Nenshi denies ‘fix is in’ for potential City games Bid
On his first day back at city hall since returning from a Winter Olympics observer trip to Pyeongchang, Mayor Naheed Nenshi countered accusations that the “fix is in” when it comes to Calgary mounting a bid to host the 2026 Games, even as there were renewed calls to put the question to Calgarians in a referendum.
“If it were a done deal, the deal would have been done long ago,” Nenshi said. “I think that folks try to get a little bit of political advantage by saying, ‘Oh, this is already all cooked up.’ Frankly, if this was already all cooked up, we would have cooked it up. Why would we go through this process? We’re going through this process because we want to make sure that we are doing what’s right for Calgary.”
Nenshi made the comments amid renewed calls from at least one councillor to put the question of hosting the Olympics to Calgarians in a referendum.
Coun. Jeromy Farkas said there are other necessities that require municipal resources and attention before an Olympics bid, including flood mitigation measures and changes to city snow-clearing protocols, but that the decision should ultimately be left to Calgarians.
“My fear right now is we’re barrelling down toward a predetermined outcome. The fix is in, is what I’m hearing,” Farkas said, clarifying that those are the words of his constituents.
“This decision can’t be made just by the 15 members of council. Nothing short of going to the public in a binding referendum will satisfy me.”
Farkas is the second member of council to call for a referendum on a potential Olympics bid.
Coun. Sean Chu asked council last July to spend $390,000 on an Olympics referendum. Chu’s motion was voted down largely on the grounds that it was a premature and costly move while the city is still engaged in studying a potential bid.
The question of how and when to engage Calgarians on a potential Olympics bid has been an ongoing issue for council.
In its most recent update to council, the Calgary Bid Exploration Committee said it would begin surveying Calgarians in February, with another quantitative survey to follow as early as March.
The committee is also expected to submit a detailed financial report on hosting the 2026 Games to council in March once the city has a better idea of funding commitments from the provincial and federal governments.
On Tuesday, Nenshi said he’s not opposed to a “plebiscite” when it
My fear right now is we’re barrelling down toward a predetermined outcome.
comes to engaging Calgarians on the Olympics, but added that the city must be ready to offer specific information on the costs and benefits of hosting before that can happen.
“Some folks are saying, go to a referendum. Well, what would we have the referendum on? Do you like the Olympics? Do you like Tessa and Scott?” Nenshi said. “The referendum, if there were one, would have to be about: this is how much it’s going to cost, this is what we think we would get out of it, do you think this is a good use of our funding and our efforts and our energy over the next little while? And we’re not there yet in terms of developing what that might look like.”