Questions raised over Olympic committee
‘It’s our job to ask uncomfortable questions’
The day before the first meeting of a group of Calgarians who will spend the next 10 months studying a 2026 Olympic bid, city councillors raised questions about the committee.
At Monday’s council meeting, Coun. Druh Farrell grilled Kurt Hanson, general manager of community services at the city, about the recently announced bid exploration committee and the group’s work. She quizzed Hanson on how the $5 million earmarked by council for the committee to use will be spent, if an Olympic bid is tied to the Calgary NEXT arena proposal, and if the 17-member committee has a clear conflict of interest.
The bid exploration committee, announced last week by the mayor, is led by Calgary’s former police chief and made up of notable Calgarians active in arts, business and sports — including several with Olympic ties.
Hanson said when the group meets for the first time on Tuesday addressing any potential conflicts of interest will be at the top of the agenda. He also emphasized the bid is not connected to the proposal for a hybrid arena-stadium-field house complex.
“Is there a connection to Calgary NEXT? We’ve very much positioned this that there is no predetermined conclusion on this. There’s not an expectation that it is to support another agenda,” he said in response to questions from Farrell.
Farrell, one of only two members on council who voted against spending up to $5 million to explore the Olympic bid in June, told Hanson she’s concerned the committee doesn’t have an economist or members with a “healthy criticism” for the Games.
“It’s our responsibility as we go down, or decide not to go down, a pretty remarkable and expensive path that we ask the uncomfortable questions. That’s our job,” she said.
Farrell wasn’t the only councillor with questions for Hanson about the bid exploration committee.
Coun. Peter Demong was among several who expressed concerns about the ownership structure of the non-profit corporation being established to study the Games. The committee is slated to be owned equally by the city and Tourism Calgary, though the city is the one funding the $5 million bid exploration.
“If it’s a 50/50 split, we have to be a consensus-driven decision making (body). If we have the majority shareholder, we get to say what happens. And seeing as we’re paying the dollars, we should have the say,” Demong told reporters after the meeting.
Coun. Sean Chu wanted to know how members were selected while Coun. Ward Sutherland wondered if there’s been any word from the provincial or federal government about supporting a possible bid.
Hanson told council deciding who would be on the committee was a joint process between himself, city staff, and members of the Calgary Sport Tourism Authority, and there hasn’t yet been a definitive no regarding a bid from other levels of government. Hanson repeatedly emphasized the group has to work quickly because of the time constraints tied to a potential bid.
Coun. Gian-Carlo Carra said while council had directed city administration to move quickly with the bid exploration, many still want oversight.
“This is moving so fast that I think a lot of members of council didn’t feel like we had enough time to put our eyeballs on it,” he said.
The committee’s corporate structure is scheduled to be further discussed by council in October when city administration comes back with more information.