Olympic debate shows integrity can still flourish

Woolley’s stance on plebiscite carries compelling message

It’s so rare to see politicians of any stripe show real courage and fortitude once the pressure gets intense that when it actually happens, such an occasion is cause to celebrate.

Not that all Calgarians will be raising a toast to Coun. Evan Woolley today. In fact, he’s probably branded a traitor in some quarters, following his vote Wednesday not to proceed with a plebiscite on Calgary making a bid for the 2026 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

As the world knows, city councillors voted against holding their previously agreed Gamesbid plebiscite by an eight to seven margin but, thanks to the vagaries of civic administrative policy, that wasn’t a large enough majority to get their previous thumbs-up vetoed. So, off to the polls we will merrily troop come Nov. 13.

This is being hailed as some type of famous victory by the increasingly thin-skinned Yes crowd, who seem perplexed that those wonderful days of maternal and paternal elitism in which certain groups could direct us regular bumpkins into doing their well-meaning bidding appear to have come to an abrupt end.

Still, it’s easy for me to be critical of this ludicrous hodgepodge of an Olympic bid process with its “pick a number, any number” budgetary due diligence. Sure there are lots of resulting insults but my reply remains the same — shut up or put up: my $10,000 against yours that a Calgary 2026 Olympic Games will cost more than the announced $5.23 billion. Despite the ramped-up rhetoric, nobody has taken that bet: funny how things change when it isn’t someone else’s money at stake.

But Woolley as the chair of the city’s Olympic assessment committee and, up until this last week, a big supporter of Calgary hosting these Games isn’t allowed such a simplistic though satisfying response to any and all detractors.

Which makes his conversion to a no- Games plebiscite position all the more telling.

This is the guy who has heard more information about what we would pay and what we would get than any other Calgarian, so when he speaks we would do well to listen.

“I don’t have confidence that the numbers are going to add up. I’m uncomfortable with the risks associated with the other orders of government not carrying better guarantees,” is how he put it.

So when a man who has spent a lot of time behind closed doors working with colleagues and bid supporters rises above the influences and natural camaraderie such a situation encourages and instead votes to halt the very process he’s been key to instigating, that carries a compelling message.

It is also a testament to Woolley’s integrity. Whatever side of this fractious issue Calgarians stand, that is an attribute that should be welcomed in a time when listening to facts and then changing your mind is increasingly deemed to be a sin of the most grievous kind.

Meanwhile, we’re in for a week of high octave campaigning and advertising by the Yes side, using the remainder of $1 million of city hall cash in urging people to vote Yes in that very same plebiscite a majority of councillors wanted to axe.

Onward and upward is how Mary Moran, CEO of the Calgary 2026 Bid Corp., rather quaintly described it, though I doubt when the smoke clears come Nov. 14 this city is going to feel as though it sits atop some glorious mountaintop no matter what the voter verdict.

This division is going to be hard to heal and we are not exactly blessed with a mayor known for bringing people together.

But, for now at least, this latest strange turn of events has somehow managed to put a spring back into Naheed Nenshi’s step.

“This is an incredibly good deal — after all that sausage making, the sausage that came out of it is amazing,” is how he phrased it.

Well, I once worked in a slaughterhouse and know what goes into sausages. Believe me, there’s nothing amazing about it whatsoever.

When (Woolley) speaks we would do well to listen.