No provincial details yet as to Olympic funding agreement

CALGARY (660 NEWS) – Time is quickly running out for the provincial government if it plans to meet its self-imposed 30-day deadline of releasing details of a cost-sharing agreement over the potential 2026 Olympic games.

It had promised to release the breakdown 30 days ahead of a plebiscite vote that is scheduled to happen on November 13, 2018.

Members of Calgary’s sporting community gathered at the “Celebration of Sport”, hosted by Sport Calgary Thursday and it didn’t take long for talk to turn to the vote.

READ MORE: Cost-sharing agreement up in air ahead of Calgary Olympic plebiscite

Calgary 2026 CEO Mary Moran isn’t worried.

“I’m not panicked, I think they are working super hard, all orders of government are working really hard and we’re there to provide a service and answer questions,” said Moran. “We’ll be doing that right to the moment, I think.”

Moran told boosters in the crowd that they believe this is a responsible and good deal for taxpayers adding the operation of the games will pay for itself.

“Gone are the days where a city has to build everything from scratch, we have 11 of the 13 venues already built,” she said. “There is no one who wants a bigger arena than me, I’m encouraged by the progress we’ve made.”

Calgary 2026 board member and former Olympian Catriona Le May Doan echoed the sentiments of Moran.

“I would say not panic time for myself, it shouldn’t be panic time for people because I just want people to understand facts,” said Le May Doan. “We’re becoming very, very focused on numbers which is important and numbers have been released so people talk about hidden numbers, the hosting plan was released. We need people to find out information, the information about the revenues, what the IOC will be bringing in, ticket revenues. $5.2 Billion is not the right number.”

Le May Doan says the easiest thing is to say “no”, she’s hoping the information sessions will be for everyone to talk and learn about what’s being put forward.

READ MORE: ‘The province is broke:’ Alberta Opposition leader undecided on Olympic bid

Alberta’s Ministry of Tourism released a statement, in it they write:

“The Government of Alberta has committed to having a package of information in the hands of Calgarians a minimum of 30 days before the plebiscite on Nov. 13 and we will honour that commitment. While things are looking up – our economy is growing, and Albertans are returning to work – Albertans still expect their government to spend their money in a responsible way. That is why we’ve said all along that if Calgary is to pursue a bid for the 2026 Winter Games they need not just the support of all three levels of government, but the support of Calgarians as well.”

Calgarians go to the polls on November 13, 2018.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC), announced earlier that Calgary was one of three cities being considered to host along with Stockholm, Sweden as well as Milan and Cortina D’Ampezzo, Italy.