[News] Canadian and Albertan government will support Calgary in $30 mil 2026 Olympics bid

[blender]

Is there anyone who has a bad thing to say about the 88 Olympics?

I remember the same complaining about it before the bid. Waste of money, it will bankrupt us, no long-term jobs (not like the energy sector, right?), vanity project for politicians....

I don't see any difference today.

[dino7c]

Originally Posted by the_only_turek_fan

Some of you are those losers who have no money that want the government to take care of them for ever.

Because I want the Olympics and decent stadiums for the city I love?

I am a business owner, home owner, tax payer (Obviously I am alive) I pay more than my fair share

[dino7c]

Originally Posted by blender

Is there anyone who has a bad thing to say about the 88 Olympics?

I remember the same complaining about it before the bid. Waste of money, it will bankrupt us, no long-term jobs (not like the energy sector, right?), vanity project for politicians....

I don't see any difference today.

####ty economy then too...we more than survived

and what do people remember about the 80s in Calgary? the ####ty economy or the Stanley Cup and Olympics.

[CliffFletcher]

Originally Posted by spuzzum

I personally want to pay for a two week party out of my taxes. At least for once I get to see the money at work being spent on something tangible rather than on a study of genetically modifying chickens to a color like pink. World class sporting venues are never a bad thing. I'm guessing the city made a pretty good haul on the Saddledome since 1984.

Yeah, it's hard to think of a better way to spend public money than on a $100 million ski jump that a handful of rich kids will use a few times a year. Especially in a place like Calgary, that has far more schools and hospitals than it needs.

Originally Posted by dino7c

Some of you are those cheap asses that Penny pinch and save all your lives only to die with a million dollars in the bank.

Live a little...

A better analogy is a Calgary family that's 600k in debt, living in a house with a 27 year old furnace and a 30 year old roof with the shingles peeling off, deciding to put in an outdoor, in-ground swimming pool that they'll use a few weeks a year. Live a little.

Originally Posted by blender

Is there anyone who has a bad thing to say about the 88 Olympics?

I remember the same complaining about it before the bid. Waste of money, it will bankrupt us, no long-term jobs (not like the energy sector, right?), vanity project for politicians....

I don't see any difference today.

You mean aside from the exponentially higher cost of putting on an Olympics today?

Cost of the '88 Winter Games: $355 mil US.

Estimated cost of Pyeongchang Olympics when they won the bid: $10 billion. Actual cost: $17 billion.

[taxbuster]

Originally Posted by CSharp

The current Alberta government likes to spend money without thinking orconsulting Albertans. And they think they're gonna balance the budget by 2023 when they won't be in power anymore.

Get off your high horse. ALL governments spend money without consulting the public. ALL OF THEM.

Just b/c you don't happen to like the present one is no reason to attempt to rewrite history. Let's not make this any more political than it already is.

And - they do require a positive result in a plebiscite to proceed. That is responsible vs. a poll which has significant margins of error. That's why we still hold elections in this country (remember how Bill Smith was polled to win Calgary?). Yah. That.

[GGG]

Originally Posted by CliffFletcher

Yeah, it's hard to think of a better way to spend public money than on a $100 million ski jump that a handful of rich kids will use a few times a year. Especially in a place like Calgary, that has far more schools and hospitals than it needs.

A better analogy is a Calgary family that's 600k in debt, living in a house with a 27 year old furnace and a 30 year old roof with the shingles peeling off, deciding to put in an outdoor, in-ground swimming pool that they'll use a few weeks a year. Live a little.

You mean aside from the exponentially higher cost of putting on an Olympics today?

Cost of the '88 Winter Games: $355 mil US.

Estimated cost of Pyeongchang Olympics when they won the bid: $10 billion. Actual cost: $17 billion.

Calgary does not need more schools. We are not at capacity. In fact we have a surplus of schools. Parents just object to bussing kids. Calgary also has plenty of Hospitals for what it needs. No one is proposing building anymore right now. Alberta's current services do not need more funding. And even if it did a one time 2-5 billion expenditure isn't going to make a dent in Alberta's budget situation. We don't need to exaggerate the risk or current state of Alberta for the Olympics to be a bad idea.

The Vanoc budget ended up being within the original estimate. And estimate at the bid stage is +/- 30% but usually only 10% contingency is applied. So the original 4.6 billion likely has a cap of about 6 billion. Scope creep though needs to be managed. The Olympics run at a 2 billion loss. So what do you get for that 2 billion. In the current bid documents- nothing that we need. Modest improvements to a bunch of existing facilities

It does not get us New Stadium, New Arena, new fieldhouse or new transit. That seems to be a failure to me.

