Anyone who has been trying to follow the Olympic funding drama unfold over the past few days has probably found it difficult to keep up and we don’t blame you.
Much like an Olympic sporting event, the highs and lows and unexpected twists have kept Olympic watchers on the edge of their chairs, as if it was some sort of sporting event itself.
The difference, of course, is that instead of high-calibre athletes duking it out on a rink it’s politicians and bureaucrats fighting behind closed doors and in the media.
The drama hit a fever pitch on Friday (Oct. 26) when the federal government announced it would provide $1.5 billion in 2018 dollars for the mega-sporting event on the condition the province and city would match those dollars 50/50.
At first the funding announcement seemed to be the shot in the arm the BidCo was looking for, however both the province and the city seemed blind sided with the matching provision included in the announcement.
The feds for their part rightfully claimed that their policy from day one had always stated they would contribute up to 50 per cent of the total costs for a sporting event as long as the remaining costs were split 50/50 by the other two levels of government.
It was the same formula that was used when Vancouver and Whistler hosted the Olympics in 2010, as well as the 2015 PanAm Games in Toronto.
Despite this clear and transparent condition, both the province and the City of Calgary seemed rattled by the idea of having to cough up a combined total of $1.5 billion to cover the estimated $3 billion it would cost to host the 2026 Games.
The province for its part double-downed on its previous announcement that it would contribute $700 million and not a penny more, essentially leaving the city on the hook to cover the remaining $800 million.
In response, Mayor Naheed Nenshi fired off a sharply worded letter to his federal counterparts demanding a funding formula be agreed to by the end of Monday (Oct. 29), or he would be forced to ask council to abandon its Olympic dreams and cancel the Nov. 13 plebiscite.
As Monday came and went without a new funding agreement, it appeared the bid was dead in the water and the game was over.
This was further cemented on Tuesday (Oct. 30) when the city’s Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games Assessment Committee said it intended to put forward a motion to council to abandon the draft plebiscite and hosting plan because an acceptable funding agreement was not in place.
But like any sporting event it’s not over until it’s over and this one was headed for overtime.
At the 11th hour an email trickled into reporters’ emails stating a funding agreement between all three levels of government had been reached.
The surprise announcement threw just about everyone for a loop and breathed new life into what many thought was a foregone dream.
With the Olympic dream hanging on be a thread councillors from Calgary spent the majority of Wednesday (Oct. 31) discussing the matter and when all was said and done managed to dig deep and say yes to a plebesite.
With the vote, Calgarians will now have their say on Nov. 13 to decide if the Olympic dream is right for them.
If you thought watching Sidney Crosby score the gold medal goal in Vancouver was the pinnacle of Olympic sport you might want to reconsider because who knew bidding for the Winter Olympics could get this exciting.
