The choice of Edmonton to host this year’s Assembly, made last September just seven months after economic factors including falling oil prices caused them to drop out of contention for hosting the 2022 Commonwealth Games, raised hopes that this would prepare a platform for Edmonton to bid for the next edition after that.

Representatives from Edmonton, which last hosted the Commonwealth Games in 1978, claimed in February 2015 that they hoped to bid instead for 2026, with the 2022 event now being hosted by the sole remaining bidder, Durban.

Shortly after arriving in Canada, Grevemberg would not be drawn on a discussion of the specific possibilities for the 2026 Games, telling insidethegames: "Rather than name any names we would be more general at this point and say that there is exploratory interest for 2026 and 2030 which the CGF looks forward to nurturing with its new partnerships model."

But the American-born former wrestler, whose stewardship of the hugely successful Glasgow 2014 Games earned him a Commander of the British Empire award in 2015, was unequivocal about the announcement made by the West Midlands city a couple of months after Liverpool’s Mayor Joe Anderson had committed his city to the pursuit of an event last held in England 14 years ago when Manchester hosted.

"It's wonderful to see a great Commonwealth city like Birmingham considering a future bid to host the Games in 2026," he said.

"As part of our Transformation 2022 strategy, we’ll support them and indeed other cities as they work with their communities, athletes and stakeholders - and in this case Commonwealth Games England - to define their ambitions and develop an inspiring proposition to bring people together for the 23rd Commonwealth Games."

These two English cities of outstanding sporting heritage are now shaping up for a potential private battle that would be resolved by Commonwealth Games England in 2018 before the final vote at the 2019 General Assembly.

Hopes of renewed interest from Edmonton are compounded by similarly positive vibes from New Zealand, where Auckland, the 1990 Commonwealth Games hosts, appear likely to renew their interest, and Port Moresby, which is considering seeking a first Games for Papua New Guinea after successfully hosting the Pacific Games in 2015. 

In the meantime, Grevemberg is excited about the prospect of a General Assembly which is due to start tomorrow and will, for the first time, will incorporate a one-day Commonwealth Sport Summit on Thursday (October 6).

This new event will bring together sports leaders and stakeholders from across Canada and the Commonwealth’s 71 nations and territories.

Working under the theme of It’s Within Us, the Summit will include workshops, panel discussions and keynote speeches focused on governance, organisational culture, integrity, youth, human rights and sport for development and peace.

Among the speakers are due to be Canada’s Minister of Sport and Persons with Disabilities Carla Qualtrough, winner of three swimming medals for Canada at the 1988 and 1992 Paralympic Games in Seoul and Barcelona. 

Other keynote addresses will come from David Rutherford, Chief Commissioner of the New Zealand Human Rights Commission, and Chief Ava Hill - to give her her full title, Mohawk, Wolf Clan, Chief of the Six Nations of the Grand River - who was a strategic advisor on the Aboriginal Leadership Partnership of the 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto. 

The final speaker on the day will be Prince Edward of Wessex, who will reflect upon the importance of the Commonwealth Games to the Commonwealth.

"The newly-launched Commonwealth Sports Summit will be an inspiring and engaging conversation with sports leaders from across Canada and the broader Commonwealth as we bring Transformation 2022 to life," said Louise Martin, CGF President.

The dramatis personae of this latest gathering, and the scope of topics covered, offer clear evidence of the CGF’s expanding ambition in terms of the role it wants to play within the Commonwealth.

Transformation 2022, the Commonwealth Games Federation Strategic Plan for 2015-2022, shares some of the aspirations of Thomas Bach’s initial guiding vision upon taking up the Presidency of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Agenda 2020.

The keynote aspiration is lofty indeed: "As a cornerstone of the Commonwealth itself, our dynamic sporting movement – driven by its values of Humanity, Equality and Destiny - has a key role to play in an energised, engaged and active Commonwealth of Nations and Territories."

But the Transformation 2022 document contains detail of exactly how and when each of four key strategic priorities will be introduced over a seven-year period.

