The fraught politics of sports funding

theglobeandmail.com
By Gary Mason
Oct. 28, 2016

There are two fundamental views on playing host to international sporting competitions such as the Olympics: It’s a colossal waste of money that has the potential to burden generations with massive debt or a great opportunity for a city to generate civic pride and stimulate the local economy.

There are currently three such events being considered for Canada, all of which would happen in the same year: 2026. And given that each would rely heavily on an infusion of dollars from Ottawa, the Trudeau Liberals are hoping they don’t have to play favourites and choose one over the others.

So what are they? Edmonton is eyeing the Commonwealth Games, Calgary the Winter Olympics, while discussions are also taking place around the idea of a three-country proposal to play host to the men’s World Cup of Soccer, one that would involve Mexico, the United States and Canada.

Arguably the most intriguing proposition is Calgary’s dream of staging the Winter Games 38 years after it last did. While the city’s mayor, Naheed Nenshi, is saying all the right things about needing to do a thorough feasibility study with an unflinching eye on the bottom line before a final bid decision is made, it’s not hard to discern his enthusiasm for the idea.

It’s also not difficult to see why he might be a passionate proponent of such a venture.

It’s no secret Calgary is hurting. The drop in the price of oil has delivered a swift and unmerciful kick to the city’s gut. No one knows for sure when things will return to normal or what that new normal will look like. At the very least, an Olympic bid might help people there focus on something other than the forbidding circumstances in which they currently find themselves. (And create some new jobs at the same time.)

Mr. Nenshi often recalls with fondness the time he spent at the Winter Olympics in Vancouver in 2010. He witnessed up close what it meant to the city and the infrastructure legacy it left behind, including a glistening new transit line between downtown and the airport.

An audit of the Vancouver Games showed that for every $12 spent by Ottawa and the province, local citizens shelled out only $1 in direct taxes to get significant infrastructure upgrades for their city. Mr. Nenshi is certainly aware of that calculus as well.

It just so happens that there is a major push under way in Calgary to build a new downtown arena to replace the aging Saddledome, constructed more than 30 years ago to play host to hockey and figure skating (as well as provide a new home for the NHL’s Flames) at the 1988 Games. It’s not difficult imagining a new facility becoming the sparkling centrepiece of a fresh Olympic bid by the city.

Calgary has a couple of things going for it.

The International Olympic Committee, aware that the exorbitant costs of playing host to a Games is turning many cities off the idea, is encouraging bids that don’t involve a significant degree of new infrastructure spending. Because Calgary would be able to use many venues that remain functional from the ’88 Games, this would work in the city’s favour.

Also, don’t underestimate the value of a charismatic pitchman, which the city certainly has in Mr. Nenshi. In the often bizarre, fraught world of IOC politics, charm like his can go a long way.

Probably the biggest question looming over a Calgary bid is the extent to which the current provincial government is willing to get involved.

The province of Alberta is not exactly rolling in dough at the moment. And its financial future is uncertain. Would NDP Premier Rachel Notley be prepared to commit hundreds of millions of dollars, and possibly more, toward an Olympic bid when the province is already racking up historic levels of debt?

The Vancouver Games cost $7-billion. The provincial government borrowed billions to finance its part of projects that were vital to the staging of the Olympics, including a new convention centre, an expanded highway to Whistler and the transit line. That money was simply added to the provincial debt.

Would the NDP be comfortable spending that kind of dough on a sporting event over, say, social services? Or would Ms. Notley’s government be more apt to resist supporting an Olympic bid on ideological grounds?

It could be one of the biggest decisions her government faces.