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For now, though, the province is non-committal. Both the finance minister and the premier’s chief spokesperson would only say that if the city decides to pursue the Olympics, then they would consider the proposal.

As far as lessons go, $5 million is an expensive one, but hopefully, this process will discourage the city from going any further. As of now, the idea is a dangerous combination of unrealistic optimism and nostalgia for the 1988 Games.

If the Olympics are merely an excuse for spending money to upgrade existing sports facilities or building new ones, then we should spare ourselves the charade, and debate such projects on their own merits. If these expenditures — or other infrastructure projects — are not in the public interest, then it makes even less sense to compound that with the additional expense of an Olympic Games.

The nostalgia should certainly be dispensed with. The Olympics have changed considerably since 1988, and unfortunately, so too has the International Olympic Committee. The number of athletes more than doubled from 1988 to the 2014 Winter Olympics. The arrogance of the IOC has grown at likely a much greater pace.

We should take notice of the fact that there were so few cities competing for the 2022 Winter Olympics. Beijing was awarded the games, beating out Almaty, Kazakhstan. A third city, and the likely front-runner, Oslo, pulled out of the running after deciding that the financial costs and the long list of demands from the IOC simply weren’t worth it.