Should Calgary Bid on the 2026 Olympics

[transplant99]

Originally Posted by RM14

Out of the 8hrs of yesterdays council session, Sutherland had the most valuable statement. He called for each and every Calgarian to look at the facts themselves, question the messenger, and don't believe every tweet.

Its becoming increasingly difficult to know what the facts are though.

The lack of transparency, the 11th hour changes/fudging of numbers, al of it clouds what's real and what isn't. It takes a lot of critical thinking to get to that point and i don't believe there is enough time nor information for that to occur. Hence, this is being rammed through regardless of plebiscite votes (unless its a landslide no) IMO.

The funny thing is that when this was first being contemplated, i was quite excited at the prospect of experiencing another games in my own back yard.

I said this before and i will say it again, 1988 was an absolute blast. It changed the way the city felt about itself, it opened up doors that had never existed prior, and it truly did put Calgary on the map...so to say. This, is not accomplishing any of that however,

What has occurred along the way and the lack of what these games should be providing is what has me completely turned off by it.

[chemgear]

Originally Posted by troutman

If you look at Hayley's tweet she is getting roasted, and not by Russian bots.

It's not enough.

Look even here where people are asking for concrete realistic numbers and the laughable process. Yet people are still dying to vote yes on false accounting and made up financial instruments in the 11th hour.

[Shazam]

Yes is going to win the plebiscite.

We are going to be right proper buggered on this. Ah well.

[transplant99]

LOL...they are pulling out ALL the big guns to tug on your nostalgia gene!

Former Olympians Donovan Bailey, Michael “Eddie the Eagle” Edwards and Cassie Campbell are among those who will be headlining an Olympic rally next Monday, Postmedia has learned.

I mean.....good grief.

Can the Jamaican bobsled team be far behind?

https://calgaryherald.com/news/local...lly-in-calgary

[OMG!WTF!]

It just fries my brain that there's no way to get an arena deal but the Olympics is a 10 to 1 ROI.

[sleepingmoose]

Originally Posted by OMG!WTF!

Cool. What did they say?

https://thebreaker.news/business/cal...d-uncertainty/

Though the BidCo. hasn't 'officially' engaged the Provincial Government of BC, the town of Whistler and the venue operator have been contributing to providing detailed information to BidCo.

[Senator Clay Davis]

Originally Posted by sleepingmoose

https://thebreaker.news/business/cal...d-uncertainty/

THough the BidCo. hasn't 'officially' engaged the Provincial Government of BC, the town of Whister and the venue operator have been contributing to providing detailed information to BidCo.

Right. We're going to vote without an official agreement with a prospective hosting partner. Sums up how this process has been thrown together, didn't have a funding agreement until less than two weeks before the vote, don't have this finalized. I've said this many times, but I would hope even the staunchest Yes supporter can acknowledge this process has been embarrassing and a disgrace.

[transplant99]

Originally Posted by sleepingmoose

https://thebreaker.news/business/cal...d-uncertainty/

Though the BidCo. hasn't 'officially' engaged the Provincial Government of BC, the town of Whistler and the venue operator have been contributing to providing detailed information to BidCo.

From that article...

Wilhelm-Morden, whose term ends next week, said that Whistler officials had remained in touch with the bid committee, but there had been no news on costs for Whistler.

However, the office of B.C.’s minister responsible for sport told theBreaker that there have been no talks about the plan to host events in the Callaghan Valley.

“So far, we have not been involved in the drafting of the Calgary 2026 bid and to date have not been formally approached by the bid organizers,” according to a statement attributed to Minister Lisa Beare. “If we are formally approached, we will look forward learning more about this proposal – especially how it might benefit British Columbians.

“We would also need to carefully consider any potential costs or risks to the province. We’re working for the people of B.C., and any decision on events like this will be made with their best interests in mind.”

So...dont know how much, nor who would pay for it.....or if they will even be part of it.

OK then.

And thsi should be a red flag for ANYONE,

British Columbia’s auditor general never did a post-2010 Games audit, but media outlets have long estimated it cost between $7 billion and $8 billion to stage and host the 2010 Games, including the Canada Line rapid transit and Sea-to-Sky Highway improvement.

Financial records and board minutes remain hidden from the public at the Vancouver Archives, as per the agreement between VANOC and City of Vancouver. Not until 2025 is the public scheduled to finally get a chance to peek at organizing committee board minutes, to learn more about the costs and complexities of the Olympics held in the wake of the Great Recession.

I mean...really?

[chemgear]

Originally Posted by sleepingmoose

https://thebreaker.news/business/cal...d-uncertainty/

Though the BidCo. hasn't 'officially' engaged the Provincial Government of BC, the town of Whistler and the venue operator have been contributing to providing detailed information to BidCo.

Holy ####, that can't be right?

British Columbia’s auditor general never did a post-2010 Games audit, but media outlets have long estimated it cost between $7 billion and $8 billion to stage and host the 2010 Games, including the Canada Line rapid transit and Sea-to-Sky Highway improvement.

Financial records and board minutes remain hidden from the public at the Vancouver Archives, as per the agreement between VANOC and City of Vancouver. Not until 2025 is the public scheduled to finally get a chance to peek at organizing committee board minutes, to learn more about the costs and complexities of the Olympics held in the wake of the Great Recession.

