Voting No would cheat our youth, CEO of Calgary 2026 says
The CEO of Calgary 2026 attempted to sell the Winter Olympics to business executives Friday, urging them to vote Yes in the Nov. 13 plebiscite and avoid igniting the ire of a younger generation that is eager to embrace the Games.
Mary Moran told CEOs and corporate leaders attending the 2018 Global Business Forum in Banff the estimated $3.7 billion in government investment that would flow into Calgary in the event of a successful Olympic bid is money that would not come into the community otherwise.
The funds, to be put toward housing as well as the construction of two new sports venues and refurbishments to 11 existing facilities, are there for the taking and would leave a legacy for future generations, she said.
“I’m pretty sure if any of you were facing that deal, you would not walk away from it,” she said.
Hosting the Games would also result in a $2-billion boost to GDP and generate $200 million in tax dollars for the province of Alberta, Moran said. She said the global spotlight the Olympics would shine on Calgary would be a chance for the city, which she said has been “mired in negativity,” to rewrite its story and attract media coverage, tourism dollars and foreign investment.
Moran said she believes young people are overwhelmingly in favour of the Olympic bid. But she said there is a danger they will stay home on Nov. 13 and that older people who have already reaped the benefits of the 1988 Olympics in Calgary will selfishly vote No and deny the next generation their chance.
She even went so far as to compare that possible outcome to the U.K.’s Brexit referendum, another instance in which the younger generation was shocked and horrified by the way their elders voted. A No vote on the Olympics could leave an entire generation of Calgarians feeling cheated, saying, “Look what my parents have done to me,” Moran said.
Andrew Craig — who has served as a senior adviser on a number of winning Olympic bids, including Vancouver 2010, London 2012, Sochi 2014 and Paris 2024 — also spoke at the Global Business Forum Friday. Though he declined to comment on whether Calgary should go ahead with a 2026 bid, he said the Games have had tangible, long-lasting benefits in many cities. He singled out London — which was able to successfully revitalize one of its poorest neighbourhoods with funds leveraged as part of the Games — and Barcelona, which was not a tourist destination prior to the 1992 Olympics but used the Games to completely remake its image in the public eye.
Craig said if Calgary is serious about a bid and wants to be successful, it will need to think long-term and think well beyond sport. Every level of government will need to be 100 per cent on board and working together. And, he added, there will be no public buy-in without medals.
“The public is a very hard taskmaster. Any Games that does not win lots of medals for the host country will not be judged a success,” he said.