Calgary council’s Olympic assessment committee was widely expected to recommend killing the city’s 2026 bid on Tuesday but has been locked in a closed door session for hours without a decision. 

In a brief statement before the meeting went in-camera, Mayor Naheed Nenshi said negotiations with other levels of government went late into the night. 

“I know that there is an update to provide to council today,” he said. 

Speaking to reporters in Parliament, federal Minister of Sport Kirsty Duncan echoed Nenshi’s comments. 

“Myself, our officials and all levels of government worked late into the night, into the wee hours of the morning, and we are very hopeful,” she said. 

“We’ve worked well together and we remain very optimistic.”

Change of mood

It’s a far cry from the mood that pervaded Olympic discussions on Monday when rumours swirled and word came that the city and federal government were unable to reach a successful conclusion to funding talks.

Coun. Evan Woolley, the chair of the Olympic committee, had warned on Monday: “Unless something changes dramatically in the next hour or so, I have a hard time seeing how we continue with this bid past tomorrow’s Olympic committee meeting.”

The mayor’s office declined to comment Monday on the recommendation to cancel the bid process.

It was widely expected the committee would recommend council official kill the bid during a strategy sesssion on Wednesday.

Ottawa says no additional money on table

The possible death knell for the bid played out fast and furious over the weekend and on Monday after the federal government announced Friday its intention to provide $1.75 billion for the Games. 

Minister Duncan told the Calgary Eyeopener on Monday that the federal government had made clear “since March 2018” that it would fund up to 50 per cent of the public contribution toward the 2026 Olympic Games if Calgary was chosen as the host city.

“That is the policy on our website, and we’ve done that. We’ve come forward with a commitment of $1.75 billion,” she said.

Calgary 2026 Olympic bid corporation estimates the Winter Games would cost $5.23 billion, with $3 billion of that coming from the public purse.

The $1.75 billion commitment from the feds is in 2026 dollars, which equates to $1.5 billion in 2018 dollars, or half the needed amount.

“We have been clear since the beginning we would fund up to 50 per cent, we would not go above the 50 per cent and we have never wavered from that position,” said Duncan.

Duncan also pointed out the federal contribution would match the provincial and municipal amounts.

Province and city react

Nenshi and Alberta Finance Minister Joe Ceci expressed outrage on the weekend at the federal announcement, with Ceci calling it “bad faith” and saying he understood there wouldn’t be a matching condition attached.

Ceci said the 50/50 rule was not discussed during the negotiations.

“This was learned through the news last week. This was a surprise to us,” said Ceci. 

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