recently made about Africa loomed large over the display.

At the end of the presentation, an African IOC member asked why the mayor was missing from the stage and sought an explanation for his recent comments.

"Something just struck me and that is the mayor of Toronto made a comment," said Alpha Ibrahim Diallo of Guinea. "Something that was an infringement of the Olympic values."

Prime Minister Jean Chretien responded by reminding the IOC that Toronto is one of the most multicultural cities in the world.

"The mayor made a mistake," he said. "Canada has demonstrated and it will demonstrate that it is the most tolerant country in the world."

The matter was put aside when Judge Keba Mbaye, an IOC member from Senegal, accepted the apology on behalf of all African countries.

"I consider, and I think I can say on behalf of all my African brothers . . . that the incident is now closed. It is over with."

Lastman has scarcely been seen with the bid since he arrived in Moscow and sat in the audience during Toronto's presentation, then walked through the media centre with Canadian Olympic wrestler Daniel Igali, who was dressed in a flowing light blue babariga -- native Nigerian clothing.

The mayor refused to answer questions as he walked to an empty bus waiting for him outside.

John Bitove, head of the Toronto bid, said afterward that he expected the question, the apology was accepted and the matter is closed.

Toronto's bid was the only one to face difficult questions about human rights.

Beijing's bid team wasn't asked a single question about the liberty of its citizens, despite its dismal record on human rights. Instead, IOC delegates asked the Beijing bid technical questions about pollution, doping standards and transportation.

Besides Toronto, the bidding cities stuck to a similar script as they made their presentations.

All of them showed videos boosting the merits of their bids and made promises to guarantee that all facilities would be ready on time, with financial backing from their respective governments to ensure they are completed.

The Paris bid attempted to show what would happen on a typical day in the city during the Games, emphasizing landmarks like the Eiffel Tower that would serve as backdrops for an Olympics in the City of Light.

French soccer star Zinedine Zidane, the world's most expensive player at $103 million Cdn, accompanied the bid, but had no role in the presentation, other than to pose for photographs with the bid presenters when they were finished.

While the IOC wasn't asking questions about China's human rights abuses, Toronto and Paris stressed their democratic foundations.

"Canada, a land of freedom and generosity . . . a beacon of peace that attracts people from around the world," said Chretien.

Paris Mayor Bertrand Delanoe said France is "the country that gave the world human rights."

Toronto's presentation was part show business and part technical detail, featuring Chretien, Ontario Premier Mike Harris and an array of Canadian Olympians, including rower Marnie McBean, sprinter Donovan Bailey and cyclist Curt Harnett.

Vanessa Morgan, age nine, got the room clapping to Toronto's official bid song, Expect the World, belting out the tune to loud applause from the IOC.

The presentation started with Grand Chief Larry Sault of the Association of Iroquois and Allied Indians giving his blessing to the bid on behalf of Aboriginal Peoples.

"I would like to welcome all nations to our great land, Canada, in 2008," said Sault, who goes by the native name Strong Eagle.

He was the last to leave the stage, giving Juan Antonio Samaranch, the president of the IOC, a staff with the Olympic rings included in its design.