2026 Olympics- Calgary votes no- 56%

[Barnes]

Originally Posted by GirlySports

For that two week bump yes.
But not after that.

An entertainment district would be better.

It’s not either/or and fact is tonight, tomorrow and for the foreseeable future we have neither.

This makes things harder for the Flames. There is no parking revenue, the Stampede won’t give that up. There are no bonds, the City isn’t allowed to issue bonds. Ticket taxes have their limits, see KK’S PowerPoints.

The entertainment district and new arena is further away tonight then it was yesterday. Those magical nights at Senor Frogs or Toby Keith’s I Love this Bar and Grill are a long way off.

[nik-]

Originally Posted by chemgear

Would it be offside to ask a mod if it is possible to break down the poll numbers of Users who have just joined in the last year (or six months).

I'm genuinely interested at the bots/false accounts that might have been deployed here.

Russia, if you're listening, I really hope you can find those 30000 votes for the Olympic bid. I'm sure you'll be highly rewarded by Bidco.

[GirlySports]

Originally Posted by Roughneck

Well it can't be, because that would require more money going to an arena than the city proposed to give for the Olympics.

Already a part of the proposal, so no you can't.

Not the city's to give, but I'll come back to this in a bit.

No, there isn't.

Where did an entertainment district come from and how is it getting funded now? And more importantly, what parking is being given as a share when the area is developed (into an entertainment district)?

I'm thinking of ticket tax, parking tax congestion tax, bonds I was a promising to thunderball that it does not all have to be taxpayers dollars. More can be put on the arena user.

Add 25 cents to each heroin beer goes to the arena?

[Jbo]

Originally Posted by Ozy_Flame

So JT and Notley basically offer Calgary free money to help upgrade/build 11 facilities and we say no.

That was probably the only time we're going to get offered free money to see actual tangible benefits in the City, and we said no.

Now that money from Sport Canada is probably going to get spent elsewhere in the country since Calgary doesn't want it.

And Calgary is still on the hook to upgrade/build most of those facilities, but we have now chosen to do it alone.

I honestly don't know what to say other than I am disappointed right now, but honestly not really surprised.

In Edmonton no less.

[TheSutterDynasty]

A lot of petty people on the 'yes' side.

Retrospective research/analysis has shown little economic or tourism benefit from hosting. I would have loved to have the Olympics, but this bid wasn't even up to those prior standards. We would be eating the costs without an appreciable upgrade in infrastructure.

And I watch the Olympics every hour I'm awake when it's on. Gotta vote with your head, not your heart.

[kevman]

Originally Posted by burn_this_city

I'd like to join your inner city biodome. Apparently you are off the grid in the middle of the city, impressive.

All our welcome. It involves funding things that help benefit others - are you OK with that?

[Looch City]

Oh and we forgot, that was our ONE chance to finally become a...World Class City.

Dammit Calgary.

[nik-]

Originally Posted by Iggy City

Oh and we forgot, that was our ONE chance to finally become a...World Class City.

Dammit Calgary.

Calgary will never be a world class city. Olympics wouldn't make a difference in that at all. Calm down.

[PepsiFree]

Originally Posted by TheScorpion

Is Rio not in the West? Because that's a more recent example than either of the two you mention and yet it ballooned to an enormous cost that I certainly would not be willing to swallow as a taxpayer.

Also, what are these differences you mention? This question comes out of genuine curiosity.

Fair point, I guess look at it this way: what cities does Calgary, Canada, have the most in common with, in infrastructure, government, and industry? Brazil? Japan? Russia? or... Canada? England? The US?

The structure and funding method of the games in places like Brazil and Russia, two horribly corrupt and insane countries, is much different that in Canada or England.

I totally agree that the IOC is suspect, and there would almost certainly be overruns, but you’re using the most extreme examples in recent history, not the ones that are the best comparable.

[browna]

Originally Posted by Hes

City needs to save face. I bet the Arena and entertainment district is done now. This may work out good for the Flames.

Nenshi likely wants a legacy, and waving the Olympic flag in Beijing in less than 4 years was likely high on the list. And there is no entertainment district in the east village of any scale without an arena...and the East Village itself needs that centerpiece.

So we will see if he makes push to make that happen and, if he can get many of the social media driven, publicity conscious, weak kneed city councillors to go along with him.

[chemgear]

Originally Posted by RoadGame

https://www.bbc.com/sport/olympics/20041426

The London 2012 games were delivered under budget and the same advisors who helped bring that about were supporting BidCo.

Man the No side really worked themselves into a lather. What a shame.

