Do or die for Calgary Olympic bid at council Monday

Read the latest on this story |Calgary council votes to keep Olympic bid alive

Monday could mark the end for any dreams of the2026 Winter Olympics being held inCalgary, or it could be a big step on the road to going after the event.

City council is being asked to approve spending $2 million more onthe preparations for a possible bid. The money would come from the city's rainy day fund.

One city councillor, Shane Keating, calls it an Olympic-sized fork in the road approve spending $2 million and get ready to form a bid corporation, or reject the idea.

• Calgary city council votes to stay in bid game for 2026 Olympics
• Calgary Olympic bid exploration group ends work, returns $1.7M to city

Administration says if it gets the no-go from council, all Olympic work should cease.

Moshe Lander, aprofessor of economics atConcordiaUniversity,says given that Calgary hosted the games in 1988, it's already on the winter sports map, so there's little to gain by bidding onanother Olympics.

"Olympics in general are not profitable endeavours," Lander said.

• City administrators open to 2026 Olympic bid but say financial conditions have to be met

"The only Olympic Games that I am familiar with that actually made a profitwere the 1984 Summer Games in Los Angeles, and that was because they advertised the crap out of every site. Even the London Summer Olympics in 2012 weren't marketed in a way that made them profitable."

But he adds there are other benefits.

"The reason for hosting them then is say, for status, or to push forward infrastructure projects that otherwise wouldn't take place."

Four city councillors are already on record as being opposed toputting any more money into the bid.

The games could cost $4.6 billion.

Monday's report indicates responses on possible federal and provincial support are expected by the end of the year.

• MORE CALGARY NEWS|NDP leader Jagmeet Singh talks Alberta, energy and economic justice
• MORE CALGARY NEWS| Jason Kenney opens Calgary-Lougheed campaign office