Should Calgary Bid on the 2026 Olympics

[CaptainYooh]

Originally Posted by Weitz

Am I right that the plebiscite is non-binding?

What the hell is the point of it if its non-binding?

If the public vote is really close, then Council would actually have the authority to vote and make a decision based on the fact that the public is split on it. Say, vote is 51/49 but only 20% of all eligible voters voted. Still gives them a whiff of where people are on the issue, but leaves them freedom to govern. Kinda makes sense.

[Senator Clay Davis]

Originally Posted by CaptainYooh

If the public vote is really close, then Council would actually have the authority to vote and make a decision based on the fact that the public is split on it. Say, vote is 51/49 but only 20% of all eligible voters voted. Still gives them a whiff of where people are on the issue, but leaves them freedom to govern. Kinda makes sense.

Problem with this is we know the following two scenarios will not produce similar responses:

If the YES vote wins 51-49, Nenshi and council will say the public has been properly consulted, and that the vote shows the will of the people

If the NO vote wins 51-49, Nenshi and council will likely override the vote, claiming that turnout was far too low to make an accurate assessment.

And there's the real problem with this process. For many in council (and Nenshi in particular), this is their "legacy" project, and we all know how much politicians cream in their jeans when there are "legacy" projects involved. So the rather hollow process we're watching unfold feels like a way to satisfy the basics of "public consultation", but that the fix is basically already in. This process has been basically as #### as CalgaryNEXT, except the politicians happen to be on board this time.

[DiracSpike]

And a lot more expensive than CalgaryNext. For a ten day event instead of 40 year buildings.

[4X4]

The idea that the winter games could be held in the same (but different) cities in a kind of circuit sounds nice and all, but I don't really buy the idea that the things that get built for the 2026 games are going to still be usable for the next time we're up. Even if there were only 7 cities in this Olympic circuit, it'd be 28 years between hostings. A lot changes in 28 years in sports. New sports emerge, other ones die, technology in equipment advances pretty fast, etc. The ski jumps and the arena being obsolete in the span of 38 years is something to consider, as they are two of the most expensive costs to hosting.

That whole angle really sounds like a car salesman trying to sell me a really expensive car, from a questionable brand, and telling me the car is so great that my unborn children will still be able to use it.

[getbak]

The way I see it, a No majority will kill it, but a Yes majority won't necessarily not kill it.

Keep in mind that all the previous votes from Council have been close, mostly 9-6 or 10-5 votes to continue. All it takes to stop it is 2 Councillors flipping, and at least two of the previous Yes votes have indicated that they won't support continuing the process if there's a No majority.

All it takes is for 2 of: Woolley, Sutherland, Carra, Colley-Urquhart, Jones, Davison, Keating, Chahal, or Nenshi to switch their votes and it will be dead.

Regardless of your opinions of Nenshi and any thoughts that he'll push this through no matter what, I don't think he'll be able to prevent at least two of those other Councillors from flipping if there is a No majority vote. If two flip, I think they all will because I don't think anyone wants to be seen as the person who went against the will of the people and still lost.

On the other hand, I think with even an overwhelming Yes majority vote, we wouldn't see people like Farrell, Farkas, or Chu switch sides. They'll gladly stick to their guns and proclaim "I told you so" anytime anything Olympic-related hits any snags.



As far as the whole "legacy" issue is concerned. No one remembers the person who wrote the cheque. Everyone remembers the person who cut the ribbon. Which mayor do people associate with the Peace Bridge? The one who was mayor when it was approved, or the one who was mayor when it opened?

I will be extremely surprised if Nenshi is still the mayor in February 2026. There are still two municipal elections between now and then. I'll be surprised if he runs in the next election, let alone the one in 2025. Unless he is still mayor in 2026, the Olympics won't be considered his legacy any more than the 1988 Games are Ross Alger's legacy.

[Northendzone]

Originally Posted by Amethyst

I moved to Finland in 1990, and the one thing everyone said when they heard where I was from was about the Olympics.

If this is true, then i would consider spending as much as $10 billion so the average scandavian can tell newcomers that they have heard of calgary.

Seems reasonable for me to saddle a tax burden to several future generations for worldwide prestige. Tell nenshi I am all in now.....

[Northendzone]

As per the CTV news tonight:
. The IOC has now moved up thier deadline for making a decision by three months to June 2019
. The federal government has not indicated how much of our money they are willing to give
. The province will indicate very very soon how much of our money they are willing to give
. Nenshi says a million ballots have been printed (I guess kids and family pets are eligible to vote) and it would be hard to,postpone the plebiscite

All this side show needs is a guy with a music box and a dancing monkey

[Amethyst]

Originally Posted by Northendzone

As per the CTV news tonight:
. The IOC has now moved up thier deadline for making a decision by three months to June 2019
. The federal government has not indicated how much of our money they are willing to give
. The province will indicate very very soon how much of our money they are willing to give
. Nenshi says a million ballots have been printed (I guess kids and family pets are eligible to vote) and it would be hard to,postpone the plebiscite

All this side show needs is a guy with a music box and a dancing monkey

Great, my dogs have told me they are all on board!

[octothorp]

Originally Posted by Amethyst

Great, my dogs have told me they are all on board!

Your dogs have a more accepting attitude towards fireworks than mine, then.