[GGG]

Originally Posted by taxbuster

And - they do require a positive result in a plebiscite to proceed. That is responsible vs. a poll which has significant margins of error. That's why we still hold elections in this country (remember how Bill Smith was polled to win Calgary?). Yah. That.

Actually the polling average of all polls in the municipal election was fairly accurate and really showed the value in having multiple polls with different methodologies measuring the same thing.

A low turnout plebiscite is more sample biased than a poorly designed poll. Polling done with different methodologies to create the samples and averaged out would provide a more accurate reflection of publics opinion the a plebiscite that less than 20% of eligible voters vote in. It is a less acuurate and more costly way of measuring support.

[Incogneto]

I crunched some numbers on this, and considering the games cost, plus provincial and federal money, plus tv and sponsor money, I had it nailed down to each resident of the city needing to pay about $1000-$1500 over the next 10 years. So to add $150 a year to my bill ($450 for my family), that is a simple yes decision for me.

I’m in for the Olympics!

[djsFlames]

Originally Posted by the_only_turek_fan

Some of you are those losers who have no money that want the government to take care of them for ever.

[Badgers Nose]

They know the vote will fail, so easy to say they support it. LOL

[Ryan Coke]

Originally Posted by GGG

Calgary does not need more schools. We are not at capacity. In fact we have a surplus of schools. Parents just object to bussing kids. Calgary also has plenty of Hospitals for what it needs. No one is proposing building anymore right now. Alberta's current services do not need more funding. And even if it did a one time 2-5 billion expenditure isn't going to make a dent in Alberta's budget situation. We don't need to exaggerate the risk or current state of Alberta for the Olympics to be a bad idea.

The Vanoc budget ended up being within the original estimate. And estimate at the bid stage is +/- 30% but usually only 10% contingency is applied. So the original 4.6 billion likely has a cap of about 6 billion. Scope creep though needs to be managed. The Olympics run at a 2 billion loss. So what do you get for that 2 billion. In the current bid documents- nothing that we need. Modest improvements to a bunch of existing facilities

It does not get us New Stadium, New Arena, new fieldhouse or new transit. That seems to be a failure to me.

I’m trying to remember what you specifically believe as far as a new arena......

But I have seen many say no public funds for a new arena, because there is always something more important to spend that money on. But now for the Olympics we’re going to say that there are no public facilities or services urgently needed, so its ok to spend a bunch of money on this?

I don’t even necessarily mind the idea of the Olympics depending on the details, I just find overall a tremendous amount of hypocrisy and rationalizing by many posters on this board, as well as the mayor.

[Locke]

I'm of two minds on this, honestly if Calgary were being run by Stephen Mandel who hands out free land and hockey arenas to every Billionaire who asks then that would be one thing, but an Olympic Bid under someone who plans and budgets like Nenshi?

I think I could get on board with that.

The issue with these types of things is when people get too focused on the party and not the infrastructure thats left over when the party is finished.

And I find that odd coming from some lifelong Calgarians.

Been to the U of C? Lots of that built with Olympic money.

Winsport/COP? Same.

Saddledome. Obviously.

And I understand the 'schools/hospitals' argument, but the point is that there is an opportunity to build infrastructure under the umbrella of an Olympic bid that otherwise wouldnt exist.

Its not an either/or argument. Its not as though the Province and the Feds are going to give us this money anyways and we're blowing it on a party as opposed to school/hospitals.

I've said this in every Olympic thread to date so why stop now?

What I want to see is Calgary build a whole bunch of cool stuff, and things we need anyways, with Federal and Provincial (and some Civic) money while the opportunity exists.

Again, money that would otherwise not be available and, knowing the Governments in power, likely wasted on useless crap like debt financing anyways.

It could really go a long way to pushing this City forward faster than we could on our own.

The party is only thrown for everyone else's benefit. The profits are whats left over when everyone else goes home.

[Senator Clay Davis]

What I hate the most about the hypocrisy of "Little to no money for the Flames arena" and "Oh sure, do whatever for the Olympics" is that the argument against the former is that the Flames owners are exceedingly wealthy and thus can afford it, so we shouldn't help them. But helping the latter, also an extremely wealthy group, but one that has in just the last 20 years, implicitly or explicitly, supported the following by hosting Olympics in certain countries.....

