As the City of Calgary continues to barrel down the track towards spending $30 million of taxpayers’ money on an Olympic bid, you might want to ask your elected officials about this possibility:

What happens if Calgary spends $30 million, puts in the best bid to host the Olympics, but loses out because some other country bribed Olympic officials to vote for their bid?

If the idea sounds farfetched, consider the many news stories of bribes, alleged bribes and questionable gifts related to the following Olympic bid selections: Tokyo (2020), Pyeongchang (2018), Rio de Janiero (2016), London (2012), Salt Lake City (2002), Sydney (2000), Nagano (1998), Atlanta (1996) and Barcelona (1992).

The American Journal Review had this to say about Salt Lake City’s bribes, “Salt Lake Olympic officials gave International Olympic Committee (IOC) members free credit cards when they came to town, spent $19,991 to take three IOC couples to the 1995 Super Bowl, loaned one member $30,000 to help a friend and paid for plastic surgery to remove the bags under the eyes of an IOC member…”

England’s The Guardian newspaper has been chasing a story for a little while about how Brazilian prosecutors have been investigating payments to the son of an Olympic voting member. Tokyo’s Olympic bid committee made €1.7 million (approx. $2.7 million CDN) in payments to the individual just prior, and soon after, Tokyo was awarded the 2020 Olympics.

Olympic bid Tom Foolery has not just been confined to the Northern Hemisphere. Consider what the BBC noted about Australia’s bid for the Olympics: “The head of the independent inquiry, Mr Tom Sheridan, says Sydney might not have won the bid if hospitality and red carpet treatment given to IOC delegates had been less extravagant.” 

When Barcelona battled for the Olympics, consider what Vanity Fair noted some of the city’s competitors were up to: “Repeatedly, [International Olympic Committee] members were found to be accepting bribes from cities wanting to host the Olympic Games. Amsterdam’s bid committee for the 1992 Games allegedly procured prostitutes for two IOC members.”

The same media outlet noted this about Atlanta, “The Atlanta 1996 committee doled out invitations to the Oscars, “free” shopping sprees, and lavish vacations by chartered jet for members.”

The Guardian noted in October 2017 that an official involved in Rio de Janiero’s Olympic bid had been arrested after it was alleged that “16 gold bars” worth $2 million [USD] were stored in a bank in Switzerland. The Guardian further claimed, “he was a key figure in a bribery scandal which led to Rio de Janeiro being awarded South America’s first Olympics.”

These kinds of bribes might be common in other countries. But, it’s highly unlikely anyone involved in a Calgary bid would play these dirty games. In fact, it’s doubtful it’s even crossed their minds.

Councillor Jeromy Farkas read out our blog post – which detailed these examples – at the last council meeting. As he read these examples, some councillors sat there with stunned looks on their faces, seeming to question what exactly they were getting our city into. However, nine members of council ultimately went on to vote in favour of continuing to explore an Olympic bid.

Yet, just because Canadians might not play these dirty games, doesn’t mean our competitors won’t. In fact, the evidence suggests they just might.

It should be clear, while Canadian athletes often make us proud at the Olympic Games, the process for deciding where the Olympics will be held is often rife with corruption and questionable activities. It’s time to pull the plug on this risky and questionable bid process.

Colin Craig is the Alberta Director for the Canadian Taxpayers Federation
This column was published in the April 30, 2018 edition of the Calgary Herald