Canada Minister of Sport Kent Hehr is "pushing for Calgary to bid for the 2026 Winter Olympics" and said that the legacy from the last time the western Canadian city hosted the Games "was worth it," a report on Friday revealed, according to Frank Pingue of REUTERS. At a time when "many cities have pulled out of Olympics bids given concerns about massive costs," Hehr said that he feels the 1988 Winter Games host "would benefit from doing it again." Hehr said, "I know an Olympic bid, deep in my heart, would be something that would be extraordinary." The Calgary City Council recently voted to give C$1M ($788,300) to continue research into bidding to host the 2026 Games. According to Hehr, there was "plenty of economic uncertainty in Calgary" during the late '70s and early '80s and "many people who did not want the city to host the Olympics." Hehr: "There were lots of naysayers around that as well. But the legacy that was left, the opportunities it gave kids in the community to develop, I think were well worth the angst and the time" (REUTERS, 12/1).
