I am going to hesitantly weigh in by saying first that I think this is an issue on which reasonable people can disagree, and that it is just up to them to be reasonable about it....
With that said, I think two things are true:
1. In the abstract, the Olympics are great, but not at any cost, and
2. No-one at this point knows or could reasonably be expected to know what a 2026 Olympics in Calgary will cost in 2018.
This creates a difficulty for us as voters in a plebiscite. I looked at the question that is being asked, and it is apparently this: "Are you for or are you against Calgary
hosting the 2026 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games?"
Well, that is hard question for me. Again, in the abstract, I might say yes. But if it came with an increase to property taxes, or redirected infrastructure spending away from areas that badly need it, I would say no. If it means tons of awesome legacy infrastructure that we can now have federal and provincial money to help build, I'd say yes. If it gives a huge jolt to the economy (and who knows whether it will need one 8 years from now) then again, I'd say yes. If it is a 'budget' Olympics that doesn't build anything that the city really needs and provides only a transient benefit, I'd say no.
So this is the problem: we don't know any of that. Or, at least, I don't--and I'll admit to being sort of uninformed. I suspect some of the above is simply unknowable right now.
All of that leads me to the question: are we voting too soon? Right now, my guess (and it's only a guess) is that the no side wins this plebiscite. I might vote yes, but I would do it not really knowing the long-term ramifications of that vote, and that - frankly - gives me some pause. I guess I am not sure that we are in the right process at the right time here.
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