Calgary voters: ‘No’ to Olympic bid

56 per cent say in plebiscite that they don’t want city to host 2026 Winter Games

CALGARY — The results are in, and a majority of Calgarians are saying “no thanks” to a potential bid for the 2026 Winter Olympics.

The city conducted a nonbinding plebiscite Tuesday to gauge public opinion on whether or not there is sufficient interest to submit a bid.

Out of 767,734 eligible voters in Calgary, 56 per cent (171,750 of 304,774 total votes) said they don’t want the city to throw in its hat for the games.

“We really wanted this dream for Calgary to host the Olympic and Paralympic Games,” said Mary Moran, CEO of Calgary 2026. “We learned so much about our community. We learned so much about each other.”

The plebiscite’s result is nonbinding on city council, which has the final say on whether Calgary will proceed with a bid.

The results won’t be declared official until Friday. Council is expected to address the results on Monday.

Calgary was the host city of the 1988 Winter Olympics. The venues from those Games formed the foundation of a 2026 bid, for which Calgarians were asked to state their appetite.

A possible Calgary bid was nearly scuttled even before the plebiscite. The city council voted Oct. 31 to go ahead with it after senior governments flashed more money.

Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi voted for continuing with a bid, saying the proposed host draft plan and budget would be a good deal for the city.

The Alberta government made its funding of a bid conditional on the plebiscite and provided $2 million to pay for it.

“We fought many, many obstacles along the way,” said Scott Hutcheson, board chair of Calgary 2026. “We had three government partners that stepped up with billions of dollars to invest in this dream.”

Elections Calgary told voters to not wear Olympic-themed clothing to polling stations as that would be considered campaigning. Returning officer Laura Kennedy said some people were asked to adjust their attire before voting.

Bid corporation Calgary 2026, led by Moran and Hutcheson — a commercial real estate entrepreneur and former national-team skier — was mandated to “promote a responsible bid.”

Calgary 2026 was hampered by the how long it took for a costsharing agreement to be reached among the federal and provincial governments and the city.

The province eventually committed $700 million, while the federal government said it would provide $1.45 billion to Games expected to cost $5.1 billion

The International Olympic Committee invited Calgary, Stockholm and a joint Italian bid from Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo to compete for the 2026 Games.

The IOC will accept bids in early January. The selection of the host city will happen in Lausanne, Switzerland in June.