Calgary’s bid to host the 2026 Olympics is officially dead, but according to Edmonton’s mayor, there may be a regrowth of it in the provincial capital—just not from the city.
Don Iveson responded to rumours of Edmonton interest in hosting the 2026 Olympics Monday night.
“I'm aware that there have been some Hail Mary conversations with different folks in Edmonton—particularly in the sports and business community, people who have been involved in international games movement in the past,” he said, “but none of them have actually come to city hall with any kind of proposal.”
He reiterated the City of Edmonton’s top priority for provincial investment remains replacing expiring infrastructure with a revenue-sharing deal between Alberta and municipalities.
“Quite frankly, until that’s resolved, I’d have no interest in talking about anything to do with bread and circuses out in the future.”
He added that he believes it’s “too little, too late” for Edmonton to bid on the games, considering no formal proposal has been made to the city.
... rest of the sentence is ‘however our top priority is not this, it’s a new revenue-sharing deal to keep up with our infrastructure needs and other long-term innovation & economic development initiatives. #yyccc #yegcc #ableg https://t.co/p4o4fG0TUC
— Don Iveson (@doniveson) November 20, 2018
The comments were made to media following a business event in downtown Edmonton with former Pittsburgh Mayor Tom Murphy, Stantec and Urban Land Institute Alberta.
With files from Sean Amato
