(ATR) The chair of the Calgary’s Olympic oversight committee says the final decision on a 2026 Winter Games bid rests with the results of a planned plebiscite.
Calgary city councilor Evan Woolley heads the committee, which was formed earlier this month. Following the latest meeting of the panel on Tuesday, Woolley told reporters "The plebiscite will be the final arbiter of whether we make a decision to do this or not," as quoted by the Toronto Star.
City administration officials will present the oversight committee with several options on the wording and timing of the plebiscite at a meeting on May 29, according to Canadian media. The plebiscite is expected to be held between October and February 2019, but since a formal bid to the IOC must be submitted in January it would make sense that it will happen before then.
A public hearing on a possible Olympic bid is also being planned.
Calgarians will be receiving more information next month on the cost of hosting the 2026 Games. That’s when a detailed financial report will be presented to the oversight committee, including the amount of money the federal and provincial governments would be willing to spend on the project.
The city’s bid exploration committee estimate from last year set the cost at CAN$4.6 billion. But that was before the IOC came out with its New Norm and other reforms of the bidding process designed to lower the cost of potential host cities.
So far, the committee has spent CAN$5.2 million of the CAN$30 million earmarked for bid exploration. Calgary, the province of Alberta and the federal government in Ottawa are sharing the cost almost equally.
Further funding from Alberta is contingent on holding a plebiscite.
The full Calgary city council does have the option to vote to end the bid in June, once they receive the financial report. The latest comments from Woolley seem to rule out such a move.
Written by Gerard Farek
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