Calgary council adds 2 skeptics to Olympic subcommittee after concerns over 'optics'
Concerns had been raised committee was dominated by pro-bid members
Calgary city council voted Wednesday to expand the membership of its new Olympic oversight subcommittee, after criticism the group was dominated by bid supporters.
On Monday, council voted in a closed door meeting to create the five-person subcommittee to focus on issues pertaining to a potential Calgary bid for the 2026 Winter Olympic Games.
Out of the five members elected Monday — Mayor Naheed Nenshi and Couns. Evan Woolley, Ray Jones, Diane Colley-Urquhart and Demong — only Demong has consistently opposed the idea of Calgary as a host city for the games.
Magliocca, Farrell added to committee
Council voted to expand the membership to seven on Wednesday — adding Couns. Joe Magliocca and Druh Farrell to the group.
Both Magliocca and Farrell are skeptics of a potential bid.
"I'm hoping that now we can put a certain amount of diversions behind us and actually focus on the job at hand, which is deciding whether this Olympics should go forward or not in a thoughtful, cohesive manner," Coun. Peter Demong said Wednesday.
Farrell had expressed her frustration on Twitter that she wasn't initially appointed to the committee on Tuesday, writing, "Pretty hard to get balance on the committee when the critic who was willing to serve wasn't appointed."
Pretty hard to get balance on the committee when the critic who was willing to serve wasn’t appointed.
—@DruhFarrellDemong said he was concerned about the "optics" of the committee's initial makeup.
"When you have a single person with one viewpoint and the balance of the committee with a different viewpoint, the optics don't look good," he said.
"So if we can now have what would seem to be a balanced committee going forward, I think the public would be more comfortable that the issues are being discussed in a balanced, transparent and neutral manner. That's a good thing."
With files from Scott Dippel