Some city councillors are concerned about the ongoing secrecy surrounding the hiring of the city’s Olympic bid committee and the mayor is joining the call for more transparency.

The Calgary Bid Exploration Committee (CBEC) is looking at the pros and cons of hosting the 2026 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The 17 member, volunteer board headed by former police chief Rick Hanson, includes General Manager Brian Hahn and Committee Spokesperson Sean Beardow but most of the other staffers names had not been revealed According to Beardow, the rest of the staff had not consented to have their names made public

Some councillors are concerned because the committee also isn't disclosing salaries or details of the hiring process, which is unlike many other city committees that do share salary and hiring specifics.

The mayor says he doesn't know why the information is being kept secret.

“I was surprised to see that that information was being withheld. I have asked for a very good rational why that is being withheld, because frankly I would like to celebrate the great people they've hired. I’d like to celebrate the expertise and experience of the people who are willing to come for short term contract to help us with this very, very big problem so that is a conversation that I am continuing to have,” said Nenshi.

The mayor didn’t say when he would go back to the committee to press for the information or if he would make it public.

Paige MacPherson of the Canadian Taxpayers' Federation says the committee started off on the wrong foot with its initial decision to keep the names of its members under wraps.

"At the end of the day, these employees are being paid with taxpayer dollars, so taxpayers have a right to know who they are," said MacPherson. "Why were these people hired over others? how much is each individual getting paid. There's a lot of interest around why this Olympic committee even exists and why we're exploring a bid at this time when taxpayers are already struggling."

In a statement released Friday afternoon, Rick Hanson addressed the issue.

CBEC initially declined to provide a full staff list of names and positions, We take the personal safety of our staff very seriously and wanted to ensure all staff had the opportunity to make disclosures about safety risks before releasing names and positions.

Since then, all staff members who report to the Board have been publically listed on the CBEC web site We hope that Calgarians have an opportunity to visit the site and learn more about the Committee’s work and some of the great people we have doing it.

While considerable attention has been placed on who is doing the work, I would encourage all Calgarians to learn more about what that work entails and how their opinions will form a key part of our report that we will deliver to City Council"

The Bid Exploration Committee has also been tasked with developing a long-term plan for the renewal of the city’s 1988 facilities and will bring its final report to council in July.

The committee has created a website for people to check out for more information on Calgary's bid.

The CBEC is comprised of: