Council vote set to end Olympic dream
The official end to Calgary’s 2026 Olympic dreams is expected Monday.
The final nail in the coffin should come during the day’s city council meeting, after returning officer Laura Kennedy provides councillors with a report on the official results of last week’s plebiscite.
While the vote was non-binding, 56.4 per cent of voters sided against hosting the 2026 Winter Games. Councillors are scheduled to determine the next steps for the bid on Monday, and many had signalled they would respect the outcome of last Tuesday’s plebiscite.
“It’s kind of over and done with,” said Coun. Shane Keating. “There’s not much left to say about it.”
Keating said he would miss Monday’s meeting for a family medical reason, but planned to call in when it’s time to discuss the Olympics.
He was one of seven councillors who voted against a motion late last month to shut down the Olympic bid process and cancel last week’s plebiscite.
Although they were outnumbered by the eight elected officials who voted in favour of that motion, the plebiscite proceeded, as that vote required a two-thirds majority of the 15-member council to pass.
Now, councillors expect Monday’s decision to be unanimous.
“I haven’t heard of any attempts to try to keep it alive,” said Coun. Gian-Carlo Carra, who sided with Keating in late October to get the process to a plebiscite.
Coun. Sean Chu, one of council’s most ardent opponents of the bid, said he was “very much” looking forward to extinguishing the Olympic flame on Monday.
“If any councillor, including the mayor, is willing to go against the will of the people, they’re going to get eggs on their face. It will look really bad,” said Chu.
“… Only one ward, which is Coun. (Evan) Woolley’s ward, was for it. Everybody else is against it. I would definitely caution anybody who wants to vote Yes to continue to be worried of the outcome.”
Woolley’s downtown inner-city Ward 8 was the only one to embrace the bid, with 55 per cent of voters in support. The most lopsided loss for the Yes side was delivered in the deeper southwest Ward 13.
There, 62 per cent cast ballots for the No side, with advance polling going about three-to-one against a bid. About 43.6 per cent of voters across the city were in favour of pursuing the bid.
Asked Tuesday night if that meant the end of the line, Mayor Naheed Nenshi said he felt so.
“I think it’s pretty clear that we saw a clear number, we saw a big voter turnout and, for me, that means that I ultimately take my direction from the citizens,” Nenshi said.
Keating said that while he and other members of council repeatedly voted in favour of ensuring the bid process reached the plebiscite stage, that didn’t mean they were necessarily in favour of hosting the Games, as some opponents have suggested.
Now that they know where citizens stand, there’s no reason to continue.
“All we said is we’re giving you the vote, to go to the polls and vote,” he said.