Article content continued

“It’s been a marvellous secret, actually,” he said.

“We had a lot of work to do. We had a lot of thinking to do, a lot of surveying to do, and I think we did a very thorough job to get to this stage.”

While he emphasized that many steps remain, Mayor Naheed Nenshi welcomed council’s endorsement to explore a bid, nearly three decades after Calgary hosted what’s widely considered to be one of the most successful Olympics ever.

“From almost the moment that I was elected mayor, six years ago almost, citizens have been coming to me saying, it’s time. It’s time in the world-wide Olympic movement, it’s time in the sport history of this city and it’s time in the cultural history of this city for us to bid for another Olympic Games,” Nenshi said.

“What council heard today is that it is time. It’s time to explore this bid in detail.”

Council heard that a study commissioned by the CSTA concluded the 2026 Games could add 40,000 jobs for Albertans, generate $3.7 billion in GDP to the Alberta economy and $2.6 billion of additional labour income.

But some councillors questioned what the city’s priorities are and argued against spending up to $5 million to collect more data on a potential bid.

Coun. Druh Farell said while it may be “seductive to think about reliving that euphoria” of the 1988 Olympics, the money to examine a bid could be better spent on projects like the Green Line.

The CSTA estimated that up to 20 per cent of the $5 million cost to explore a bid could be raised privately.