Olympic funding catches council off guard
Elected representatives often hear of decisions after media reports: councillor
Councillors are questioning the communication breakdown surrounding Calgary’s potential Olympic run after the federal and provincial governments announced they will help fund a bid corporation before council was made aware the dollars had been secured.
Kirsty Duncan, federal minister of sport and people with disabilities, first made the funding announcement in a tweet, saying Ottawa and the provincial government would be giving a combined $20.5 million to the creation of BidCo, the corporation that would be in charge of pursuing a bid for the 2026 Winter Olympics.
Coun. Shane Keating said he considers Thursday’s announcement a leak or, at the very least, a bit premature, because council was kept out of the loop.
“It’s frustrating as all heck, no doubt,” Keating said. “But I’m not certain we can sit back and play pin the tail on the donkey and really blame certain individuals, other than it has to get better.”
A statement issued by the city just after 3:30 p.m. on Thursday confirmed the details in the Twitter announcement, which also said the provincial funds would be contingent on the city holding a plebiscite.
The news caught some councillors off guard and is the second misstep in announcing the additional funds, with a similar report appearing on the city’s website March 16 before being quickly removed.
Coun. Jeromy Farkas said he was working at city hall on Thursday night when he received an email notifying him of the announcement about two hours after seeing the same information online and in the media.
He said council is often informed about important Olympic decisions “at the same time or after it gets reported in the media.”
“The process stinks,” Farkas said. “Why would we put out this information at 3:30 on the afternoon before the long weekend? I’m really disappointed with the way the announcement was managed.
“It’s just jaw dropping that the province and the federal governments, knee deep in debt, would have money for this and not other, more pressing needs.”
After the first report appeared online more than two weeks ago, the city said the information was incorrect and released in error. But the only notable difference between the two announcements is that, as of Thursday, provincial support is contingent on Calgary holding a plebiscite to find out if Calgarians are for or against pursuing a bid.
Farkas and Coun. Sean Chu have previously proposed a public vote on pursuing an Olympic bid, with Chu bringing a motion on a plebiscite to council, and, on April 10, council will put it to a vote.
But with the bulk of BidCo funding hinging on the public voting in favour of a bid, Farkas said councillors who have previously taken a stance for the Olympics and against a plebiscite might be persuaded to change their tune.
“It’s completely upside down,” he said.