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Despite holding all of the advantages at the outset, Calgary’s 2026 Winter Olympic bid was ultimately done in by incompetence, ego and the proper skepticism and common sense of the populace.

The resounding repudiation of the plan evident in Tuesday’s plebiscite result is a blow to Mayor Naheed Nenshi, the business community, including the city’s chamber of commerce, that championed the dream and most certainly the International Olympic Committee. There are now only two suitors vying for a chance to hold these Games – Stockholm and Milan – which is remarkably telling and could signal an important turning point in the recent history of the Olympics.

Far more cities are saying no to these opportunities today, than yes. Sweden has been turned down seven times by the IOC already and now a new city government in Stockholm is insisting that no taxpayer dollars be used in the bid, throwing the city’s application into chaos and confusion. Milan could get these Games by default. What a statement that would be.

There is plenty of blame to be shared for the decision in Calgary. And it starts with the group who came up with the idea in the first place.

I, for one, was never quite sure what the vision for these Games was. It seemed to be: Let’s relive the party that we put on in 1988, it might be good for what ails the local economy. And we’ll do it on a shoestring budget by reusing facilities from the original shindig! As grand ideas go, it was a major fail. The bid corporation really didn’t offer people much to get excited about.

Where was the train to the airport, the breathtaking new highway to Whistler that people in Vancouver got to be so jacked-up about? Calgary was going to have to use the same dumpy hockey arena that is the source of so much angst in the city. A plan that included a stunning new rink like the one up the road in Edmonton might have done the trick. But alas, that was not to be in this renovation-themed bid.

The proposal also didn’t have the necessary political support or a true champion to sell people on its merits. Mr. Nenshi was an Olympic booster but seemed reluctant to go all-in on this pitch. Premier Rachel Notley offered some money but tepid support. When Vancouver held a plebiscite around its 2010 Games proposal, then-mayor Larry Campbell campaigned hard for the Yes side, and was prepared to expend as much political capital as necessary to make it happen. Premier Gordon Campbell pushed hard, too. Vancouver’s ace in the hole, however, was John Furlong, a charismatic and gifted speaker who sold his vision in countless speeches.

Calgary desperately needed someone like that.

In the critical weeks leading up to the plebiscite, the conversation around Calgary’s bid was bogged down in controversy and chaos. No one could agree on the final numbers. Who was going to be responsible for cost overruns? The feds will be. No, the city will be. No, the province will be. The lack of transparency around constructions costs and other expenses only fuelled distrust and cynicism. Against the backdrop of horrible, debilitating cost overruns at other Olympics, it was all too much.

And what was the public supposed to think when city councillors, two weeks before the plebiscite, voted to kill the bid altogether? I mean, come on. Why even bother holding a plebiscite after that?

Even though the No side was vastly outmatched by the war chest the Yes campaign had at its disposal, it didn’t matter. As it turns out, all the No camp had to do was sit back and watch bid proponents screw it up themselves – day, after day, after day. Even for those who thought holding the Games was a bad idea, it was difficult to watch.

So what now? Maybe the Olympics would have been the catalyst to ignite economic activity in Calgary, but maybe not, too. Unemployment is at 8 per cent. Roughly 25 per cent of downtown offices sit vacant. Oil prices in the province are at historic lows. There is no immediate end in sight to the pain the city is experiencing.

But Calgarians are a practical lot. They are generally allergic to flimflam, and I think many felt that with this bid they were being asked to support a deeply flawed plan that didn’t add up in the end.

It has the left the city with critical questions to face. And the International Olympic Committee with even more.

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