Calgary 2026 CEO declines bonuses for Games bid
The new CEO for Calgary 2026 will not receive performance bonuses for successfully shepherding an Olympic bid through a fall plebiscite, or in the event Calgary is selected to host the Games.
The head of the bid corporation’s board clarified Friday that Mary Moran declined any bonuses over and above her base salary of $290,250. The move comes after opponents of the bid were vocal in their opposition to previously announced plans to reward Moran for meeting key targets.
“She will earn the same compensation she received at Calgary Economic Development in 2017 and 2018, which is $290,250 per annum, pro-rated for the remainder of the year,” bidco chair Scott Hutcheson wrote in a Postmedia column published Friday. “Mary declined the opportunity to earn the higher compensation recommended by the search firm and any bonuses for a successful plebiscite or bid.”
Hutcheson had previously suggested Moran would get bonuses for meeting those targets. He explained Friday that his previous comments were made before a contract with Moran had been signed.
“It seemed as though there was some resistance to this, and it would create behaviour that some of the public didn’t like,” he said. “So in order to make this work in a little different way, Mary just said, let’s not have bonuses attached to
this compensation.”
Hutcheson also credited Moran for turning down a higher base salary figure that was originally recommended by the search committee. “I think the responsibilities of her current job are much bigger, but this is the kind of person Mary is.”
Arden Dalik, senior partner with Global Governance Advisors, which specializes in executive compensation, called it a “smart move” to curtail a bonus structure at this stage of the bid process.
“It is what I’d call a quasi-public sector job, because it is public dollars,” Dalik said. “Putting bonuses in place ... is not appropriate. For one, the Alberta temperature for bonuses, ...there really has been tremendous push back on that.”
Dalik said Calgary 2026 won’t want to be accused of pre-judging the outcome of the plebiscite — particularly when it’s a non-binding vote and city council could still approve going forward with a bid regardless of the outcome. “It
doesn’t then need to be tainted by someone saying, ‘Well, Mary just wanted to get her bonus.’”
Dalik said if Calgary was to win the bid, introducing a bonus structure based on very specific targets for delivering venues and staying under budget would make sense.
Skeptics remain critical of Calgary 2026, arguing it’s an organization more closely attuned to the desires of the International Olympic Committee than Calgarians.
No Calgary Olympics organizer
Erin Waite said the fact Calgary 2026 had initially considered bonuses tied to a positive bid outcome suggests it’s an organization committed to a bid “at any cost.”
However, Hutcheson refutes that, adding Calgary 2026’s mandate isn’t to remain neutral, but to put together a successful bid with the input of Calgarians. “Our mandate is not to be irresponsible, nor is it to be neutral; it’s to put together a bid that Calgarians would want.”