A LONG AND WINDING ROAD
Calgary has renewed its support for considering a second Olympics. Here’s how the debate unfolded
Feb. 13-28, 1988: Calgary holds the XV Winter Olympic Games at new facilities in Calgary and Kananaskis.
September 2015: Toronto drops out of the running for the 2024 Summer Games, opening the door to a Canadian bid for the 2026 Winter Games. Mayor Naheed Nenshi confirms a group of business and community leaders has been meeting for 18 months about preparing a bid for the 2026 Games. “Interesting idea, let’s flesh it out,” he says.
March 2016: Quebec City Mayor Regis Labeaume suggests a joint Winter Olympics with Calgary. June 20, 2016: Calgary city council votes 12-2 in favour of spending up to $5 million to explore a bid for the 2026 Winter Games. Doug Mitchell, chair of the Calgary Sport Tourism Authority, says his group has been working 2½ years on the recommendation accepted by council. Only councillors Druh Farrell and Sean Chu vote against the proposal.
July 2016: Canadian Olympic Committee forms an advisory committee, under 2010 Vancouver Games CEO John Furlong, to assist Calgary in its investigation of a possible bid.
August 2016: Nenshi visits the Rio Summer Games in Brazil on a personally paid vacation. September 2016: Former Calgary police chief Rick Hanson is named to head a 17-member committee exploring a bid for the 2026 Winter Games.
December 2016: Nenshi tells the Calgary Chamber of Commerce that a successful 2026 Olympic bid could speed up the long-term plans to extend the CTrain to Calgary International Airport. January 2017: Although taxpayer dollars pay the salaries of 11 full-time members working on Calgary’s Olympic bid exploration committee, the committee refuses to release their names, job titles and salary ranges.
Feb. 2, 2017: The Olympic bid exploration committee releases the names of six of 11 paid staff members and their job titles, including Brian Skeet, Marco De Iaco, Jolan Storch, Sean Beardow, Karen Parker and Brian Hahn. Feb. 27, 2017: Rick Hanson, the former police chief heading the bid exploration committee, tells the Postmedia editorial board that the biggest hurdle for a Games bid is cynicism toward the Olympics.
March 21, 2017: A poll commissioned by Postmedia shows 61 per cent of those surveyed would support a bid for the 2026 Winter Olympics, 28 per cent oppose a bid and 11 per cent are unsure. May 1, 2017: The committee exploring an Olympic bid says Calgary will need two full-sized arenas to host the 2026 Games. The group also notes that the average price tag of recent Winter Games is $3.2 billion, excluding Sochi, which was estimated at topping US$50 billion — a figure questioned by some news outlets. May 16, 2017: Nearly two-thirds of Calgary and Bow Valley residents support a bid for the 2026 Olympics, while 17 per cent are opposed, according to a poll commissioned by Calgary’s bid exploration committee.
June 19, 2017: The cost of hosting the 2026 Olympics is estimated at $4.6 billion, with $2 billion in public funding needed, says the bid exploration committee in its report to city council. The Games would earn $2.2 billion in revenue from tickets, sponsorships and the International Olympic Committee, but taxpayers would need to contribute $2.4 billion, excluding costs for transportation, a new curling centre and a new arena. Some members of council express alarm at the risk of running a deficit based on the committee’s estimate that operating costs would exceed revenue by $425 million.
July 11, 2017: The International Olympic Committee announces that it is giving cities more time to consider bidding on the 2026 Winter Olympics, to reduce costs. The “invitation phase” will begin in September and last for a year before the formal bidding process, with the winning bid to be announced in September 2019.
Nov. 20, 2017: City council votes 9-4 to spend another $2 million on a possible Olympic bid, $1 million for further investigation and another $1 million if the federal and provincial governments support a possible bid by the end of the year. The vote came after council debated two initially confidential reports that questioned the economic benefits of hosting an Olympic Games. Previous reports said the Games would benefit the local economy, “but the experience of past host cities is decidedly mixed,” warns Brad Humphreys, a West Virginia University professor who coauthored a critical analysis with University of Calgary economist Trevor Tombe.
Nov. 23, 2017: Premier Rachel Notley says her NDP government needs to know if there would be real benefits for Albertans before deciding whether to support a potential Calgary bid.
Jan. 23, 2018: International Olympic Committee officials, touring Calgary on their own dime, give their blessing to reusing the legacy facilities of 1988, including the Saddledome, but acknowledge a site for alpine events remains a question mark. A suggestion from the head of Calgary’s bid exploration committee that Banff National Park’s Lake Louise resort be considered draws a sharp rebuke from environmentalists.
