2026 Olympics- Calgary votes no- 56%

[OMG!WTF!]

It can't be worse than where the Alouettes play. It looks like there's a college intramural team waiting under the bleachers for their turn on the field.

[Wiggum_PI]

Originally Posted by WhiteTiger

Ok...time to ask a dumb question. I looked that link over, and was curious as to how the votes broke down at the place I voted at was.

I live in Ward 10.

I voted at the Genesis Centre in Ward 5.

I don't see the Genesis Centre in either of those Wards as a place one can vote. Or is that the "Falconridge/Castleridge" 'voting station' (506)

Yeah, it must be the Falconridge one. Unless you voted in Advance, they show those results separately.

[CPK80]

Also Ward 7 would of been a yes if you don't count the Advance polls... the more central stations had higher yes numbers.

[CliffFletcher]

Originally Posted by transplant99

How anyone can claim that McMahon is "fine" for anything is beyond me. It is a complete and utter dump. It also doesn't need a bunch of money spent putting lipstick on it. It needs to be replaced...full stop.

...Really all this talk has nothing to do with the Olympic bid though.

But it does. Yes supporters talk about how the Games would have been a boon to Calgary's international image. But these would have been the first 'budget' Olympics. Media coverage of Olympics has been getting gradually more critical anyway - Vancouver was roasted pretty bad by the international press. And that was with all new shiny facilities.

Now imagine thousands of cynical international journalists converging on McMahon frickin' stadium for the opening ceremony. And attending events at the Big Four. They would have had a field day. I can see the headlines already. Calgary would not have come out of these cut-rate budget games looking good, regardless of how cheerful and friendly the volunteers were.

[Ozy_Flame]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

My point is it probably isn't gong to fall over any time soon, though I'm not a man-made rock engineer.

I would hope we can strive for better in Calgary than settle for "not fall over"

[Senator Clay Davis]

Originally Posted by Ozy_Flame

I would hope we can strive for better in Calgary than settle for "not fall over"

Unless you got a couple hundred million lying around, settling will have to be good enough for now.

[CPK80]

I also checked Ward 9 and 11... They had some yes polling stations, all inner city.

So it looks like that it was Inner City Yes... Suburbs No...

[Ozy_Flame]

Originally Posted by Senator Clay Davis

Unless you got a couple hundred million lying around, settling will have to be good enough for now.

Province and the Feds offered that, but we said no

[Senator Clay Davis]

Originally Posted by Ozy_Flame

Province and the Feds offered that, but we said no

To a reno that even most Yes supporters weren't thrilled about, and that solidified others as a no because what was the point. As others have said, lipstick on a pig

[CPK80]

For someone that only goes to a few CFL games... Excluding the concourse, what is the issue with McMahon when in the seats watching the game? Is the structure that bad you would need to tear the whole thing down and build a new one?

[GGG]

Originally Posted by CPK80

For someone that only goes to a few CFL games... Excluding the concourse, what is the issue with McMahon when in the seats watching the game? Is the structure that bad you would need to tear the whole thing down and build a new one?

Nothing. McMahon has the best site lines across all price levels. The benches at the top in the middle are the best Value in the CFL.

[Ozy_Flame]

Originally Posted by Senator Clay Davis

To a reno that even most Yes supporters weren't thrilled about, and that solidified others as a no because what was the point. As others have said, lipstick on a pig

If we're going to continue using it, I would rather it has an injection of cash on hand to make it better - lest we get a full privately-funded facility, which is what people want but will never get.

[CliffFletcher]

Originally Posted by Wiggum_PI

Vote results by Ward are available now if anyone is interested.

http://vote2018.calgary.ca/Vote-2018-results.html

Those results seem to support the socioeconomic hypothesis. Mount Royal, Elboya, Altadore, and Garrison Woods with big Yes majorities. Bowness, Dover, Erin Woods, Marlborough overwhelmingly No.

