Calgary Councillor warns bid for 2026 Winter Olympics does not make sense as survey reveals high support in region

Calgary Councillor Jeromy Farkas has claimed he has been told by residents in the city that a bid for the 2026 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games "does not make sense for our priorities", despite a survey revealing a good degree of support in the region.

The survey, conducted by research company Nanos and commissioned by CTV News before Pyeongchang 2018, showed 68 per cent of the Canadian Prairies - where Calgary is located - said they were supportive or somewhat supportive of entering the race for the 2026 event.

Around 25 per cent of respondents to the survey of 1,000 adults, which outlined how hosting the Games can be very expensive but also highlighted the benefits, said they backed a potential bid.

Thirty-two per cent of those surveyed suggested they were somewhat supportive of any campaign.

Nearly a quarter of those who responded said they completely opposed the idea, while 17 per cent were somewhat against.

The biggest support for Calgary bidding for the 2026 Winter Olympics came from the Prairies, a region in Western Canada which comprises the provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba.

Farkas said, however, that the city had bigger priorities than bidding for the Games.

"We actually need to go to Calgarians about whether or not we want to host the Olympics," said Farkas.

Calgary last hosted the Winter Olympic Games in 1988 ©Getty Images

Farkas added: "What I’m hearing from my constituents is that hosting the Games at this time just doesn’t make sense for our priorities.

"We’re five years after the disastrous 2013 flood, we’re not a step closer for upstream flood mitigation, we can barely keep our streets clear of snow, so why do we focus on these frivolities rather than the necessities?"

Other Councillors, however, appear to support the idea of Calgary, which hosted the 1988 Games, putting their hat in the ring in the race for the 2026 event.

"Especially with the way we’re winning medals in this year’s Olympics and Calgary being the training centre for Canada for Winter Olympics, I think it would be a good thing, even to get the new facilities up and running for the new athletes coming up," Ray Jones said.

"We have to replenish those facilities anyway, because they’re 30 years old and they’re starting to get a little threadbare."

Calgary has estimated it will cost CAD$30 million (£17 million/$24 million/€19 million) to bid for the Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games, of which Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi is hoping CAD$10 million (£6 million/$8 million/€6.5 million) would come from the Federal and Provincial Governments.

Last June, the Calgary Bid Exploration Committee estimated that hosting the 2026 Olympics in Calgary would cost around CAD$4.6 billion (£2.6 billion/$3.6 billion/€2.9 billion).

Sion in Switzerland, Sapporo in Japan, Sweden's capital Stockholm and Graz and Schladming in Austria are among other potential bidders.