Ottawa support for potential Olympic bid still unknown
While federal Sports Minister Kent Hehr was non-committal Monday on Ottawa’s potential support for a Calgary Olympic bid, Mayor Naheed Nenshi said he’s feeling increasingly optimistic that the federal and provincial governments are prepared to come on board.
City council has set an end-of-January deadline for the federal and Alberta governments to signal whether they will participate in a committee to bid on the 2026 Winter Games.
The city won’t move forward without the backing of the higher levels of government.
In an interview, Hehr said federal officials have been working diligently with the city since last fall but he wouldn’t say whether Ottawa would have an answer by the end of the month.
“We’re looking at making the right decision, not a rushed decision,” said Hehr, the Liberal MP for Calgary Centre and Minister of Sport and Persons with Disabilities.
Hehr was in Calgary Monday to announce a $65,000 federal grant for the School of Alberta Ballet.
Meanwhile at City Hall, Nenshi told reporters, “(I am) much more optimistic than I thought I would be at this point.”
“We’ve had very, very good representations from both the federal and provincial governments about their willingness to further explore this with us,” he said.
Nenshi acknowledged there are challenges in that both the federal and provincial governments must follow their own processes in making a financial commitment to the bid committee.
“So, it may not be that a full cheque for the full amount will be cut in time for council’s deadline at the end of January,” said the mayor.
“But I’ll remind you that the amendment that council passed didn’t say, ‘give us the full 10 million dollars’ – it said, ‘give us evidence of financial participation.’ And I’m sure that will in fact happen between now and the end of the month.”
Representatives of the International Olympic Committee were in Calgary last week to meet with officials and assess the city as a potential bidder. The city will provide an update on the IOC visit on Tuesday.
Nenshi said Monday the IOC meetings were positive but stressed that no decision has yet been made on a bid.
“As a community, we’ll have to make that decision over the next few months,” he said.
“I continue to believe if we bid, we’ll have a very, very strong bid, but it really does have to be our decision on whether to move forward.”
Calgary’s hosting of the 1988 Winter Games was a significant event in the city’s history but concerns have been raised about the cost and security associated with another Olympics in the city.
The Calgary Bid Exploration Committee estimates hosting the Olympics in 2026 would carry a $4.6-billion price tag, offset by revenue of $2.2 billion-plus associated economic benefits.
That would require $1.2 billion in funding from the federal government and another $1.2 billion from the province and other potential funders.
Hehr said he and Nenshi “chat from time to time” on the Olympic issue.
“I think he’s like I am, pragmatically optimistic as to whether this can happen. But we also want to do it with our eyes wide open — what the benefits to the city are, the benefits to the province, the benefits to the country,” said Hehr, Calgary’s sole representative in Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s cabinet.
Premier Rachel Notley, meanwhile, said last week that Alberta’s NDP government was still doing its due diligence and had not yet made a decision on backing a possible Calgary bid for the games.
But she suggested the province will meet the city’s deadline for saying yea or nay.
“We’re working with the city and we’re ensuring that obviously our answer comes at a time when it is still of value to them,” Notley said.