[Senator Clay Davis]

Originally Posted by Ozy_Flame

If we're going to continue using it, I would rather it has an injection of cash on hand to make it better - lest we get a full privately-funded facility, which is what people want but will never get.

That was sort of the problem the Yes side couldn't solve: How do you entice people to vote Yes when they are voting, in effect, for a Value Village Olympics? It seems strange to think spending more would have helped, but a lot of people rationalized it as "If you're going to spend all this, why not spend more to get what we want?". People are shallow of course, the flashy items would have driven more people to Yes than a fieldhouse or Winsport.

[Ozy_Flame]

Originally Posted by Senator Clay Davis

That was sort of the problem the Yes side couldn't solve: How do you entice people to vote Yes when they are voting, in effect, for a Value Village Olympics? It seems strange to think spending more would have helped, but a lot of people rationalized it as "If you're going to spend all this, why not spend more to get what we want?". People are shallow of course, the flashy items would have driven more people to Yes than a fieldhouse or Winsport.

Well the question I would have for No voters is, what do we do with McMahon and other facilities now that the easiest path to fix these places has evaporated?

It would seem paradoxical that people voted No because they wanted more lavish and high-quality facilities (no Value Village Olympics) without having spiraling costs.

[transplant99]

Originally Posted by Roughneck

Toronto and Hamilton got their stadiums in part because of FIFA events and the PanAm Games. Maybe we could do something like that...

Had they included a real new arena and a stadium, i suspect the vote would have been completely the opposite.

This was the trailer park boys version of things and was presented as something else. People saw through the BS that civic leaders and those in Bidco and associated action committees were selling. Spend upwards of 5 billion dollars and get a new.....fieldhouse and a 5,000 seat arena that would have no anchor tenant?

Brilliant.

[Senator Clay Davis]

Originally Posted by Ozy_Flame

Well the question I would have for No voters is, what do we do with McMahon and other facilities now that the easiest path to fix these places has evaporated?

It would seem paradoxical that people voted No because they wanted more lavish and high-quality facilities (no Value Village Olympics) without having spiraling costs.

Of course it does. People are usually hypocrites so not shocking is it? But how many times did you hear from a No voter that "We don't even get an arena for all that money!". People wanted something that they perceived as being "worth" hosting the Olympics. And unfortunately McMahon renos and a fieldhouse weren't that. I think if you asked the Yes people right now what is the one thing you'd do again, and finding a way to squeeze the arena in would be it. Might have made the difference.

But when it comes to Winsport and the other stuff used for athletes for training, it seems to me Sport Canada should be stepping up with funding there. They need athletes to train somewhere and Calgary is already the existing base. Makes more sense to me for them to kick in money for the facilities here than building new ones elsewhere. That is, unless, they don't think it's worth funding these things for whatever reason they deem.

[OMG!WTF!]

I don't think the Yes side really understands that the province of BC covering any and all cost over runs for the Vancouver Olympics is very different than the government of Alberta definitely saying they will not cover anything more than the 700 million they agreed to spend. That's a hard no right of the bat. I'm not sure I'd love sending Calgary taxes to Whistler.


Also, the one thing we really need for 370 million is flood mitigation. We're going to look pretty stupid bailing out our fancy new library next spring.

[Ozy_Flame]

Originally Posted by Senator Clay Davis

Of course it does. People are usually hypocrites so not shocking is it? But how many times did you hear from a No voter that "We don't even get an arena for all that money!".

Honestly not nearly as much as "IOC is corrupt", "my taxes" and "too much money spent", but I hear you.

[Senator Clay Davis]

Originally Posted by Ozy_Flame

Honestly not nearly as much as "IOC is corrupt", "my taxes" and "too much money spent", but I hear you.

And that's what's kind of unique about the No vote here. It wasn't like there was one unified message as to why people voted No, there were a bunch of reasons. I guess I'd say the common theme running through them all was anger.