Should Calgary Bid on the 2026 Olympics

[zarrell]

The no campaign has reached near hysterical levels of panic and concern both here and elsewhere. I think they represent a small vocal minority as literally everyone I've asked has said they would vote yes. This vote passes with easily a 2/3 majority.

[Senator Clay Davis]

Originally Posted by woob

I’m not sure you understand majority.

8/15 is greater than 50%...I mean I know that in the creative accounting world of the Yes side it's probably 27%. They needed 66% to kill the bid, so a majority was attained, not the super majority required. If you're thinking of plurality, common mistake.

[OldDutch]

Originally Posted by Manhattanboy

Over to you Flames....

Over to you NHL....

My thought exactly. Here Flames, here is a free arena, best offer ever. In return you help us carry the day.

Unless there is serious spite in ownership this should be the easiest high five ever.

Seeing as JT and gang is footing the bill I am totally fine with this.

[Senator Clay Davis]

Originally Posted by OldDutch

My thought exactly. Here Flames, here is a free arena, best offer ever. In return you help us carry the day.

Unless there is serious spite in ownership this should be the easiest high five ever.

Seeing as JT and gang is footing the bill I am totally fine with this.

Yeah this is total horse####. Arena funding is not part of the proposal. But the misinformation and propaganda campaign from the Yes side will be spinning into overdrive the next two weeks.

[woob]

Originally Posted by Senator Clay Davis

8/15 is greater than 50%...I mean I know that in the creative accounting world of the Yes side it's probably 27%. They needed 66% to kill the bid, so a majority was attained, not the super majority required. If you're thinking of plurality, common mistake.

My bad, I misunderstood the what the last vote was. Apologies for the drive by.

[chemgear]

Originally Posted by Senator Clay Davis

8/15 is greater than 50%...I mean I know that in the creative accounting world of the Yes side it's probably 27%. They needed 66% to kill the bid, so a majority was attained, not the super majority required. If you're thinking of plurality, common mistake.

No, see it's not 27%. It's 294% in favor of pursuing this feel good story with no idea of actual dollars or numbers.

No, look again it's now 537% in favor. We're gonna make 73:1 times our money back!

[CaptainCrunch]

Originally Posted by zarrell

The no campaign has reached near hysterical levels of panic and concern both here and elsewhere. I think they represent a small vocal minority as literally everyone I've asked has said they would vote yes. This vote passes with easily a 2/3 majority.

I could say the opposite, the majority of the social circle/family that I associate have said they're voting No, mainly because the whole process hasn't given them any faith that the bozo's in charge can pull this off. Also because it seems that there's a lot of perceived dishonesty from the Yes side at City Hall and Bidco.


I think this is going to get voted down.

[GGG]

Originally Posted by Senator Clay Davis

Yeah this is total horse####. Arena funding is not part of the proposal. But the misinformation and propaganda campaign from the Yes side will be spinning into overdrive the next two weeks.

Not yet,

If it isn’t announced next week you will be correct that the people running this and flames management are incompetent

[OldDutch]

Originally Posted by Senator Clay Davis

Yeah this is total horse####. Arena funding is not part of the proposal. But the misinformation and propaganda campaign from the Yes side will be spinning into overdrive the next two weeks.

This is absolute hyperbole. Look we can argue about the vitality of the games but this whole tin foil hat stuff is getting insane.

When Don Braid of the Herald has to answer to people accusing him of personally profiting off a Yes vote hence his support this has gone into nutso mode.

The city needs an arena to host these games, the Flames need an arena to stay. It is a fit, not some crazy conspiracy.

[calgarygeologist]

Maybe I should know this already but is the Olympic vote the only issue on this ballot or are there other things as well? Is this a traditional vote with polling stations or is handled as a mail in or electronic ballot?

[Jiggy]

[bizaro86]

You'd think there might be a fit where ticket tax money for the arena could double as municipal contribution to the games to activate federal matching funds

[Swarly]

Originally Posted by zarrell

The no campaign has reached near hysterical levels of panic and concern both here and elsewhere. I think they represent a small vocal minority as literally everyone I've asked has said they would vote yes. This vote passes with easily a 2/3 majority.

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

I could say the opposite, the majority of the social circle/family that I associate have said they're voting No, mainly because the whole process hasn't given them any faith that the bozo's in charge can pull this off. Also because it seems that there's a lot of perceived dishonesty from the Yes side at City Hall and Bidco.


I think this is going to get voted down.

ditto here among my family, friends, and co-workers there is about 6:1 on the no side.

not getting the "near-hysterical levels of panic" comment either. Have yet to see or hear anyone on the no side rant about it, usually just a "nope, don't like the deal we're getting" vs the yes side that I see spouting off impassioned pleas of logical ignorance. But then I'm not actively seeking out or following on social media or anything, just what I read here and what I hear downtown around work.

[MoneyGuy]

I’m predicting a no vote, too. Sixty per cent is my guess.

[getbak]

Originally Posted by calgarygeologist

Maybe I should know this already but is the Olympic vote the only issue on this ballot or are there other things as well? Is this a traditional vote with polling stations or is handled as a mail in or electronic ballot?

Same as voting in the municipal election (although, not necessarily the same location -- so check where you have to vote). This is the only issue being voted on. It will be a simple YES or NO question.

[jayswin]

Originally Posted by Red Slinger

I find it interesting that so many people claim to be fiscally conservative are totally on board with what is essentially a blank cheque from the City.

I'm on the fence. I'd like to know who pays for the cost overruns? I'd also like confirmation of facilities will be built rather than assuming that there will be a new arena.

"Fiscal conservatives" as a general rule aren't actually fiscally conservative. They just don't want their money going to other citizens.

In fact it's because of taxes helping lower income families/mentally ill/injured/sick that wealthy citizens want things like hockey arenas/events etc, because they feel like it's personal value for their tax dollars. Something they get to enjoy.

[calgarygeologist]

Originally Posted by getbak

Same as voting in the municipal election (although, not necessarily the same location -- so check where you have to vote). This is the only issue being voted on. It will be a simple YES or NO question.

Seems like such a waste of resources. I would think that something like this would be better served as a mail in ballot or a test run of electronic voting. At the very least couldn't the city at least put some additional questions on the ballot to get data on various issues?

[craigwd]

Originally Posted by gasman

At this point very little detailed planning has gone into what actually needs to be done for renovations or new facilities, sure they have some broad understanding of the projects they need to do, but they aren't in a position to have a firm estimate for the work.

Contingency isn't a slush fund for going over budget. It is an amount that is included in all estimates that is expected to be spent, it just hasn't been allocated to a specific cost bin. Including contingency this estimate is at best +/- 50%.

Absolutely untrue.

The Bidco budget was built by asking the venue managers what needs to be done and having them create the estimates. Similarly the security budget was built by asking CPS and RCMP to create their own estimated costs based on previous events.

As for the contingency fund, that is for unforseen spending on top of those budgets. It does not get used if not needed.

[Frequitude]

Anyone who votes down billions of dollars of someone else’s money being spent in our city can move to Edmonton.

Hopefully the no side is just a noisy minority.

[Hockeyguy15]

Originally Posted by Frequitude

Anyone who votes down billions of dollars of someone else’s money being spent in our city can move to Edmonton.

Hopefully the no side is just a noisy minority.

But it is your money, all of it except for the IOC portion. Where do you think the money from the 3 levels of government comes from?