February 2018: Fifteen people in Calgary’s observation delegation of municipal and provincial officials are sent to the Pyeongchang Games in South Korea. Calgary contributes $90,000 to the $135,000 budget.
Feb. 20, 2018: Mayor Naheed Nenshi, after returning from Pyeongchang, denies that Calgary city hall has already made a decision to bid for the 2026 Games. “If it were a done deal, the deal would have been done long ago,” he tells reporters. Coun. Jeromy Farkas renews call for a plebiscite on the Olympics.
March 13, 2018: The federal government commits $5 million to a North American bid for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Federal officials and Mayor Naheed Nenshi say it doesn’t preclude a Winter Olympics bid for the same year.
March 16, 2018: An online report mistakenly released by city hall says Calgary has secured $20.5 million in provincial and federal funding to create a corporation to bid on the Games, or BidCo. Calgary would contribute $9.5 million. However, the premier’s and mayor’s offices quickly deny a deal has been completed. “Conversations continue … we do not have formal confirmation of their financial participation in a BidCo,” says Daorcey Le Bray, the mayor’s spokesman. Also on this day, city hall estimates a plebiscite would cost $1.96 million. The city would take six months from the time council approves a plebiscite to hire and train 3,000 staff, find balloting locations and communicate with the public, noting that a consultant would need more than a month to draft a clear “for and against” question for councillors to approve.
March 20, 2018: Councillors vote 8-6 to continue the bid process, approving $2.5 million in funding for the creation of an Olympic BidCo, on the condition that the provincial and federal governments provide matching support. Council delays vote on a plebiscite until April 10.
March 25, 2018: WinSport announces its shorter ski jumps from the 1988 Olympics will be closed, due to maintenance costs. March 29, 2018: The federal and Alberta governments announce they will provide $20.5 million to create a bid corporation, with the province tying its funding to a plebiscite and other public consultations efforts. “I believe we have a good understanding of what each side needs in order to move this forward,” says Alberta Culture and Tourism Minister Ricardo Miranda. “Our expectation will be that the city would hold a referendum. I believe the City of Calgary is sincere in their negotiations with us to actually hold a plebiscite.” Calgary’s contribution to the process would be $9.5 million. The city has already spent $6 million.
March 30, 2018: City councillors question the communications breakdown after provincial and federal governments announce financial support for a bid corporation. Kirsty Duncan, federal minister of sport, first made the announcement on Twitter, to the surprise of most councillors. April 3, 2018: The International Olympic Committee says seven cities remain interested in pursuing a bid for the 2026 Winter Games: Calgary; Graz, Austria; Cortina d’Ampezzo/Milan/Turin, Italy; Sapporo, Japan; Stockholm, Sweden; Sion, Switzerland; and Erzurum, Turkey.
April 4, 2018: The Alberta government says there’s no blank cheque for a Calgary Olympic bid despite its support for a plebiscite on hosting the 2026 Winter Games. “We are prepared to investigate, we are prepared to come up with a figure and then, once we have that figure, we’ll have to make a decision in cabinet as to whether it’s something that we can look at or not,” said Culture and Tourism Minister Ricardo Miranda, MLA for Calgary-Cross.
April 6, 2018: The Alberta government clarifies that the $10 million committed to a bid corporation is not contingent on a plebiscite. Any additional funds would require a yes vote from Calgarians to host the Games. April 10, 2018: Calgary’s pursuit of the 2026 Games is in jeopardy after a council committee agreed 9-1 that a vote is needed on whether to proceed any further with the bid process. “I share the frustration of last-minute changes by other orders of government,” Mayor Naheed Nenshi said. “I share the frustration of reports that are not clear enough coming to council in terms of what’s being said. So, yeah, I think it’s fair to say it’s a bit in the ditch. And the question is, is it worth pulling out of the ditch or not? And I think it is.”
April 12, 2018: Mayor Naheed Nenshi says it would be “remarkably short-sighted,” if council ends any further investigation of a potential bid for the 2026 Winter Games, “particularly when we’re looking at an investment that would be historic into the economy of Calgary at a time when we desperately need investment.
April 13, 2018: Dozens of Olympians at WinSport plea for Calgary city council to continue exploring a potential bid for a second Olympics.
April 16, 2018: Calgary city council votes to keep the Olympic bid process alive. The vote passes by a 9-6 margin after two hours of debate, reaffirming council’s “support for the investigation of a bid by Calgary for the 2026 Olympic and Paralympic Games.” It passes with an amendment proposed by Coun. Shane Keating to establish a subcommittee, made up of four councillors and the mayor, which would oversee the Olympic process moving forward.