Opponents of Calgary Olympic bid decry 'lack of information' on cost of hosting Games

More than 100 people gathered at a southwest Calgary bar on Monday night to hear why the city should not bid to host the Olympics.

The public forum was put on by several groups who oppose the potential Calgary 2026 bid.

The event was held just a few hours after Alberta Premier Rachel Notley suggested that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) should be prevailed upon to come up with more money for the host city.

• Notley suggests IOC could pitch in more for a Calgary 2026 Olympics

The IOC has committed to giving the successful 2026 host city $925 million US ($1.2 billion Cdn.) in cash and services.

Institute for Public Sector Accountability president Marcel Latouche, who spoke at the anti-bid forum, said the premier's suggestion isn't credible.

"The problem that we have is the IOC makes a lot of promises. And once the Games areover, they leave you with the cabbage," he said.

"They have no accountability."

• Safeguards in place to make sure people don't vote twice on Olympic plebiscite

Latouche says much of the problem with the potential bid comes down to what he sees as a lack of transparency.

"Everybody is concerned about the lack of information or credible information about the number of issues going on," he said.

"It's not about facilities so much as the amount of money citizens of Calgary would have to contribute through taxation in future years."

Jeanne Milne, director of social media for NoCalgaryOlympics.org, said she was pleased with the turnout.

"And so we had a lot of supporters, we wanted to bring them together and let them know they're part of a group and it's a growing group within the city," she said.

"We felt it was important to get together and to talk about why people are No and what those key questions are."

Of the estimated $5.2-billion price tag to host the Games, the Calgary 2026 bid corporation has proposed a $3-billion public investment split between the city, the provinceand the federal government.

The remainder would be paid for with revenues from the Games.

The Alberta government says it will contribute $700 million. The federal government hasn't yet confirmed how much it's willing to spend. The city says it won't release its number before Ottawa does.

The legacy venues from Calgary's 1988 Games are the foundation for the possible 2026 bid. Those facilities would need about $500 million in upgrades, according to Calgary 2026.

The new facilities proposed include an athletesvillage to be converted into a mix of affordable, attainable and market housing post-Games as well as a fieldhouse and a mid-sized arena for 5,000 to 6,000 spectators.

The bid corporation's proposed budget also includes $1.1 billion in operating and capital contingency funds to mitigate risk.

On Nov. 13,Calgarians will vote in a non-binding plebiscite on whether to bid on the Olympic Games.

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