Calgary city council has voted 9-6 in favour of continuing the 2026 Olympic bid process until at least June
A packed agenda with members of the public waiting for their chance to have their items heard by council got pushed to the side as council voted to get the Olympic item out of the way instead of waiting until Tuesday.
WATCH: Calgary’s Olympic dreams are still alive. City council voted Monday to keep the bid exploration process going. Lisa MacGregor reports.
Going into the meeting, the sense was the Olympics were dead with the indication of a “no” from councillor Ward Sutherland.
Instead, he stood up and told members of the council he’s struggled over the issue this past week.
LISTEN: Ward Sutherland explains why he changed his mind
He mentioned an immense amount of lobbying for both the yes and no sides, saying he’s even gotten death threats.
Sutherland said it’s easy to say no, but wants the proper financial information before making a final decision.
He said another chance to say no will come in June.
Those who voted in support of continuing the bid process were Ward Sutherland, Gian-Carlo Carra, George Chahal, Diane Colley-Urquhart, Jeff Davison, Ray Jones, Shane Keating, Evan Woolley and Naheed Nenshi.
Those who voted no: Sean Chu, Peter Demong, Jeromy Farkas, Druh Farrell, Jyoti Gondek and Joe Magliocca