[Frequitude]

An intangible benefit I’d like to throw out there.

(Re)invigorating the volunteer spirit in 20-40 year Calgarians. ‘88 instilled it in that age group and it paid off by becoming ingrained in their DNA for a couple decades. That sense of pride in and obligation to volunteer is disappearing in this city as that generation gets into their 70’s.

[OMG!WTF!]

Originally Posted by sleepingmoose

https://thebreaker.news/business/cal...d-uncertainty/

Though the BidCo. hasn't 'officially' engaged the Provincial Government of BC, the town of Whistler and the venue operator have been contributing to providing detailed information to BidCo.

Yeah and that's my point....

If we are formally approached, we will look forward learning more about this proposal – especially how it might benefit British Columbians.We would also need to carefully consider any potential costs or risks to the province. We’re working for the people of B.C., and any decision on events like this will be made with their best interests in mind

If you think this is going to save us money you're absolutely insane. BC doesn't give an hoot if we save 50 million.They're going to make us bleed if we agree to use their stuff without them actually agreeing to it.

[CaptainCrunch]

Basically this is the equivalent of we called them to say hello.

[Frequitude]

Could someone point me to the latest report on the budget, financials, benefits etc being proposed? Would it be the draft hosting plan concept report on the 2026 website?
https://www.calgary2026.ca/wp-conten...sed.Sept27.pdf

I’d like to dive into the numbers instead of blindly commenting on ROIs and net benefits like some seem to be doing.

[Senator Clay Davis]

Originally Posted by Frequitude

Could someone point me to the latest report on the budget, financials, benefits etc being proposed? Would it be the draft hosting plan concept report on the 2026 website?
https://www.calgary2026.ca/wp-conten...sed.Sept27.pdf

I’d like to dive into the numbers instead of blindly commenting on ROIs and net benefits like some seem to be doing.

Nothing available, but it's the same plan with $125 million less in security. That's pretty much it as far as cost differences, the funding model is the only other change.

[Frequitude]

Thanks. I’ll dive in. I’m curious. Because the 10:1 concept seems a little absurd on a gut feel perspective. Almost as if it mistakenly assumed every employee, judge, contractor, etc would be a Calgarian. Like someone took the $5B budget and divided it by Calgary’s ~$500M contribution.

That would be such an amateur mistake if so. Because my gut says there’s somewhere closer to a 2-4x benefit when you factor in future sporting events at the venues but this noise completely drowns that out.

[chemgear]

Originally Posted by Frequitude

Thanks. I’ll dive in. I’m curious. Because the 10:1 concept seems a little absurd on a gut feel perspective. Almost as if it mistakenly assumed every employee, judge, contractor, etc would be a Calgarian. Like someone took the $5B budget and divided it by Calgary’s ~$500M contribution.

That would be such an amateur mistake if so. Because my gut says there’s somewhere closer to a 2-4x benefit when you factor in future sporting events at the venues but this noise completely drowns that out.

It's not a mistake. It's a calculated choice to "show the calculation" in that manner to make you vote "OMG YES"!

If you were to truly believe a 10:1 return on investment, or even your 4 times return on investment - the entire world would be smashing your door down for that kind of return. You, I and every market in the world would be maxing out our credit cards to get that.

EDIT: And as mentioned in the CBC article:

Again, this $4.4-billion figure cited as a gain for the city is merely the cost of staging the Games. It's money the city won't be paying, but that doesn't make it all an economic gain for Calgary.

[Frequitude]

Originally Posted by chemgear

It's not a mistake. It's a calculated choice to make you vote "OMG YES"!

If you were to truly believe a 10:1 return on investment, or even your 4 times return on investment - the entire world would be smashing your door down for that kind of return. You, I and every market in the world would be maxing out our credit cards to get that.

I prefer to assess information before drawing a conclusion. I wish more people would do the same these days instead of argue from assumptions, partisan beliefs, or the fear of being wrong.

[nik-]

Originally Posted by Frequitude

I prefer to assess information before drawing a conclusion. I wish more people would do the same these days instead of argue from assumptions or partisan beliefs.

How noble of you.

Where is the information? Are we allowed to use trends from past Olympics as our information?

[GGG]

Originally Posted by Senator Clay Davis

Nothing available, but it's the same plan with $125 million less in security. That's pretty much it as far as cost differences, the funding model is the only other change.

Thy also cut housing which was the biggest potential legacy feature of the games.

It’s difficult to find the exact numbers but it appears they cut 1000 units of housing from the bid. This makes the original bid on the housing component make much more sense. 1800 units, 500 market, 600 affordable, 200 senior, plus indigenous and student. So now 1300 of a proposed 1800 are accounted for. Expect that unaccounted for number to continue to be used as a reserve fund to cover cost overruns by selling at market.

The other question that we should all ask is that whose security estimate do you trust. The Calgary Police / RCMP number or the number changed under duress. I think it’s very reasonable to say that the real security number will be at least 600 million.

I think the Bidco document - 1000 units of housing - 125 million in security is a good approximation of what is currently on the table.

The funding side appears to be 370 million plus 150 million that is planned to be spent as part of the Vic Park plans with or without the Olympics. 700 million Province and 1.5 billion federal. 925 million US from the IOC

[MoneyGuy]

I work in municipal government. The 10x multiplier is absurd and cooked up by some YES person to advance the cause.