City should have control of Olympic bid exploration, Calgary councillors say

Worried about handing over too much money and authority too quickly, city councillorsstopped shortMonday of taking a proposed next step in Calgary's potential Olympic bid.

Council voted to put off a decision on a funding arrangement that would have seen a 50-50 partnership betweenthe city and Tourism Calgary.

Several councillors saidthe city, itself, should have a controlling interest in the non-profit corporation being created with up to $5 million in civic fundsto explore the viability of bidding on the 2026 Winter Games.

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"I don't want to see the position of the city be on the sidelines," saidCoun. RichardPootmans

"Since the beginning, the city's role, I think, has been minimized and I don't like to see that further enshrined in what we're doing today."

The city has already named a17-member committee, chaired by former police chief Rick Hanson, to look into the viability of an Olympic bid.

At issue now is the exact mandate and governance structure of a non-profit company that will carryout the work.

"I certainly believe we need a stronger governance position," said Pootmans, who called for the city to have a 51-per-cent stake,which he said would ensure accountability for taxpayersand have the added benefit of making decisions easier than in an equally split partnership with Tourism Calgary.

Coun. Evan Woolley agreed, saying there are a lot of "great people" on the committee but the city needs to maintain an active role as the viability of anOlympic bid is explored.

"This obviously has really, really big implications for us as a city," Woolley said.

"We have to be walked along throughout this process."

Short time frames

Kurt Hanson, the city's general manger of community services, said the he appreciated councillors' concerns and noted theproposed corporate structure was put together quickly, given how rapidlythings have developed since council took the first stepin Junetoward exploringan Olympic bid.

That said, he also told councillorsthe non-profit corporation would need to be grantedthe mandate andagility to act quickly in orderprovide a meaningfulinterim report byJanuary 2017 and a final report in July 2017.

"If we want to get this done, we're going to have to be able to give them the wheels to do it," Hanson said.

Council voted to put off deciding on the corporate structure until it receives more "rationale" for the proposed 50-50 split as well as "potential alternative structures that would secure a controlling interest for the City of Calgary."

City staff are to report back by Oct. 3.