Dear Editor,
As Albertans we have all been listening to the news about how the City of Calgary thinks it should make a bid for the Olympics, and that the provincial and federal governments should pay the bill.
So, as Albertans, will we get double the hit the rest of Canadians will get? What benefit will we get from paying the bill? Exactly the same benefit that people in British Columbia got for paying for the Vancouver Olympics!
The benefit is a big fat tax bill with nothing to show for it; no deals on tickets, and certainly no free tickets since those are all reserved for the IOC dignitaries and sponsors. So, how is it people in Calgary get to hold a plebiscite to get us to pick up the bill for a party they want to throw?
In B.C. even local businesses did not even get a break. The Canadian Olympic committee (based in Quebec), of course, handed out transportation contracts to Quebec companies and American companies that showed up with buses that could not make it up the hills. That is how things work in Canada where some provinces get preferential treatment. You would think businesses in the host province paying the bill should get some preference but… this is Canada. So, the bid alone will cost $30 million to prepare, then the hosting cost is a moving number anywhere from $3.5 to $6 billion.
Considering, as a province and a country, we have just suffered through the worst economic downturn in memory, why would we be considering spending money that our grandchildren will have to repay?
The city of Edmonton recently gave up the Canadian Finals Rodeo which they have hosted since its inception. Considering Calgary is famous for hosting the biggest rodeo in the world, why would they not have pursued that? It happens every year for as long as you want to have it. The city of Red Deer has it now and it is not going to cost Albertan and Canadian tax payers a dime.
I hope that if you are a disabled veteran, an Albertan coal miner facing unemployment at the hands of the provincial government or a single parent trying to make ends meet working multiple part-time jobs, you are in total disbelief that this level of spending on a party is being considered.
Dan Robson
Okotoks