The first concerns delivering high class Commonwealth and Commonwealth Youth Games, as well as developing a Commonwealth Sports Cities network that will offer the possibilities of shorter and more flexible competitive events.

The other priorities concern good governance, developing partnerships and establishing and reinforcing the new CGF brand.

At last year’s General Assembly in Auckland a new sports programme of compulsory and optional sports was approved, which included, for the first time, a cap on the size of teams. This chimes in with the IOC concerns over ever-expanding Games and costs, something which has been a strong factor in deterring cities from bidding.

"The last General Assembly established the maximum quota, and this will be new for the Gold Coast,” Grevemberg said. "At Glasgow 2014 we had 700 more athletes and team officers than forecast. That’s why we felt the need to cap and control the numbers at future Games.

"We have core sports and emerging sports. Among sports pursuing recognised sports status are rowing - there is a keen interest in this from the International Rowing Federation - and archery is also pushing for inclusion."

The next big thing on the agenda is the "Games Delivery Partnership model", which Grevemberg hopes will offer potential future bidders for either the Commonwealth or Commonwealth Youth Games more flexible, particularised and interactive assistance.

While the Summit promises to be innovative, a more traditional element of the Conference promises to be informative as progress reports are heard from the organising committees of the next four CGF main events - the Bahamas 2017 Youth Games, the Gold Coast Games of 2018, the Belfast 2021 Youth Games and Durban 2022, hosts of the next Commonwealth Games but one.

Delegates could be forgiven for rehearsing two distinct expressions as the Gold Coast 2018 and Durban 2022 statements are made. Continuing reports from Australia’s next Commonwealth Games hosts have been Golden indeed - an inspection visit in January concluded that preparations were ahead of schedule and under budget.

The news from Durban has been more troubling. In March, KwaZulu-Natal Finance MEC Belinda Scott admitted while delivering the budget for the Provincial Government that the. ZAR580 million (£26 million/$38 million/€34 million) they had promised to contribute to the Games could no longer be afforded.

"At this present moment this Province is not in a position to fund the Commonwealth Games, which is a national event," she said.

"Provincial Treasury has escalated this matter to the National Treasury for urgent national intervention, in order that National Government is made aware that they will need to make provision for funding this funding pressure."

But Gideon Sam, President of SASCOC, sounded a more comforting note: "As the Games are six years away, we have begun the process to engage with various stakeholders in order to meet our obligations as set out in our bid documents.

"We have had discussions with National Government and this is ongoing. We are aware of the current economic environment, but we are confident that we will deliver on our obligations of hosting a world-class event on the African continent."

Grevemberg agreed that the circumstances around bidding for the 2022 Games had not been ideal.

"Having just one bidder puts you in a more difficult situation,” he admitted. "We have to work on this. With regard to Durban 2022, I think at this point we want to wait to hear a full update at the Assembly before making any comment.

"But I think we are very lucky in the case of Durban in terms of its vision and the possible wider advantages, and we have confidence in the South African government to ensure the delivery of the Games. 

"South Africa fits beautifully into the Commonwealth model and offers opportunities for increasing sustainability, prosperity and empowering young people through sport. It’s a very exciting prospect.

"These will not only be the first Games in South Africa, but the first on African soil, so they have a huge relevance and importance.

"There has already been quite a lot of discussion around the Commonwealth on the subject of the 2026 Games, some of it involving New Zealand.

"Nothing is finalised - everyone has a chance at this point in time.

"I think there is a debate to be had on whether or not quality not quantity is the main question. You have to consider also questions such as whether it is the right time for a city to bid.

"When you have more horses in the race, it gives you more leverage in terms of rights-holders. But the most important thing is to find the right partner in the right position to fit the time, plan and purpose of the Commonwealth Movement.

"It’s almost a courting exercise, a process of exploration and discovery.

"In terms of future Games bids, we are confident that we will be taking a more partner-driven approach."

Looking ahead to the week, Grevemberg added: "This is a new kind of General Assembly, unlike any before. We are making a greater effort than ever before to appeal to external parties, particularly through the inaugural Commonwealth Sports Summit.

