The people of Calgary have spoken. They don’t want the city to submit a bid for the 2026 Winter Olympics.
And as long as the International Olympic Committee continues with its practices, you have to wonder who would actually want to host the Games.
Voters in Calgary rejected the Olympic bid in a plebiscite on Tuesday, with 56.4 per cent of voters opposing the bid. More than 300,000 people submitted a ballot, which is an excellent number for a stand-along plebiscite.
The message was clear: Calgary residents, at this point, don’t want the Winter Games. They can think of other avenues to direct the billions of dollars in taxpayer money that would be required to make the Games happen.
The plebiscite is non-binding, and city council could still opt to ignore the results and forge ahead with the bid. But when that many people turn out and say they don’t want something, proceeding with it amounts to political suicide.
If voter turnout was low, say around 50,000 people, or if it was a close result, with around 50-51 per cent opposition, then it would be understandable for Calgary to continue with the bid, and try to win over the public’s support.
But when 56.4 per cent of 300,000 say no, it’s an emphatic defeat.
Calgary was arguably the front-runner for the 2026 Winter Olympics. There is still a lot of infrastructure remaining from when the city hosted the 1988 Olympics, and while the amenities would need to be updated, the city wouldn’t be starting from square one.
The 1988 Olympics were a smashing success. It could be argued that Calgary saved the Winter Olympics from fading into obscurity.
It was the first time the Winter Games were held over three weekends instead of two. A trio of sports – curling, freestyle skiing and short-track speed skating – were a hit as demonstration sports in Calgary, and were so successful that they were eventually incorporated as medal sports.
Yes, there was a time 30 years ago when those sports weren’t medal events at the Olympics.
It was also arguably the point in which the Winter Olympics moved on from the smaller winter resort centres such as Lake Placid, N.Y., and Albertville, France, as the host sites.
So you can understand why the IOC would be thrilled to go back to Calgary for another Winter Olympics. Factor in the popularity of the Winter Olympics in Canada, and the benefits for the North American TV markets, and you have what could have been an Olympic slam dunk.
While people will cite all sorts of reasons why the Calgary voters were opposed to the plan – some will say the absence of a promised new arena was a factor – the bottom line is the IOC has made it difficult for communities to bid on the Games, and it has shown in the number of communities that follow through with bids.
For the 2022 Winter Games, numerous cities dropped out, until there were just two options. Beijing eventually triumphed over Almaty, Kazakhstan, and while the results were closer than expected, one has to wonder how serious some IOC members viewed Almaty.
The 2024 Summer Games wound up with just two bids: Paris and Los Angeles. Eventually, it was decided that Paris would get the Games in 2024, and Los Angeles would be the host in 2028.
And now we have the 2026 Winter Games, in which most interested cities have dropped out, and only two – Stockholm and a joint Italian bid – remain.
It’s becoming cost-prohibitive for cities to host the Games. They prepare budgets, only to find that those budgets are insufficient, and they have to spend billions more on cost overages for needs such as facilities and transportation.
Financial assistance from the IOC has been lacking.
Unfortunately, the IOC won’t change its system until it finds itself in a situation in which all of the prospective host cities drop out from the process. They would never cancel a Games outright; there’s too much money on the line. But they would finally have to concede that the current system isn’t working.
I like the Winter Olympics. I like it when Canada hosts the Winter Olympics. I’m not a fan of Canada trying to host the Summer Games, due to the size and cost.
Yes, it’s a much bigger global showcase than its winter counterpart, but is it worth the burden for the taxpayers? No.
I do see value in the Winter Olympics, and there was a big spinoff for Calgary in 1988 and Vancouver in 2010. In the case of Vancouver in 2010, it not only put the city on the global stage for 16 days, but Canadians had no shortage of reasons to cheer, thanks to the 14 gold medals won on home soil.
But thanks to the current IOC policies and politics, I think we’re better off allowing someone else to be the host.
