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When the 2026 Olympics chatter started in 2016, I called for a plebiscite, and pushed for it in Council with a Motion. Only when the province stepped in and made a YES vote necessary to receive $700M in funding did the City reluctantly organize a plebiscite. But instead of the $390,000.00 cost to have it in conjunction with the 2017 election, we spent over $2.1 million in 2018.

I was ridiculed for wanting a plebiscite in 2016, and again in 2017, and when 56.4% of Calgarians voted NO to the 2026 Olympic bid…the chattering classes who thought they knew best disappeared. They also spent $7 million to convince Calgarians to spend Billions more. The NO side had nothing, and was volunteer run.

The 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia was a $1.2B, and the 2022 Games in Birmingham was $926M. This is a lot of money, and just like the 2026 Winter Olympic bid there will be a lot of unanswered questions, and questionable math for the Commonwealth Game bid. The only fact that we know is that taxpayers will be on the hook, and cost overruns are the norm, not the exception.

Here we go again. #yyc #yeg #ableg #yyccc

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The Yes or No ballot was a condition of the provincial government of the day forking over their share of the costs.

Most people at city hall DID NOT want the vote. Surprise, surprise.

But they had no choice and Calgarians voted No. It wasn’t even close.

Will there be a plebiscite now?

The bid people say they are NOT planning on a plebiscite and the city and the province haven’t requested one.

The decision about whether to go forward will be the decision of city council, the provincial government and Ottawa.

Oh joy.”

Sean Chu

Sean Chu arrived in Calgary from Taiwan in 1985 speaking not a word of English, and within 7 years he was a sworn officer with the Calgary Police Service. From that point on Sean worked with the Calgary Police Service as on Officer for 21 years in a number of roles until 2013.

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