2026 Olympics- Calgary votes no- 56%

[getbak]

Originally Posted by troutman

I don't quite understand the need of a Field House for winter sports. The proposal is the field house would be used for Figure Skating and Short-Track.

Why wouldn't figure skating be held in the Dome or new NHL arena? Why would they put the marquee event of the Games in a 5,000 seat arena?

Couldn't Short-Track be held in the Corral? The Oval? Max Bell?

I think Calgary needs a Field House, but not for winter sports.

Having figure skating and short track share a facility makes a lot of sense. There are enough gaps in the figure skating schedule that they can easily fit the short track events in the figure skating off-days. The two sports are highly compatible with each other. Putting them in different arenas doesn't solve anything.

As planned, the arena inside the field house will have a capacity of about 10,000. That is pretty small for figure skating, which has always been a big draw in Canada. The seating area will be mostly temporary seating, so they could potentially expand it if needed.


Realistically, this is a placeholder plan and figure skating and short track will be held in the Saddledome with hockey in the new arena. Unfortunately, there isn't a new arena deal in place right now, so they needed to put together a plan that works today that can be updated once the city and CSEC come to an agreement.


Once figure skating is moved out of the field house, they can move curling into it, which is likely why the venue is still TBD.


You are correct that the field house isn't really needed for winter sports, but by organizing it this way, it creates a funding plan for the field house, which city council hasn't been able to do for the last decade.

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by troutman

More on the future of the Corral:

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calga...sion-1.3497989

What went on in there was Historic.

[craigwd]

Originally Posted by oldschoolcalgary

not trying to provoke people, but couldn't calgary just apply for the 2030 olympics?

I see a lot of talk of 'once in a lifetime opportunity', but this occurs every four years... I voted no, not because i am against the Olympics, but i think that the costs haven't been clearly figured out and there's a high chance, IMO, that the costs people are basing their votes on are incorrect.

Yes but I would almost guarantee that if Bidco came out on Jan 1, 2020 and said "we are putting our bid in for 2030" several who are No right now, would bring up the exact same arguments to say No again.

And then there would have to be a bigger spend to upgrade facilities + fight possibly stronger bids from other cities.

[Senator Clay Davis]

Originally Posted by craigwd

Yes but I would almost guarantee that if Bidco came out on Jan 1, 2020 and said "we are putting our bid in for 2030" several who are No right now, would bring up the exact same arguments to say No again.

And then there would have to be a bigger spend to upgrade facilities + fight possibly stronger bids from other cities.

Or the economic conditions of the city and province could be better, and that might make people more receptive to hosting. The only thing that makes 2026 unique is there are zero bids worth taking seriously, and if Calgary approves its bid, flawed as the bid is, it would be the surest thing for the IOC.

[oldschoolcalgary]

Originally Posted by craigwd

Yes but I would almost guarantee that if Bidco came out on Jan 1, 2020 and said "we are putting our bid in for 2030" several who are No right now, would bring up the exact same arguments to say No again.

And then there would have to be a bigger spend to upgrade facilities + fight possibly stronger bids from other cities.

there's people on either side that are set for No and for Yes... regardless of the information put in front of them.

for the middle group of voters, i think that they can be persuaded one way or the other...

costs naturally go up based purely on inflation anyways, a four year time difference isn't going to make the costs jump substantially if its still an apples to apples comparison.

i am interested to see how many people vote and what the count ends up being

[Hackey]

Originally Posted by Senator Clay Davis

Or the economic conditions of the city and province could be better, and that might make people more receptive to hosting. The only thing that makes 2026 unique is there are zero bids worth taking seriously, and if Calgary approves its bid, flawed as the bid is, it would be the surest thing for the IOC.

The fact that only 2 cities are even bidding is pretty telling to me. I'd almost rather see no one get them and have the IOC actually make some changes so that the games aren't just a money grab. Actually use them as a way to benefit the cities who invest so much into them.

[Wormius]

I am not sure what the situation is for other cities that dropped out. Maybe their respective countries wouldn't support the fund the bids like Alberta/Canada are. Somebody else might have information about whether that's the case or not.

[Ozy_Flame]

Originally Posted by Hackey

The fact that only 2 cities are even bidding is pretty telling to me. I'd almost rather see no one get them and have the IOC actually make some changes so that the games aren't just a money grab. Actually use them as a way to benefit the cities who invest so much into them.

Only two other cities bid on the Calgary '88 Olympics as well, both from Sweden and Italy - coincidentally. Cortina in Italy also bid in 1988. Would be hilarious to beat them twice!

[Joborule]

Originally Posted by Wormius

I am not sure what the situation is for other cities that dropped out. Maybe their respective countries wouldn't support the fund the bids like Alberta/Canada are. Somebody else might have information about whether that's the case or not.

