Olympic voters need full picture

Re: “Details starting to emerge for Olympic plebiscite,” May 30.

A city council committee voted unanimously to use a simple yes-or-no question as the template for the Olympic plebiscite, but Mayor Naheed Nenshi wants to add costing and funding information, thus “making sure people know exactly what they’re voting on."

The same committee voted not to hold a public hearing, however, with the mayor referring to taking such an action as “window dressing.” What a silly thing to say.

Calgarians should have the opportunity to better understand who is making the cost estimates, the level that scope has been defined to, how the estimates were determined, what the potential risks or unknowns are, and what allowances have been made for contingencies.

Additionally, Calgarians should be able to see the proposed terms of any potential funding deal with the federal and provincial governments, with a clear explanation of what exposure, if any, that city taxpayers may have if actual costs come in higher than the estimates.

Sorry, Mayor Nenshi, you can’t have it both ways. Do you want to use a simple question that gauges how Calgarians “feel” about hosting the Olympics, or do you want to allow them to make a better informed decision after being given the opportunity to review and question the potential costs and risks that they may face if they vote “yes”?

Jamie Fisher, Calgary