Toronto 2024 Olympic Bid (Dead)

[Tewder]

An Olympics isn't equivalent to 'social justice' or 'infrastructure' or 'bike lanes' or 'subsidized housing' or 'the arts'. It's equivalent to other sports professional or quasi-professional, and should be paid for by the same people who pay for other professional sports -- the ticket buyers and TV watchers.

Ok, so by your admission we should cut off funding for Stratford, the Canadian Opera Company, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Canadian Stage... we can go on. These are all professional equity performers in professional companies so according to your definition they should all be cut off. Sad world.

Thank you for your congratulations. I hope you're correct about the 30 year timeline, so I don't have to have this discussion again until I"m 79.

Come on, you know you're going to miss sparring with me!

If they don't win over Paris it is either because Paris is the favourite city or/and Europe is the chosen continent (like I said before it is sorta Europe's turn).....either way, if Paris is unbeatable it just makes the decision not to bid so much better.

We'll know in a couple of years and then can start envisioning a credible bid for the city!

I'm calling it now: Toronto will get a summer Olympics when it is the only city in a developed democratic nation to bid. And all the other developed democratic nations will laugh at us for being such chumps.

Oh like the USA? France? England? Australia? Germany?... Canada?... um' just which imaginary developed countries are you referring to that would stand in such judgement of Toronto? Chumps indeed.

Not trolling at all. There will likely be a bid attempt.

I'm not sure if it's just that you simply can't resist a conspiracy theory or if it's something more worrisome... time to check your meds animatronic, the terror of the past few weeks may have done some serious damage.

 

[BMO]

I'm kind of disappointed. More so at the people who seem to think this decision means MORE investment in Toronto, which is a complete fallacy. If anything the Olympics would have pushed other levels of government and private investment towards Toronto. Now we'll just be dealing with the status quo with no real incentive for anyone to toss in money at risk of being embarrassed.

The Olympics would have been a decent stimulus package and provided money for thousands of jobs regardless of whether people think it's just to employ government friends. You'd have had jobs at almost every skill level being required for something like this from construction to Consulting to policy and security.

Here's hoping this leads to a more active look at bidding on some other events at least. We shouldn't be afraid to invite the world. Let's make a business case for it and see if the benefits win out? It is possible to host an event and actually have a positive...which is something I feel a lot of people forget.

 

[Riverdale Rink Rat]

Ok, so by your admission we should cut off funding for Stratford, the Canadian Opera Company, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Canadian Stage... we can go on. These are all professional equity performers in professional companies so according to your definition they should all be cut off. Sad world.

Tewder, I explicitly included 'the arts' in things that are not like professional or quasi-professional sports. Burn down your straw men.

 

[Filip]

Seriously, what's with Olympic boosters? An Olympics isn't equivalent to 'social justice' or 'infrastructure' or 'bike lanes' or 'subsidized housing' or 'the arts'. It's equivalent to other sports professional or quasi-professional, and should be paid for by the same people who pay for other professional sports -- the ticket buyers and TV watchers.

The Olympics are about AMATEUR sports - either way I absolutely cannot understand how you can't compare 'the arts' to the Olympics. We publicly subsidize the COC, NBC, TSO, arts festivals, even artists (through Artscape and other handout programs). So basically what we're doing is subsidizing via the public teat people who cannot make a living themselves, just so they can 'do their passion'.

Jesus.. I wish the government would fund me for smoking weed all day, but that's not going to happen.

NB: I fully support funding the arts, just like I support the Olympics.

 

[animatronic]

Ok, so by your admission we should cut off funding for Stratford, the Canadian Opera Company, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Canadian Stage... we can go on. These are all professional equity performers in professional companies so according to your definition they should all be cut off. Sad world.



Come on, you know you're going to miss sparring with me!




We'll know in a couple of years and then can start envisioning a credible bid for the city!




Oh like the USA? France? England? Australia? Germany?... Canada?... um' just which imaginary developed countries are you referring to that would stand in such judgement of Toronto? Chumps indeed.



I'm not sure if it's just that you simply can't resist a conspiracy theory or if it's something more worrisome... time to check your meds animatronic, the terror of the past few weeks may have done some serious damage.

It's not a conspiracy when Tory says on camera that he's forming a task force to look into 2026. Shouldn't you be wetting yourself in anticipation?

 

[Forgotten]

It's time to move on and start planning the important city-building stuff--the Alan Thicke Museum and Dinner Theatre, the Christmas Cat Festival and the 40 foot bronze falafel...

I heard there's a new cat cafe moving into the old Jilly's space.

 

[AlvinofDiaspar]

The Olympics are about AMATEUR sports - either way I absolutely cannot understand how you can't compare 'the arts' to the Olympics. We publicly subsidize the COC, NBC, TSO, arts festivals, even artists (through Artscape and other handout programs). So basically what we're doing is subsidizing via the public teat people who cannot make a living themselves, just so they can 'do their passion'.

Jesus.. I wish the government would fund me for smoking weed all day, but that's not going to happen.

NB: I fully support funding the arts, just like I support the Olympics.

I think we should be funding excellence in all regards -that's the capital by which cities compete.

AoD

 

[TOperson]

Oh like the USA? France? England? Australia? Germany?... Canada?... um' just which imaginary developed countries are you referring to that would stand in such judgement of Toronto? Chumps indeed..