I believe that they moved the goal posts.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...bn-budget.html

The Government yesterday issued a glowing report on the Olympics coming in under budget – despite the cost being almost four times the original estimate.

Olympics Minister Hugh Robertson said it was a ‘significant achievement’ that spending on the 2012 Games was expected to come in £476million under its £9.3billion budget.

But his boast was declared ‘disingenuous’ by critics, who pointed to the initial estimate of £2.4billion made by the Labour Government when London won the bid in 2005.


EDIT: So yeah, if Bidco had the help of these guys . . . 400% of their original budget is . . . kinda bad?

[TheScorpion]

Originally Posted by Roughneck

Not really, no.

Basically NATO, Australia and New Zealand make up 'the West'.

Seems like a rather exclusive definition, but if that's the generally accepted answer, I'll concede. I'm in school, I'm learning.

I'll admit perhaps some emotional hyperbole in the excitement of hearing that my supported side won the day. I'm still inherently against the excessive use of taxpayer money for unnecessary spectacles. Civic pride isn't a good enough reason for me to justify the spending of billions. And as people have pointed out, London went massively over-budget as well as Rio, so it's not like this is exclusive to non-Western Olympics.

I don't really come out of this with a great impression of Nenshi, either. I get the sense that he was really looking for one more swing at an enormous legacy project in his likely final term without really looking out for the best interests of his citizens.

[Dion]

Originally Posted by Yoho

Would have loved to have this same vote on the downtown library, or Farrell’s bridges.

You should move to High River then. All we have is aging infrastructure that is beyond it's best before date. To put it bluntly, nothing gets built here

[Yoho]

Originally Posted by kevman

All our welcome. It involves funding things that help benefit others - are you OK with that?

Throw in a new arena and field house and you got a deal.

[Roughneck]

Originally Posted by GirlySports

I'm thinking of ticket tax, parking tax congestion tax, bonds I was a promising to thunderball that it does not all have to be taxpayers dollars. More can be put on the arena user.

Add 25 cents to each heroin beer goes to the arena?

The Flames see any ticket tax/surcharge that takes away from their potential revenues as their contribution. They aren't going to accept anything that simply increases their contribution. That was the main sticking point of the deal that had 1/3 of the arena paid for by a ticket tax.

[Wormius]

Originally Posted by TheScorpion

The Tokyo 2020 Olympics were projected to cost $7 billion at the time of their approval.

They now are projected to cost $25 billion. https://globalnews.ca/news/4531547/t...osts-increase/

The IOC is dangerous and we cannot allow ourselves to affiliate with them. This isn't a one-off, either -- costs at Rio and Sochi ballooned way out of proportion.

I think the question is why are these games going over budget? Is it unique to each host city? That just sounds like poor planning. Tokyo apparently neglected to include the Paralympic portion of the games somehow. People point to cost overruns, buy I don’t see any huge reasons why ours would have. Unless somehow during construction we found an ancient Viking burial ground and had to move an entire venue or something. It boggles my mind how it could ever get to where something could cost the city a fortune in unexpected costs.

[Kaine]

Originally Posted by nieuwy-89

Unfortunate results. Very short-sighted by Calgarians. Lost a chance to become a relevant City again. Calgary is post-apex.

AKA, everyone that didn't agree with how I voted is wrong. Damned be the reasons!


It has been proven (scroll up for some interesting articles) about how hosting the Olympics creates relevancy for all of a few months before returning to normal or declining.

[DiracSpike]

Originally Posted by Roughneck

"Remember that proposal we couldn't agree to before. Well what if we increased the scope but also lowered the public dollars going into it. Interested?"

You seriously don't think there was an avenue to getting an arena deal done with the Olympics?

Including CSEC kicking in some funds for a new arena and/or stadium would have given this bid the boot in the ass to push it over the finish line. No niche upgrades to Nakisha and Big 4 or whatever else, money for a real arena and field house and this thing passes easily.

Whether that's on the BidCo or CSEC I don't know. The whole thing is a shame really.

[Northendzone]

I was a hard no for the longest time, and I voted yes.

I am surprised that the result was the opposite of the CP poll.

It will be interesting to see if this goes any further or if it is a dead stop. And of course it will be interesting to see if some kind of arena deal can grow from these ashes.

I also wonder, if this vote is s9me type of commentary on nenshi’s future as mayor.

[Mephisto]

Originally Posted by GirlySports

I'm thinking of ticket tax, parking tax congestion tax, bonds I was a promising to thunderball that it does not all have to be taxpayers dollars. More can be put on the arena user.

Add 25 cents to each heroin beer goes to the arena?

So basically your asking the Flames to increase their contribution? That’s how they would characterize these ideas.