‘The clock has run out’: Calgary council voting Wednesday on whether to end 2026 Olympic bid

WATCH: Committee recommends ending Calgary’s 2026 Olympic bid

CALGARY (660 NEWS) — After emerging from an in-camera meeting, councillors have produced a motion to end the process of submitting a bid for the 2026 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Calgary city council will vote tomorrow on motions to kill the bid and cancel a Nov. 13 plebiscite asking Calgarians whether it should proceed.

Coun. Evan Woolley, who is chair of the Olympic committee, said Tuesday that it was not an easy decision.

“The clock has run out. I think it’s time we move on,” he said.

The motion would also end the Calgary 2026 bid corporation.

Council has moved it as a piece of urgent business to be presented at Wednesday’s council meeting. Ten votes are needed for it to pass.

Woolley later tweeted out a full list of recommendations that would be put before council Wednesday, adding he’s looking forward to “a healthy discussion”.

Federal Sports Minister Kirsty Duncan says her department worked overnight into Tuesday morning in hopes of resolving the funding concerns, but would not elaborate.

The federal government has committed 1.5-billion dollars to the bid, which is half the three billion dollars the city, province and feds were asked to contribute by the bid corporation Calgary 2026. The sticking point is that the feds want the city and provincial government to match that figure.

The bid corporation estimated the cost of hosting the games at $5.2 billion. Calgary 2026 asked for a combined $3 billion contribution from the federal and provincial governments and the city.