[Northendzone]

So if the Japanese and their legendary efficiencies can’t get this right, then what chance does calagry have:

https://globalnews.ca/news/4531547/t...osts-increase/

Budget in 2013 $7 billion - current forecast cost $25 billion. They just missed the budget by a little bit.

[CaptainYooh]

Originally Posted by Senator Clay Davis

...
If the YES vote wins 51-49, Nenshi and council will say the public has been properly consulted, and that the vote shows the will of the people

If the NO vote wins 51-49, Nenshi and council will likely override the vote, claiming that turnout was far too low to make an accurate assessment...

Nenshi can't decide anything of this magnitude by himself; he needs Council's support. If Council members were keen on approving the bid, they could have done it already without too much consultation. The referendum will show the general mood of the general public. If voting split is 70/30 "yes', that would show a definitive bias and, I am certain, would give Council the necessary confidence to re-affirm their own "yes" decision. If it's 70/30 "no", that would move a couple of Councillors sitting on the fence to a "no" side and the motion will fail. Both 51/49 and 49/51 scenarios would show public's indecisiveness; thus, forcing the elected officials to do what THEY think is right. It's OK, that's how it should work. Much better than many awful decisions they make on their own. I wish we had this process for public art projects.

I do think the key to either decision is the amounts of Federal and Provincial contribution. It's like someone's offering us to do a full house renovation if only we would pay for the new windows and tolerate the temporary nuisance. The more money they are willing to pour onto Calgary, the more sense it makes for us to vote "yes", resoundingly. Especially, in this economy.

[GordonBlue]

Originally Posted by Northendzone

So if the Japanese and their legendary efficiencies can’t get this right, then what chance does calagry have:

https://globalnews.ca/news/4531547/t...osts-increase/

Budget in 2013 $7 billion - current forecast cost $25 billion. They just missed the budget by a little bit.

and that's the drum I've been banging while saying no.

no way Calgary get 'er dun for 5.3B
it's going to be over budget and they better be darn clear who is paying for it. If any overruns are all on the Calgary taxpayer, they deserve to know.

[DiracSpike]

Originally Posted by GordonBlue

and that's the drum I've been banging while saying no.

no way Calgary get 'er dun for 5.3B
it's going to be over budget and they better be darn clear who is paying for it. If any overruns are all on the Calgary taxpayer, they deserve to know.

The summer olympics are a bit of a different beast but the point still stands. Every Olympics goes over budget so what are the chances that our fearless leaders are the first ones in a while to get it right. What we're paying vs what we're actually getting out of it is already out of whack without the inevitable 50-100% cost overrun.

[Weitz]

Not sure the value on an internet poll, but CTV ran their "question of the day" on whether you support hosting the olympics, and 3200 people responded. 70% said no, 30% said yes.

[FlameOhutman]

Too bad the people who watch CTV and voted were the same ones who voted Yes in '88

[transplant99]

Originally Posted by FlameOhutman

Too bad the people who watch CTV and voted were the same ones who voted Yes in '88

LOL.

OK then.

Oh, and there wasn't a public vote in the years leading up to the 88 games.

[Northendzone]

Dang-nabbit, there were lots of things different in odd-8 than there are today.....

[GirlySports]

I did a mini poll at my work, about 100 people, and it was 70% no. Plus sources you guys have quoted, ctv, radio etc..

Could the yes side be the silent majority and the no side the loudmouths? Maybe but it doesnt look good for the bid. Especially if the prov and fed numbers dont come out in time.

Also what happens if on Nov 13 Calgary is the only bid left? Stockholm and Milan not looking so great either.

[getbak]

I don't think Stockholm or Milan will drop out that soon, unless they get a hard no from their governments. There is a real danger of one or both of them failing to get government guarantees by the January deadline though.

The guy from Games Bids has speculated that Salt Lake might step up to host if all three of the Candidate cities drop out before next June.


Also, here's the IOC Feasability Report for the four interested cities that was used to drop Erzurum from the running: https://stillmed.olympic.org/media/D...ANG-LO-RES.pdf



Despite denials to the contrary, the Turkish bid would have included re-using some venues in Sochi, and very low-capacity venues for other major events.

This is the first I've seen of any concrete plans for the Swedish and Italian bids.

It looks like all three bids have roughly the same amount of new construction required as well as similar levels of renovations to existing venues.

All three mention that the Games will be primarily privately funded, but of course, that's only if you ignore the public money required for security and essential services plus any funding for housing and venue construction/renovations.


If you exclude Whistler, which will only host a small number of events, the Calgary plan is the one with the closest venues. Milan and Cortina are 400km apart, with many venues located between the two cities. The Swedish plan will have the skiing events over 600km away from Stockholm and the sliding events will be in Latvia. The Calgary plan is the only one where a person could potentially watch hockey, skiing, speedskating, curling, and bobsleigh all on consecutive days without a significant amount of travel in between days.

[Joborule]

When you compare to the other bids, Calgary comes out the best purely on proximity of events. It truly is a Calgary olympics, rather than a Olympics with split venues throughout the region. So anything that gets built will benefit Calgarians for decades to come, and anything that's renovated will allow us to continue to benefit.

Another thing with possibly hosting, is that it could bring it additional funding for the greenline north component. There could be an appetite to build an airport connection, and with that, you'll want it to be able to connect with the greenline so people that want to take transit, could do so from the airport, straight to downtown. It's not part of the actual olympics costs, but could be a project that's funded in lieu of it.