Here's how Calgary reacted to the Olympic plebiscite results
Calgary’s hopes of hosting the 2026 Winter Olympics have finally ended.
The city-wide plebiscite hammered the final nail into the coffin on a bid process that had been plagued with City Council disputes, last-minute funding agreements, and heated division between Calgarians.
See also
- Plebiscite on pace to see higher voter turnout than 2017's Election Day
- Here's what the 2026 Calgary Olympics could look like (RENDERINGS)
- Calgary votes against bidding to host the 2026 Olympic Winter Games
With the plebiscite’s unofficial results stating that 171,750 Calgarians (56.4% of voters) cast their ballots against an official bid, the long process is finally coming to its end.
There were many people anxiously awaiting the announcement of the unofficial results on Tuesday night, and due to the City of Calgary’s new tabulator voting process, the results were announced once they were all counted, rather than the usual process of announcing percentages as polling station numbers come in.
The City of Calgary posted a tweet at 9:37 pm stating that they would be announcing the results “within the next 15 minutes,” which had Calgarians refreshing their Twitter feeds for the next 20 minutes.
We expect to release #yycvote results within the next 15 minutes.
— City of Calgary (@cityofcalgary) November 14, 2018
CMON! #yycvote pic.twitter.com/zHmq7mzhO1
— Kirsten Alyssa (@_kirstenalyssa) November 14, 2018
Waiting for the #yycvote results to be announced all at once instead of having results trickle in like a normal election is actually torture.
— Kyra N. Bird (@KyraNBird_) November 14, 2018
#yycvote pic.twitter.com/5wXFU7iGDI
— Sarvesh Thuse (@sthuse) November 14, 2018
At 9:55 pm, the city announced the unofficial results that the NO side had won, and Calgarians on Twitter were unsurprisingly both enthused and disappointed.
This used to be a “can do” city. Now it’s just a dying one. #yycvote
— christerf (@christerf) November 14, 2018
#yycvote pic.twitter.com/nnwaDGRU0u
— john pedlar (@JohnPedlar) November 14, 2018
I am disappointed in the result of the #Calgary2026 vote, but on the bright side at least we can build 1,000 more of these: pic.twitter.com/SJNDwNMwFU
— Zenon Herasymiuk (@ZenonHerasymiuk) November 14, 2018
The NO campaign to the IOC #Calgary2026 pic.twitter.com/wezmkXYmyK
— Garrett McCoy (@GarrettMcCoy) November 14, 2018
I guess this means #VirtueMoir won’t be coming to my city in 2026. #yycvote pic.twitter.com/mfOGIvBMGb
— Waccace (@Waccace1) November 14, 2018
Well it appears the No side won. #yycvote no Olympics bid. I am disappointed. As it will never happen again in my life time. pic.twitter.com/Zrmg7NmJjt
— Ivanna_justamom🇨🇦 (@VapinSquirrel) November 14, 2018
#CALGARY2026 pic.twitter.com/afoEl5cLHq
— Matthew B. (@MattBInYYC) November 14, 2018
And some people were just happy that the plebiscite saw such a large turnout, with 304,774 Calgarians casting a ballot one way or the other.
Here’s one positive Calgary, for EVERYONE in #yyc: there was a good turnout for a plebiscite. People got involved in the politics! I had a lot of good discussions with neighbours and friends, who voted both ways. Let’s hope we keep that trend going with our politics. #yycvote
— Chris Mahoolahan (@chrismcgdude) November 14, 2018