OK so reading comprehension and outdated info difficulties there.

For the 2022 Winter Olympics, the IOC only had a choice of China and Kazakhstan, not exactly bastions of democracy. Actual democracies like Norway backed the F away.

http://time.com/3462070/olympics-winter-2022/

What I said was "Toronto will get a summer Olympics when it is the only city in a developed democratic nation to bid." We're not there yet, but there is a clear trend in functional democracies not to bid and to have very vocal opposition groups to deliberately screw up bids, like

http://www.stopolympia.de/ and

And don't forget Tokyo pulling the plug on that stadium.

But it's quintessentially Torontonian to fret about being "world class" and think we have to copy other cities to achieve it, so we'll keep trying for this thing.

 

[christiesplits]

But it's quintessentially Torontonian to fret about being "world class" and think we have to copy other cities to achieve it, so we'll keep trying for this thing.

Perfectly said.

 

[MisterF]

Tewder, I explicitly included 'the arts' in things that are not like professional or quasi-professional sports. Burn down your straw men.

I haven't read most of the last few pages but I'm curious about this - why the distinction between arts and sports? Why are professional artists more deserving of government support than professional athletes? They have pretty much the same economic and cultural impacts, they both inspire youth to better themselves, and both consist of elite professionals performing feats for our entertainment that most of us could never do.

 

[Videodrome]

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/calgary-olympics-winter-bid-nenshi-1.3229574?cmp=rss

Calgary 2026?

 

[MetroMan]

Well, there goes the dream. If we ever get it, I'll be in my 50s or 60s. It was close but the Rob Ford years definitely put the dagger in our Olympic heart. We simply didn't have the time to sell the private sector and upper levels of government on this last minute desire sparked by the PanAm Games.

What irks me about this is that without an Olympic bid, what a waste the PanAm Games have been. On their own, they were a nice little event for our city but they were always a part of a bigger plan to bring the Olympics to Toronto. Now all that effort has gone to waste.

Toronto will continue hosting large events like the NBA All Star Game and the NHL Winter Classic but the Olympics were the kind of event that was guaranteed to be Toronto's coming out to the world party.

So... Toronto World Fair anyone?

 

[Tewder]

Tewder, I explicitly included 'the arts' in things that are not like professional or quasi-professional sports. Burn down your straw men.

... and i'm pointing out your contradiction. The funding of athletics is no different than the funding of the arts. AoD has it right, a healthy and competitive community sponsors excellence in all fields.

What I said was "Toronto will get a summer Olympics when it is the only city in a developed democratic nation to bid." We're not there yet, but there is a clear trend in functional democracies not to bid and to have very vocal opposition groups to deliberately screw up bids, like

LOL, is England not a functional democracy then? Oh riiiiight, they have a Queen so it must be an absolute monarchy. England did just host, by the way, in case you didn't notice. No, your point is utter nonsense, it's gridlocked politics and apathetic populations that allow policy to be governed by special interest groups, and this is the status quo context of Toronto for many years now... which really isn't all that functional when you think about it!

But it's quintessentially Torontonian to fret about being "world class" and think we have to copy other cities to achieve it, so we'll keep trying for this thing.

It is insular and parochial to insist we have nothing to learn from the rest of the world, pig-headed in fact given the state of Toronto's infrastructure mess (among other things)... and sulking and harrumphing that you don't care about being 'world class' is just a transparent cop out for not being able to cut it. You show me that Toronto is a functional city that gets things accomplished and maybe i'll reconsider your hollow boosterism.

 

[Tewder]

Well, there goes the dream.

Not really. If Paris gets 2024 we'll be in a great position to bid for 2028... in just about the best position ever in fact! This is lots of time to plan a credible bid and build support (government, business and popular). We've had a flurry of interest and excitement here lately due to the PanAms but to expect a bid was a little unrealistic really given the short timeframe, the federal election and no real clear bid details. Tory is open to it though, clearly, and I'm sure the wheels are already starting to turn for a legitimate attempt at it! The special interest groups have won the day, no big surprise, but their peace of mind will be short lived.

 

[TOperson]

LOL, is England not a functional democracy then?

allow policy to be governed by special interest groups

It is insular and parochial to insist we have nothing to learn from the rest of the world

sulking and harrumphing that you don't care about being 'world class' is just a transparent cop out for not being able to cut it

London's bid started in 2003, more than 10 years ago. The Olympics actually made it less democratic, as people who actually live there have said many times. What has been the trend since 2003, especially the last few years? Cities walking away.

LOL if you think the Olympics isn't run by special interest groups! Didn't you notice that Tory did not do ONE bit of public consultation in this last go-around? That sound democratic to you?

It's funny how your idea of "learning from the rest of the world" doesn't include learning from actual past host cities and the people who live in them. Wouldn't THEY know better than you what hosting the Olympics is really all about?

"Sulking and harrumphing"? That is the histrionic pot calling the kettle black. And it's inaccurate. I'm gloating.

As for "not being able to cut it", what does that even mean? It's really weird and disturbing how you think a person's opinions on the Olympics have something to do with their self-esteem and psychological mettle. Why are you so emotionally invested in a sports party? You've never mentioned travelling to a host city to see the Olympics for yourself, which you could easily do, if you cared enough. I don't think ONE of the Olympic boosters here have ever actually attended an Olympics. So all this guff about how important they are doesn't hold up.