Article content continued

“When we set aside the mean stuff really think about what were people concerned about, I think it’s really important for us over the weeks and months to come to start peeling that onion, and better understand how we got here, and what was at the root of people’s concerns and what is at the root of people’s hopes and dreams for the city and how we move forward.”

Mary Moran and Scott Hutcheson, who headed up BidCo together, hugged each other in disappointment.

“Obviously I’m disappointed,” Moran told reporters.

“This was a big dream for Calgary and I still believe to this day that we could’ve done a better job than 1988 and 2010 and once again show the world what a great community and city and country we are. That’s unfortunate but we’ve got to move forward and we need to do that in a more untied fashion and put more effort into thinking about our future.”

“We should be very proud of the work that Calgary 2026 did and we should be really proud of the work the Yes group did. A lot of people worked very, very hard and I’m just really incredibly grateful for the effort and how much people still believe in this community.”

Moran is skeptical about trying again in four years, and considering Calgary for the Winter Games in 2030, explaining that seven competitive cities have already shown interest. Still, Moran says she wants to keep working to revitalize the city in other ways.

“For me, I’m not going to give up on selling this city. I’m committed to it and I firmly believe that we have to work harder on it. For me, I’m just going to use the tools that we have today and continue to sell as hard as I can, and sell this city to talent and companies and investors to ensure that we can evolve our economy.”