2026 Olympics- Calgary votes no- 56%

[Snuffleupagus]

This was expected, when most of the people voting didn't even know for sure where the ski events would be held or if freakin Edmonton would get some hockey games in their new shiny arena you know even civic pride couldn't make this popular.

Just my opinion but I think Calgarians would have said yes with total transparency, the games 100% held in Calgary/Canmore and new pro arena builds, even if it meant another 1.5 billion.

[Dion]

Originally Posted by transplant99

10:1 ROI

Mic drop.

[Frank MetaMusil]

Calgary votes down tax increase. Finally.

A part of me still thinks they will try to ram it home without provincial funding.

As said above, I would have voted yes with the Flames kicking in some funds for a new rink.

[Boreal]

Originally Posted by Frank MetaMusil

Calgary votes down tax increase. Finally.

A part of me still thinks they will try to ram it home without provincial funding.

As said above, I would have voted yes with the Flames kicking in some funds for a new rink.

Hahahaha.... that’s a laugh a minute. Suddenly all the infrastructure and services will repair and pay for themselves. Calgary’s taxes are a bargain. I’ve never paid less and received more.

Enjoy paying less tax collectively and getting nickled and dimed.

Best of luck getting a new rink, that is pure corporate welfare.

I can’t wait to see how that flies in the face of this populism whirlwind.

[GreenLantern2814]

Originally Posted by nobles_point

Hahahaha.... that’s a laugh a minute. Suddenly all the infrastructure and services will repair and pay for themselves. Calgary’s taxes are a bargain. I’ve never paid less and received more.

Enjoy paying less tax collectively and getting nickled and dimed.

Best of luck getting a new rink, that is pure corporate welfare.

I can’t wait to see how that flies in the face of this populism whirlwind.

Don't you get it, man? We gotta take care of the homeless!!

[Frank MetaMusil]

Originally Posted by nobles_point

Hahahaha.... that’s a laugh a minute. Suddenly all the infrastructure and services will repair and pay for themselves. Calgary’s taxes are a bargain. I’ve never paid less and received more.

Enjoy paying less tax collectively and getting nickled and dimed.

Best of luck getting a new rink, that is pure corporate welfare.

I can’t wait to see how that flies in the face of this populism whirlwind.

I'm being honest, laugh all you want.

The Flames adding a cut to the bid was a huge positive in my view and would have swayed my vote.

Banter on about infrastructure though, by all means.

[Boreal]

Originally Posted by Frank MetaMusil

I'm being honest, laugh all you want.

The Flames adding a cut to the bid was a huge positive in my view and would have swayed my vote.

Banter on about infrastructure though, by all means.

Right. Because this is about you. I forgot.

[Frank MetaMusil]

Originally Posted by nobles_point

Right. Because this is about you. I forgot.

I got to vote, so yes it is.

[SebC]

Why vote no? If you needed to vote with your wallet, just take a holiday during the Olympics and rent out whatever property you're paying tax on.

[Ozy_Flame]

Originally Posted by N-E-B

Hosting would have been cool but let’s be honest, we are not and never will be a world class city. New York, Los Angeles, Tokyo, London... THOSE are world class cities. What the hell does “world class city” even mean and why do people care? This is still a great place to live and it will be in the future. I couldn’t care less if some hack from somewhere else thinks we’re world class or nor.

Thats not the worst thing to aim for, Olympics or not. Heck I still think Calgary isn't in the same tier as Vancouver/Toronto/Montreal, despite being measured with a high standard of living - as do most people when they think about Canada. When I'm out of the country I still have to explain that Calgary is in Western Canada and it's where Cool Runnings was filmed

[GirlySports]

People aren't afraid of tax hikes or dreams this was just a poor bid and the Olympics some feel are priced out of their range. The facilities improvements they will never use.

The 88 bid we got all the facilities and c train plus sport wasn't so expensive.

People forget the expo 2005 where we would have gotten more infrastructure.

This just did not have enough and was presented poorly. The yes ads over the last few weeks and flying in athletes turned some people off too.