Calgary is definitely getting the most amount of support from the higher governmental positions. Funding wise, everything is aligned with Calgary's bid, whereas the other candidate cities are trying to lobby for it.

[Senator Clay Davis]

Both the Italy multi-city and Stockholm bids claim they have 100% private financing, which seems highly dubious. IOC might not want to rob cities blind anymore, but I can't imagine they'd pass up a government backed bid over the unknown of a private financed bid.

[craigwd]

Originally Posted by Hackey

The fact that only 2 cities are even bidding is pretty telling to me. I'd almost rather see no one get them and have the IOC actually make some changes so that the games aren't just a money grab. Actually use them as a way to benefit the cities who invest so much into them.

At one point I believe there were 8 or 9 cities bidding but for various reasons and opposition they dropped to the current 3.

[Hackey]

Originally Posted by Ozy_Flame

Only two other cities bid on the Calgary '88 Olympics as well, both from Sweden and Italy - coincidentally. Cortina in Italy also bid in 1988. Would be hilarious to beat them twice!

2002 had 9 bids
2006 had 6 bids
2010 had 7 bids
2014 had 7 bids
2018 had 3 bids
2022 had 2 bids
2026 has 2 potential bids

Seems like a trend. The summer Olympics have a very similar trend.

[Senator Clay Davis]

Originally Posted by Travis Munroe

Is 13,000 high? I figured it was quiet when my polling station was a library with less than 180 votes in not long ago.

Sorry for not getting back to this, but we're already ahead of the last municipal election as far as votes cast, including advanced and mail-in.

[Ozy_Flame]

Originally Posted by Hackey

2002 had 9 bids
2006 had 6 bids
2010 had 7 bids
2014 had 7 bids
2018 had 3 bids
2022 has 2 potential bids

Seems like a trend. The summer Olympics have a very similar trend.

That's somewhat disingenuous. 2022 originally had 6 bids (including Stockholm, making a bid in 2026), and 2026 originally had 7. Cities withdrew, but I am not sure of the context of each withdrawal. An average of 6.4 interested cities per Games.

[Hackey]

Originally Posted by Ozy_Flame

That's somewhat disingenuous. 2022 originally had 6 bids (including Stockholm, making a bid in 2026), and 2026 originally had 7. Cities withdrew, but I am not sure of the context of each withdrawal. An average of 6.4 interested cities per Games.

The way I understand it is if you drop out then you didn't actually bid. So we haven't actually bid yet.

[Bunk]

In talking to people today - there definitely seems to be a late breaking yes sentiment among undecideds. Yes will need big turnout today as I think the advance skewed no.

[Ozy_Flame]

Originally Posted by Hackey

The way I understand it is if you drop out then you didn't actually bid. So we haven't actually bid yet.

Regarding 2026 specifically, 3 cities made it to the Bid stage, 7 cities were involved in the Dialogue stage, and 14 cities around the world explored the possibility of bidding, including previously-hosting Olympic cities Lillehammer, Barcelona, Innsbruck, Lake Placid, and Salt Lake City.

[Fire]

Originally Posted by craigwd

Yes but I would almost guarantee that if Bidco came out on Jan 1, 2020 and said "we are putting our bid in for 2030" several who are No right now, would bring up the exact same arguments to say No again.

And then there would have to be a bigger spend to upgrade facilities + fight possibly stronger bids from other cities.

Salt Lake City would be the heavy favourites in 2030. Calgary would just be wasting money bidding for it. On the other hand bidding for the 2026 Olympics almost guarantees victory.

[Roughneck]

Originally Posted by getbak

I think too many people are trying to fit the Yes and No sides into little boxes, which I don't think works in this situation.

You just have to look at the split on Council, you have Farrell, Chu, and Farkas heavily on the No side, with folks like Carra, Jones, and DCU on the Yes side. Those aren't groups that are typically on the same sides on Council.

The same is true in the media, of course Rick Bell is opposed because Rick Bell opposes everything, but Don Braid is a prototypical old white guy and he's a supporter.

So far the only thing I've seen that you could put people into boxes for (based on no actual data, just what I've seen) is that parents with young kids seem to be a much higher proportion for yes, and young couples with no kids seem to be trending no.



Other than that it's been all over the place.

[Hackey]

Originally Posted by Ozy_Flame

Regarding 2026 specifically, 3 cities made it to the Bid stage, 7 cities were involved in the Dialogue stage, and 14 cities around the world explored the possibility of bidding, including previously-hosting Olympic cities Lillehammer, Barcelona, Innsbruck, Lake Placid, and Salt Lake City.

No city has actually bid yet. There are 3 cities who might bid. Stockholm sounds highly unlikely. So regardless of supposed interest the number of cities who actually bid has been steadily declining.