Should Calgary Bid on the 2026 Olympics

[Joborule]

To be fair, that article is actually accurate as of this minute. The plug is being pulled.

[Dion]

Originally Posted by nik-

... Dion.

[soulchoice]

Originally Posted by gottabekd

So if the Olympic bid falls through, and the feds still have $1.5 billion (or was it $1.75 now?) burning a hole in their pocket, what other cheaper event can we host in Calgary in order to claim that cash?

Ping Pong World Championship in the new field house?
Starcraft Championship in a new NHL arena?
Ultimate World Cup in a brand new outdoor stadium?

All of the above?

Id have about the same level of interest in those competitions as a majority of the winter olympic events...

[Roughneck]

Originally Posted by GordonBlue

now that they'll have that extra 370 million, they can use it to build a new hockey rink.

Given the $631M cut to capital funding from the province, there isn't any extra money for stuff. It was always a play to get more from the province and feds. They didn't oblige.

[RoadGame]

Simple question from someone who cares enough to vote but not enough to wade through 72 pages... given the apparent precedent that the Feds match funding for these kinds of things 50/50, why would it have been such a surprise that they landed on the number (1.5Bn 2018) that they landed on? It's well and good for Ceci to come out and put his marker down at $700M a while ago, but just because he announced first doesn't compel the Feds to break with precedent and go over 50/50 or else be blamed for the failure...

To be clear I'm not really a fan of any of the three levels of government and I'm just trying to work out which of these idiots should wear a disproportionate share of the blame for this funding cluster and why.

[GGG]

The feds and the province for not being clear upfront at what there funding limits were. If this was always dependent on 500, 1 Bil, 1.75bil than matching was never an option.

When the 4.6 billion stage of the bid the funding should have been worked out and wasn’t. It sounds like Nenshi believed he had communicated these requirements to the various levels of government and had been blindsided by the timing of these announcements.

So personally I’d blame the feds and province for not clearly defining their contributions earlier.

[OldDutch]

Being someone who works on execution of large projects, I think this fell into the most common trap when dealing with a large 3rd party suppliers.

Don’t ask, don’t tell

City failed to ask every question in the book, and the Fed assumed that the City just knew.

Should the city and/or province just known? Probably, but a lack of transparency by the Fed (due to arrogance, cause we should all just know how they roll) led to this as well.

Doesn’t matter in the end they all look like goofs, but the project owner Calgary gets to wear it.

[oldschoolcalgary]

not sure what happened, but according to this article, this isn't a change in federal funding; the Fed contributed half to the vancouver bid as well... the policy has been in place for a decade according to the article...

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/cana...lympics-could/

so, i am uncertain how/what happened with bidco/city/province/federal government? you'd think an autopsy of the vancouver bid financing and results would be one of the very first things that everyone would be looking through?

not sure if its a lack of transparency if this is the same model as the Vancouver bid

[zhulander]

Originally Posted by GGG

The feds and the province for not being clear upfront at what there funding limits were. If this was always dependent on 500, 1 Bil, 1.75bil than matching was never an option.

When the 4.6 billion stage of the bid the funding should have been worked out and wasn’t. It sounds like Nenshi believed he had communicated these requirements to the various levels of government and had been blindsided by the timing of these announcements.

So personally I’d blame the feds and province for not clearly defining their contributions earlier.

https://www.canada.ca/en/canadian-he...events.html#a5

Contribution limits. For contributions over the threshold set, regularly reviewed, and adjusted as required by the ISECG (presently $50,000), the Government of Canada will limit its contribution to a maximum of 35% of total event costs and will not exceed 50% of the total public sector contribution to the event. Calculations for determining federal financial support will include contributions towards the direct and indirect costs of the bidding or hosting project;

The limit has always been 50% from Federal, it really shouldn't be a surprise for anyone especially on the yes side, as it comes from the same requirements of the Federal Policy for Hosting International Sport Events sets out that the Government of Canada will consider support for the hosting of two IMMG every 10 years.


The city and the province are probably the ones to blame. They needed to have a combined contribution of $1.5 billion somehow but missed the mark.

