Olympics could recoup some transfer-payment money
Survey sets tone for public engagement
A potential Olympic bid could lead to a variety of benefits and challenges, but one of the key opportunities it presents is the chance for Alberta to regain some of the large transfer payments it makes to Ottawa.
As a crucial council vote looms, which could determine the fate of Calgary’s potential Olympic bid, a new survey showing a modest support among Calgarians for hosting the 2026 Games sets the stage for weeks of citizen engagement to come.
The poll, slated to come before the Olympic bid committee this week, found 53 per cent of Calgarians support bidding on the 2026 Olympics, versus 34 per cent opposed.
Commissioned by city manager Jeff Fielding, it surveyed 500 Calgarians last month through random telephone digit dialing to establish “baseline information about citizens’ attitudes and perceptions towards a potential bid for the 2026 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.”
About 13 per cent of those polled were undecided about whether the city should bid on the Games, while one per cent declined to answer.
The survey was meant to inform the city’s engagement with residents ahead of its November plebiscite, according to Coun. Evan Woolley, chair of council’s Olympic committee.
“Calgarians in September will see engagement at shopping centres and train stations and the like,” Woolley said. “We want to hear from Calgarians: What are they worried about, what do they like about Olympics, what do they not like about Olympics, what are the risks and rewards?”
Fielding commissioned the poll following informal conversations with Woolley and other members of the Olympic committee.
The survey, conducted by the NRG Research Group July 23-29, is considered accurate within 4.38 percentage points, 19 times out of 20. Quotas were set by age, gender and city quadrant of the general population age 18 or older, according to the city. Numbers from both land lines (62 per cent) and cellphones (38 per cent) were included. The majority of those surveyed were aged 35 to 54.
Mount Royal University political scientist Duane Bratt commended the poll’s methodology and sampling, saying it was likely indicative of the city’s population based on demographic breakdowns disclosed. “What I would have liked to have seen is the response rate,” Bratt added. “They spoke to 500 Calgarians, but of those how many people did they call to get to 500?” Obviously the higher the response rate, the better it was, he added.
Woolley said the cost of the poll was included as part of council’s approved budget designated for public engagement.
Coun. Druh Farrell, a fellow member of the Olympic committee, said she was unaware such a poll had been commissioned. She said the survey was “premature” at this stage, since Calgarians don’t yet have adequate information they need to make an informed decision.
Council has set a Sept. 10 deadline for clarity surrounding funding commitments from the provincial and federal governments. If councillors are unsatisfied by then, it could mark an off-ramp for the Olympic bid process.
Farrell said she wondered if the city’s poll could affect that decision. “Regardless, we have a responsibility and a commitment to communicate accurate information as soon as possible,” she said.
But Woolley said the survey’s major findings don’t tell council members anything they didn’t know to this point about the attitude toward the Olympics.
“I don’t think this poll sways anybody in either direction. I think it just reiterates exactly the things that council has been hearing today,” he said. “What’s not surprising is Calgarians, and rightly so, are interested in the costs. People want to know the cost benefit and they want to know the risk reward.”