Key questions remain about Calgary bid for 2026 Olympics

Security costs the big unknown as Alberta considers hosting another Winter Games

The RRSP deadline is once again upon us, leaving procrastinating Canadians to hastily examine their tolerance to risk. On behalf of the Canadian taxpayer, the federal government must make a similar assessment when it comes to deciding whether to back a possible Calgary bid for the 2026 Winter Olympics.

Construction cost overruns are always an issue at major sporting events. But the Calgary bid exploration committee can at least estimate the price of upgrading the current winter sport facilities (including the Olympic Oval, the bobsled track and the Canmore Nordic Centre) and of building new ones (a possible hockey rink and a ski jump).

As for the cost of securing the Games? There’s simply no way for anyone to slap an accurate price tag on what it will cost come 2026. Traditionally, federal funding has covered the costs of security while provincial governments support infrastructure.

Former Calgary police chief Rick Hanson leads the Calgary bid exploration committee and he knows better than most how one terrorist attack can obliterate the bottom line.

“The environment could change dramatically,” Hanson told Postmedia’s Calgary editorial board on Monday. “And that’s something the federal government is obviously very much aware of, because your best guess based on today’s facts or projections could be very different even a year from now.”

The 2010 Vancouver Olympic Organizing Committee declared it broke even with total revenue and expenses just shy of $1.9 billion. But the costs of security were not included in that calculation. Estimates suggest Canadian taxpayers paid $900 million for security at the 2010 Games in Vancouver.

Hanson, the officer in charge of joint security arrangements for the 2002 G8 summit in Kananaskis Country, is no stranger to the subject.

“If you look in the rear-view mirror now, what made Vancouver so expensive?” Hanson asked. “People tend to forget we were fighting a war back then, and we’re not right now …

“When it comes to security especially, it’s always going to be conditional,” he added. “If somebody says we want to zero out risk, then your cost approach is infinity, because the closer you get to zero, the greater your costs.”

The most convincing argument for a Calgary bid is the viability of the legacy facilities from 1988. The Canmore Nordic Centre is world-class. The Olympic Oval lacks 360-degree seating, but under the International Olympic Committee’s Agenda 2020, bid cities are encouraged to reuse and recycle even if facilities aren’t perfect.

“Who cares if it only sits 3,000 people?” Hanson asked. “It’s a great facility … Is Agenda 2020 sincere? The people who talk about Agenda 2020, are they sincere? Do they really now recognize that you can’t drive the cost up at the expense of countries that put a whole lot of money into infrastructure that then decays the day after the event?”