[GGG]

Originally Posted by zhulander

https://www.canada.ca/en/canadian-he...events.html#a5

The limit has always been 50% from Federal, it really shouldn't be a surprise for anyone especially on the yes side, as it comes from the same requirements of the Federal Policy for Hosting International Sport Events sets out that the Government of Canada will consider support for the hosting of two IMMG every 10 years.


The city and the province are probably the ones to blame. They needed to have a combined contribution of $1.5 billion somehow but missed the mark.

Yes, but somehow Nenshi was under the impression that this was going to be changed based on his statements that the Federal government new that the matching rule was not acceptable per this bid. If there was no way that this would change the bid shouldn't have been started.

So the question is where did this idea that the feds would waive the matching requirements come from. Nenshi assuming that the feds would cave or the feds implying that changes were possible and then bailing when it wasn't politically expedient.

[Senator Clay Davis]

It just shows how ridiculous this process has been that they didn't secure the funding agreement before calling for the plebiscite. All three levels of government appeared to be operating under different assumptions, which of course has led to this poorly presented bid. It's stuff like this that makes it hard to believe anything related to this could ever come in on budget, the lack of communication and leadership is pathetic.

[GordonBlue]

Originally Posted by GGG

Yes, but somehow Nenshi was under the impression that this was going to be changed based on his statements that the Federal government new that the matching rule was not acceptable per this bid. If there was no way that this would change the bid shouldn't have been started.

So the question is where did this idea that the feds would waive the matching requirements come from. Nenshi assuming that the feds would cave or the feds implying that changes were possible and then bailing when it wasn't politically expedient.

not sure if we'll know.
but from the e-mail postmedia released, and the way the bid has gone, I would put blame of the city for wanting or expecting the rules to change.
heck didn't he even say even say to announce the funding and then fix the numbers after? plus wanting the feds to "a guarantee on any security cost overruns,” probably didn't go over well.

a few people here said the security could even be less than the bid estimate. if that's so, isn't it funny that Nenshi wanted a guarantee for security cost overruns and you had more faith in the bid estimate than he does.

[Northendzone]

it is hard to get excited about the current group bringing this baby home when they are having some many issues and there is so much uncertainty 15 or so days before the plebiscite.

although part of me wonders if they want to keep the uncertainty around some issues - like who pays cost overruns - to help sway folks into staying on the yes side.

[DiracSpike]

Originally Posted by getbak

The 2030 Olympics.

No kidding. For everyone saying this is a once in a lifetime opportunity there's an Olympics every four years. And four years from now, when the IOC is desperate for host cities, Calgary can be a possbility then too. Maybe then we'll actually have good communication between the Bid Co and levels of Government, plus infrastructure that we can acutally be excited about.

[CaptainCrunch]

This whole thing just struck me as poorly run at all levels. It felt like their a$$es were leading their noses. I was going to vote no to this thing.



I don't know if this was just trying to get into the news, or if they were serious about this. I would hate to think that they were serious because it certainly didn't feel that way.


If they want an Olympics kick this can down the road

[Shazam]

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

This whole thing just struck me as poorly run at all levels. It felt like their a$$es were leading their noses. I was going to vote no to this thing.



I don't know if this was just trying to get into the news, or if they were serious about this. I would hate to think that they were serious because it certainly didn't feel that way.


If they want an Olympics kick this can down the road

Cronies gotta get their share.

Poor Bunk, now he might have to work for money.

[Slava]

Originally Posted by Shazam

Cronies gotta get their share.

Poor Bunk, now he might have to work for money.

What? I don't think that the shot against bunk is called for at all. He's gainfully employed and as far as I know wasn't in on some take from the Olympic bid. He's just a civic-minded guy who works in an adjacent industry. Pretty poor to call him out here, IMO.

[puckedoff]

^ I thought it was a classy, well timed cheap shot. Besides we know he has podcast money, I doubt he even has to work.

[Bunk]

Podcasting is my real money maker, the development business is just the side gig.

[Slava]

Originally Posted by Bunk

Podcasting is my real money maker, the development business is just the side gig.

Once you land that Zip Recruiter and Blue Apron money, we'll all be onto you!