Calgary city council will be asked to withdraw from cost-sharing negotiations and kill a bid for the 2026 Olympic Winter games, according to a report from the Calgary Hearld.
The report states that despite a weekend of intense negotiations between the city, province and federal governments, a solution does not appear to be close.
“There were some last-ditch efforts happening (Monday) morning to salvage the bid, but it’s over,” a senior municipal source with knowledge of the negotiations told the Hearld.
Council is expected to vote Wednesday on a recommendation to pull out of negotiations with the provincial and federal governments over how the three levels of government would split funding for the $3-billion price tag required for the bid. The remaining costs of the $5.2 billion bid were expected to be covered by revenue from the Games.
A plebiscite scheduled for Nov. 13 would have given Calgary citizens a chance to vote on whether the city should proceed with a bid. But with the three branches of government unable to agree on exactly what the bid would look like, that plebiscite is now expected to be cancelled.
On Oct. 9, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) voted to allow Calgary, Stockholm, Sweden and Milan-Cortina, Italy to proceed with bids for the 2026 Games. A final decision on the host is expected in June when the IOC meets in Lausanne, Switzerland.
With files from the Canadian Press.
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