Could Alberta’s biggest rivals make a joint Olympic bid?
Calgary and Edmonton appear open to working together on Alberta games
Calgary and Edmonton can race one another toward a major sports happening in 2026 in Alberta, but one of them will surely lose.
The Calgary Sport Tourism Authority has been working on a Winter Olympics bid for over two years, and on Monday, Cowtown city council voted 13-2 to support their work on a potential 2026 bid with $5 million. Edmonton, meanwhile, has the right of first refusal on a Canadian bid for the Commonwealth Games that year, having abandoned a 2022 bid at the behest of the provincial government. Extensive legwork on that has been done here, too.
Since it is highly unlikely the province and Ottawa would support two Alberta bids of that financial magnitude in the same year, the more reasonable option is a regional bid, and it really ought to be the Olympics. (Unless the Canadian Soccer Association gains federal backing for a run at the 2026 World Cup, which would likely scuttle any Alberta plans.)
At any rate, there is lasting cachet in hosting the five-ring circus, even if you have to share it with a provincial rival. What’s more, the International Olympic Committee has embraced the concept of regional bids and the utilization of existing infrastructure; factors that reduce the cost and spread the benefits of hosting. And perhaps more importantly, there is a real willingness in Calgary to work with Edmonton on an Olympic bid.
“The thought has crossed my mind,” said Doug Mitchell, chair of the Calgary Sport Tourism Authority. “But let me just say this, one step at a time.”
Edmonton mayor Don Iveson took a step forward on Monday, shortly after Calgary’s Olympic intentions were made public, by reaching out to Calgary mayor Naheed Nenshi. On Tuesday, Iveson went a step further, discussing the potential for a regional bid.
“I think we’d really need to know from the provincial and the federal governments whether there was an appetite and a fiscal capacity to run two major international events in the same year. I would suggest that’s probably tough.
“But the other interesting possibility is, that under the new bid rules for both Commonwealth Games and Olympics, you can bid as a region, as opposed to just as a city. So I think that opens up some intriguing possibilities to talk about maybe an Alberta games as opposed to it being just one city. I think that will be an interesting question to explore in the next little while, if there is appetite provincially to go ahead with this.
“And remember, the last time we talked to the provincial government about a major international sporting event, with oil prices more or less what they are today, we had to gracefully withdraw our bid for the Commonwealth Games in 2022. So I think the province will have an awful lot to say about what the fiscal appetite is for these kinds of events and I’d say there is still some uncertainty around that, from where I’m sitting.” He’s not wrong. “Should the cities of Calgary and Edmonton decide to move forward with their bids, the province will consider the proposals as we would any proposal,” said government spokesperson Cheryl Oates. “That would include weighing them against other government priorities.”
Schools. Hospitals. Roads. Disaster mitigation. All real concerns.
Talk of major expenditures on sporting events is even less palatable to the taxpaying masses at a time of depressed oil prices and a slumping economy. But these events are 10 years out, and oil will have entered an entirely new supply-and-demand cycle by then. And Mitchell said there are tangible benefits to Alberta — $3.7 billion in added GDP and 40,000 new jobs — according to a study commissioned by the authority. “This is the kind of injection into our economy that we need,” said Mitchell, adding that Alberta was in a similar state of economic decline in 1981, when Calgary won the right to host the 1988 Olympics.
If the New Democrats can look 10 years into the future and manage to see both re-election and a single, massive international sporting event in Alberta, then let it be the Olympics. They showcase the world’s best athletes. Or, at least those who haven’t been suspended for ingesting performance-enhancing drugs or eluding the testers.
Imagine the opening ceremonies at a refurbished McMahon Stadium, closing ceremonies at an upgraded Commonwealth Stadium. Hockey at Calgary’s brand new rink, the construction of which will be tied politically to any bid. Figure skating and short track speed skating at Rogers Place. Maybe curling, too.
Long track speed skating in Calgary. Canmore gets the skinny ski events, cross-country and biathlon, as it did in 1988. Canada Olympic Park in Calgary hosts bobsleigh, luge, skeleton and ski jumping. Downhill skiing and snowboard goes to the mountains.
Two weeks later, the Paralympics are shared by the cities as well. And if you wonder how all those athletes, coaches and spectators will shuttle between the cities in reasonable time, how about high-speed rail? Iveson agreed that a link between the cities would likely be part of the conversation, if a regional bid gains momentum.
But it’s early days, and neither train nor athlete will be on track until the political games play out in Calgary, Edmonton and Ottawa.