Rio gave mayor chance to ‘scope around’

Nenshi was in Brazil as a fan but also floated idea of 2026 Games here

In addition to cheering on Canadian athletes at the 2016 Summer Games in Brazil, Mayor Naheed Nenshi spent his Rio vacation discussing the possibility of Calgary 2026 with Olympic organizers.

In August, Nenshi went to the Olympics on a personally paid vacation with no city staff.

“I was there as a fan because I like to do such things,” the mayor said Tuesday, his first day back in the office after city council’s five-week summer break.

“I did get the opportunity to really scope around, talk to some people on the Rio organizing committee, talk to some folks at the Canadian and International Olympic Committees as well as other cities that are bidding on future Games to get a good sense of what’s before us here in Calgary, if, in fact, we choose to move forward with the bid.”

In June, council voted in favour of accepting a recommendation from the Calgary Sport Tourism Authority to form a committee that will explore the costs, benefits and feasibility of bringing the world’s foremost international sporting event back to Calgary.

After hours of discussion behind closed doors, council approved $5 million to support the venture, which came from a group that spent more than two years drumming up support for a second Calgary edition of the Winter Games.

The membership and governance structure of the bid exploration committee has not yet been announced, though Nenshi said a public announcement is imminent.

The committee is scheduled to report to council twice before producing a final report in July 2017.

“The group ... has a lot of work to do around feasibility, around budgets and so on to determine if we’re in a good place to bid both as a city and as a nation because, remember, it’s a Canadian bid as well,” Nenshi said.

“I’m really looking forward to buckling down and getting some of that work done.”