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Originally Posted by Leondros
You sound so far removed from anything winter sport related. This is not a want for the many athletes that come to this city to train year round. If you care about Canadian winter sport at all, you would at least consider this. Most of Calgary's winter sport infrastructure and thus Canada's winter sport infrastructure is nearing the end of its life. Winsport needs significantly more money to maintain its level of training facilities, same as the Olympic oval.
For you to dismiss this shows that you have not looked at the pros and cons of the argument. For the record, I am still on the fence about which way to vote.
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We live in a city that's about to start cutting services and raising taxes because of it's budget problems. Allocating federal dollars to ensuring we have great winter sports facilities instead of adequate sports facilities seems remarkably misguided. The last three Winter Olympics have been Canada's best medal hauls ever, so there's not really an argument to be made that better facilities will produce better results. For me, that would be the only valid argument for upgrades as a need. Since it can't be argued, it becomes a want. No matter how badly some people may want it, it remains a want.
The real discussion this whole process should be about how much do we truly value sports in our lives? And I think sports fans are starting to realize the answer is "Not that much" when there are far more pressing issues to address. I mean think about how little discussion has been devoted to health care despite the fact the system is about the be obliterated by the boomers retiring. That's a real, impactful discussion to have. Sports facilities? Please.....
Quote:
Originally Posted by Joborule
It depends how you view the important of government spending on sport and recreation facilities.
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It should be considered near the bottom of the list. Sorry but there are simply many more pressing issues than sports and recreation facilities. Especially since it's now clear the city is on the hook for the guaranteed cost overruns. So whatever "upgrades" we get from "federal money" will be offset when the city goes deep into the red hosting the Olympics and has to turn around and increase taxes or significantly reduce services. There's a very good chance the net result of hosting the Olympics is a financial negative.