"Among the topics we will be addressing is the one of indigenous reconciliation, which is an issue that concerns a number of Commonwealth countries. We will be discussing how sport can be instrumental in reconciling and uniting people within countries.

"As regards Transformation 2022, we will be wanting to discuss how far we have progressed, what areas should be targeted and what the next steps should be.

"In 2017 we will be rolling out how we plan to nurture cities through the future process of bidding – we are working to make that process more comfortable and collaborative.

"There will be a lot of discussion about our Games Delivery Partnership model. For instance, there are a lot of [Commonwealth Games] Federations which are also National Olympic Committees as well. So one of the questions will be - how do they differentiate their branding? How can you leverage both the Commonwealth and Olympic Games elements to gain the maximum benefit?”

In July, Grevemberg and the CGF heard that the Wales had ruled out a possible 2026 bid because of financial uncertainties resulting from the Brexit vote in June.

However, the estimated costs of a Games put forward by Welsh Economic Secretary Ken Skates - between £1.3 billion ($1.7 billion/€1.5 billion) and £1.5 billion ($2 billion/€1.8 billion) - caused some sharp raising of eyebrows within the CGF.

"On the subject of the Welsh decision not to bid for the 2026 Games, we were a bit outspoken about the financial figures that were put forward," Grevemberg said.

"A lot of the projected Games costs we felt were actually investments in general infrastructure. Glasgow 2014 cost £543 million ($704 million/€626 million), and that was under budget.

"This is the big danger is estimating costs for Games. There is the cost of the Games delivery, and then there is the cost of improving infrastructure. Those improvements may be brought forward by having the Games, but they are not part of the Games delivery budget. I think it is important to differentiate between these costs.

"Games delivery costs require a return on investment. Capital investment in infrastructure is a generational, or even multi-generational project."

The broadening of the CGF’s scope and ambition has become increasingly clear within the last couple of years.

Grevemberg highlighted, as an example, the high profile - and officially planned - action of John Barrowman, the openly gay actor and musician, in kissing another man on the lips during the Glasgow 2014 Opening Ceremony at Celtic Park which was watched by an estimated billion television viewers in 71 Commonwealth nations and territories.

Barrowman’s action was seen as a bold and effective rebuttal of homophobia in much of the Commonwealth, with 42 out of the 53 competing countries in Glasgow having criminalised homosexuality.

In March this year, representatives from Bahamas 2017, Gold Coast 2018, Belfast 2021 and Durban 2022 met with experts in London to discuss ensuring that human rights are essential in the bid processes and delivery of major sports competitions.

They are now set to contribute to the development of principles and strategies to safeguard human rights, according to the CGF, with a key focus on the rights of children.

Participants at the meeting from the respective Organising Committees spoke with UNICEF, one of the leading child rights charities, the Institute for Human Rights and Business and fellow international children’s rights organisation Terre des Hommes.

Grevemberg was also proud to point out the effectiveness of CGF policy last year at the Samoa Youth Games.

"At Samoa 2015 we championed child-safeguarding standards that are now legislated by the Samoa Government,” he said. "They didn’t exist before. Now they exist because of the Commonwealth Youth Games.

"We work with cities to deliver a great event which can have a long-lasting impact. It’s not a panacea but it offers a huge opportunity to promote beneficial social change."

Given the way in which the IOC has sometimes been accused over broad social policy which it encourages - for instance, it was pilloried for failing to eradicate all human rights abuse in China in and around the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games - did Grevemberg not fear that expectations could be raised to high by the CGF?

"That is the challenge for an Organising Committee – as much as it needs to organise a great event, it also needs to mobilise that energy in a way that takes everyone along and takes everyone into a better future.

"In terms of publicising human rights, every major sports event has a responsibility and an opportunity.

"Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games – they are lightning rods that generate energy,” he responded. "They enable one to have conversations - you can use the occasion to amplify your voice and your causes, and to take action.

"In terms of publicising human rights, every major sports event has a responsibility and an opportunity.

"If we are going to use the word Commonwealth we are upholding the Commonwealth Charter, and that calls for peace, prosperity and good governance. Human rights are at its core."