[the_only_turek_fan]

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.

Originally Posted by oldschoolcalgary

There's nothing stopping Calgary from putting in another bid for a future olympics...

Will there be more competition? Maybe, the way bids are going, who knows if that's the case.

I am ok with a future bid.

Let's do it right and be transparent about it.

What killed this was changing security costs at 11:29 the night before the bid was going to be voted down and Trumpian style misinformation like the 10:1 return on investment.

[calf]

Originally Posted by the_only_turek_fan

I am ok with a future bid.

Let's do it right and be transparent about it.

What killed this was changing security costs at 11:29 the night before the bid was going to be voted down and Trumpian style misinformation like the 10:1 return on investment.

This, and the clear lack of co-ordination with all three levels of government. It was sloppy and disorganized. I had no trust in the process going forward. I love investing in and improving this city. I love the Olympics. This bid didn't do it for me but it was painful for me to vote no.

[Red Slinger]

I am disappointed but not really surprised at the result. I don't think the organizing committee did a good job but I also don't think they were as bad as some are painting them.

It seems to me a lot of the issues were around the messaging from the federal government. They came in very late to the process with their funding and them muddied the waters in terms of security costs. Really the only party that was consistent and accurate in the messaging throughout the whole process was the provincial government.

Even so, I think the games, even under this less-than-perfect proposal would have been a net positive for the city. I think a lot of people that voted did so strictly for financial (ie. tax) reasons and they lost the forest through the trees.

[Ozy_Flame]

Originally Posted by GirlySports

The facilities improvements they will never use.

You don't think Calgarians would have used a new Field House (much like any other rec centre in the City) or an upgraded MacMahon? Personally I think those are the kinds of projects Calgarians would enjoy.

[flambers]

Really disappointed however I am not surprised.

Lack of information was a huge issue, the whole process was a mess

Committee and the City did an extremely poor job in my view.

Simply ran out of time

[Hockeyguy15]

Originally Posted by Bunk

Indeed it was very bad. They got obliterated by Councillor Gondek shortly after.

My post-mortem:

Extremely late breaking deal was fatal. No controlled narrative (In extremely long exploratory phase) because yes (which were qualified on having a deal) sat on the sidelines for a long time waiting. When it did come together at one minute to midnight. It was bungled. A lot of trust lost. The deal was good, I think it would have been a yes (or closer to yes) had the deal come together much earlier and more smoothly.

Not enough shiny balls. I maintained that an arena contingent on yes, would have swung things. BidCo insisted that this would have run afoul of the movement toward 80%+ recycled venues. But is was the paradox of the bid - not a lot of new stuff, but still a pretty high price tag.

Other unforced errors (like above video) and several others.

You pretty much hit the nail on the head with this.

[GirlySports]

Originally Posted by Ozy_Flame

You don't think Calgarians would have used a new Field House (much like any other rec centre in the City) or an upgraded MacMahon? Personally I think those are the kinds of projects Calgarians would enjoy.

At what cost. I go to Westside Rec. Membership is $740 per year. That priced out of many people range. I gave it due to fitness spending at work.

[Erick Estrada]

I voted yes but can't ignore how half-assed the plan was with Edmonton, Whistler, etc hosting some of the events and trotting out band-aid money wasting on McMahon stadium and building a 5k seat arena that nobody asked for. Nenshi and the other people organizing this bid are simply is a little out of touch with people's expectations of hosting an event like this. If you aren't going to use a lot of the federal funding on new legacy facilities it's going to be a hard sell. Go big or go home really as it just felt like they were trying to organize the poor-man's Winter Olympics.

[Salt Water Cowboy #10]

So had the city voted yes, then the olympics would be bid on? No gaurantee that we would’ve got the games?

My take is this is like a student getting out of university with huge debt to pay. But then going out and buying a new pimped out mustang. He’d gain some popularity and have some fun, but a few years down the road he still has huge debt. Debt that will now take longer to pay off. I know it’s a very conservative analogy, but we need to solve the problems here in the city before we create new ones