Calgary 2026 head expects today’s Winter Games vote to be close

CALGARY — Scott Hutcheson carries a volunteer medal from the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary with him these days.

His parents, Bob and Jane, relocated from Ontario for a month to donate their time at the Nakiska alpine ski venue during those Games.

Bob recently sent the medal to his son, who hopes Calgarians feel its value as much as he does when they vote today in a plebiscite on whether they want the city to bid on the 2026 Winter Games.

“That’s what it’s about,” Hutcheson said on Monday. “Giving your spirit, giving your all to a community. That’s what he did.”

The board chairman of the bid corporation Calgary 2026 thinks the plebiscite will be a close race between those who want to host another Winter Games eight years from now, and those who don’t.

“Depends who votes, depends who gets out.”

The result is non-binding on a Calgary city council that has the final say on a bid, but will heavily influence its decision.

“Vote, regardless of where you stand,” Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi said. “Let’s make sure there’s a really high voter turnout so there’s an unambiguous decision on this.

“I hope people vote ‘yes’. I think there are many, many great reasons to keep this process going.”

The cauldron atop the Calgary Tower began igniting last week at 8:26 p.m. for 20 minutes 26 seconds. The tower is a symbol of the 1988 Olympics, as the relay torch was a replica of it.

The tower is an asset in Hutcheson’s commercial real estate company, but the former national alpine team skier said he’s not using it to ignite ’88 nostalgia in Calgarians to favour another bid.

The pro-bid Calgary Hotel Association is sponsoring the lighting of the tower in the run-up to the plebiscite, as well as other cauldrons, he said.

Calgary 2026’s mandate is to “promote a responsible bid.”

It became easier to do that, Hutcheson said, after the proposed cost-sharing agreement among the three orders of government became public less than two weeks ago.

“That momentum is exciting, but it’s late,” he acknowledged. “If it were done three months ago, it would have left way more time to talk about what this means from an investment standpoint.”

In an estimated $5.1-billion price tag, the federal government has committed $1.45 billion and the province $700 million.

The city’s share would be $390 million. Hutcheson wants Calgarians to see it as a small investment for a big return.

“This deal to me is way better than what I would have pencilled in months ago.

“I respect that not everybody is going to want to vote ‘yes.’ But I would ask those that vote ‘no’ to make sure they have another community project in their mind that will make a difference. ‘No’ doesn’t build a community.”

No order of government has put up its hand to be a guarantor against debt. Calgary 2026 has built $1.1 billion in contingency funds into its proposed budget as insurance.

“If Calgarians make a decision to move forward, 50 per cent plus one vote, I will be respecting that decision,” Coun. Evan Woolley said.

“No means no. Yes means we’ve got a bunch of work to do. We will move forward on that basis, but I can tell you that without more certainty from our federal and provincial governments around guarantees and helping us mitigate these risks, the City of Calgary cannot carry some of those risks.”

Calgary 2026’s proposed draft plan earmarks $502 million toward upgrading the ’88 legacy venues.