Suppression of free speech
Suppression of religious rights
Totalitarianism
Police brutality
Murdering of journalists
Murdering of political opponents
Minority persecution
Environmental calamities
State sponsored doping
Various other human rights abuses
And lest we forget, significant amounts bribery and other corruption

....#### yeah, sign me up!

I have to say what makes the IOC such an effective, albeit abhorrent group, is that they've figured out the combination of sports and nationalism is basically 100% pure, raw heroin to many people. And for 17 days, many basically forget about the disgusting nature of the IOC, because they use their great front to have people in a 17 day trance. But when the hangover comes, the IOC is gone, to never help us ever again unless we bend over for them again in the future. They think of themselves as Gods, whom we should be grateful to host. Forgive me, but #### them.

It's also beyond awful that we have to host them to get any infrastructure. From the three levels of government, what a disgusting message to send to your citizens:

"Oh you need it now because you're the citizens who pay taxes and could use it? Sorry, but #### you"

versus

"Oh, you need to impress the peak of corruption? How much do you need?"

Whole thing is unseemly and gross, and is all about ego and vanity. The athletes are just the front and like another very corrupt group, the NCAA, get nothing financially out of it even as the driver of revenue. Let the dictatorships have it, we have far more important things to worry about then a party most people won't even get to attend the events they most want to (hint: the IOC hoards all the best tickets).

[Northendzone]

I swear that when a person becomes a politician they lose a lot of perspective on money.....see kathleeen Wynn for a prime example of this.

Incognito - since you are paying, can you pick up my tab as well? It is only another $600. What is another $600. It is like $2 per day.

[craigwd]

I will be voting yes because I support athletes and measures that will continue to give them the best training facilities in the world.

I support sport and the power it has to unite a community, excite a population, and inspire thousands of children to get out and try new kinds of activities (whether or not it encourages them to become high performance athletes themselves).

I support culture and know that the Olympic Games bring about more than just sport and athletes; it's a showcase of art, music and shared experiences.

I support cities and nations that make an effort to take a leap into something daring and new and fun. They are not content to live in boring grey boxes while only overseeing the minutia of day-to-day life of potholes and garbage pick up.

and I support celebration and communal pride in pulling together to welcome the world.

The Olympic are more than a party, they are a celebration of sport, athletes and culture and it's an honour to host them. It's a double honour to be so well thought of that the Olympic movement would consider this city to be the first double host since Lake Placid (itself the USA winter sport hub).

As I frequent visitor to the current facilities I know that they are used long afterwards and are crucial to athletic success. I also know that they need updating.

As a friend and supporter to many high performance athletes I know that they are excited and support a home Olympic Games in 2026.

As a fan of Canadian sport I know that this country loves celebrating success but I also know that as soon as that success goes away people are going to bemoan athletes' and question their results. We cannot expect success and not give the tools to help them accomplish it.

We cannot expect pride, unity and celebration to come out of nowhere.

I support athletes, I support sport, I support culture and I support Calgary 2026.

[surferguy]

Originally Posted by the_only_turek_fan

Because Naheed Nenshi and city council are a bunch of idiots.

If you think they are idiots why don't you run for council and do a better job. Stop bitching about it and do something if you are mad, really mad.

[rage2]

Originally Posted by InCoGnEtO

I crunched some numbers on this, and considering the games cost, plus provincial and federal money, plus tv and sponsor money, I had it nailed down to each resident of the city needing to pay about $1000-$1500 over the next 10 years. So to add $150 a year to my bill ($450 for my family), that is a simple yes decision for me.

I’m in for the Olympics!

Kinda funny $150/year is acceptable, yet $9/year for a new Flames arena is a show stopper. Maybe it’s time we rename the site to calgaryolympics haha.

[Monahammer]

Hell yeah! 88 was great and can definitely be recreated. So many negative nancies in here but it's not surprising given their post histories. Some of you just seem to be mad about everything all the time. That can't be a healthy way to live life!

[Weitz]

I'll vote no if it ever goes to plebiscite but I doubt it will.

Total waste of money if you ask me.

[D as in David]

Originally Posted by PepsiFree

I actually meant it’s funny when there are a multiple examples of the public having no idea what they’re talking about, and asking those people for input.

“Hey, we’re having Cheerios for breakfast.”
“I hate fruit loops, I wish we’d have Cheerios! I’m moving to a house that never has cheerios!”

Whining about Canadian debt while considering a move to an even more in-debt country?

It’s just lol.

Moving to the US wouldn't be so bad, I hear their grass is greener.

Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk