Vancouver votes....

[Tigger]

Yes to the 2010 Winter Olympics bid. It was a 61% Yes result and I may have that wrong as I came back from a bathroom run to see the Mayor halfway through his press conference. (Watched it on the dish) We find out on July 2nd where these Games will end up.

Got to give credit to the Mayor for doing this. Even though I think bringing the Games to Canada will spin off in all sorts of positive ways, if the people of Vancouver had voted No, I would have respected that. It's their city after all and they had to vote the way they felt. They obviously want the Games and all the best to them in their final push to the finish!!

[A.H.Black]

Salt Lake also had a referendum on Olympic spending at one point.

The reason Denver "lost" their Olympics is because they voted "no" in 1972? I'm sure someone will correct me on this.

[bcskater]

YIPEE!!!!! thank goodness!

[memememe76]

It was actually 64%.

And Denver had its referendum in 1976. LA also had one and it was NO, but the Games continued. This is the first referendum/plebiscite where the result was YES.

YAY!

[Tigger]

Thanks memememe!! Like I said, I came back in the room halfway through the press conference. ITA w/the yay's. In fact, I think I'll add one....

YAY!!!!

[Rowena]

Originally posted by Tigger
...if the people of Vancouver had voted No, I would have respected that. It's their city after all and they had to vote the way they felt.

I see your point, but I have to disagree here. It would have made me very angry if at this point the people of Vancouver had said No. This was not the time to change our minds. Calgary and Quebec City both wanted to bid on the 2010 games, and it would have been awful if we said, 'sorry for taking the bid from you, but we don't want the Games anymore'. I don't at all disagree with holding a plebiscite on the games, but I feel it should have been done years ago, not this late in the game when so much time and money has been spent on this project.

Anyway...I was very happy to see a majority Yes vote, though I wish it had been 70% or higher. Go Vancouver!

Now the No side wants to have a provincial-wide vote. :roll: Sorry guys, you had your chance.

[memememe76]

I don't give the Mayor any credit. This seems to be the curse of any big city--it thinks it can speak for the surrounding smaller cities and the entire province/state. Well, it can't. If Vancouver wants to hold a plebiscite, it should do so on issues that pertain to their own city [say, a needle exchange program in the East Side]. Not on issues that affect the whole province.

[Azlynn]

I think having the vote now was stupid and may have cost us the games. Isn't it within the next few weeks when the committee comes out for a look, and for this to have happened now??? If it was going to be done, it should have been before we ever applied. 64% looks horribly bad, like we have no interest. Argh.

[tulip]

I disagree. Rogge said he wanted 3 or 4 out of 5 in support and he got it. Basically this vote is almost 2 out of 3 in support of the games.

64% for vs. 36% against is a SOLID majority.

IMO this vote will not be the deciding factor as to whether or not Vancouver gets the games.

[Artemis]

I think if the vote had gone no it could have been a deciding factor ... but a yes result will likely have little effect on the decision.

But as for having the vote in the first place ... I can't give any credit to mayor Campbell either. It was a total buck-passing effort on his part so that he didn't have to come out strongly one way or the other in the recent mayoral election. But more importantly, this was not Vancouver's decision to make alone. Although it may say "Vancouver" on the bid, the Games will actually be hosted by Vancouver + other lower mainland municipalities (especially Burnaby), and of course Whistler. And will be paid for by the taxpayers of all of BC, and to a lesser extent all of Canada. So having only Vancouver vote was silly, IMO.

[bleu]

yipee for vancouver.:D

[memememe76]

64 is a fine number. Remember, this is the first time a referendum or plebiscite on th Olympics favoured the YES side. That says a lot. The numbers found in Korea and Austria were from the result of phone surveys, which are a lot less scientific and accurate.

[Gaela]

Wasn't a vote also held in Salzburg, a competing city? And the result was 75%? As I understood it Vancouver was to have the same interest? But, maybe I got it wrong.

I thought the 64% was a little low. Anyhow, the No faction will probably make the committee's visit unpleasant. Boo hoo to me, who thanks to BC's always crappy economy, will never be able to afford to see an Olympic Games anywhere else.

[memememe76]

Wasn't a vote also held in Salzburg, a competing city? And the result was 75%? As I understood it Vancouver was to have the same interest? But, maybe I got it wrong.

They were opinion polls, nothing like a referendum or plebiscite. Opinion polls about this thing were set up in all internets for Vancouver too--1130AM showed 74% support, while the Vancouver Sun's poll shwed 58% support. The Vancouver Bid team conducted its own opinion poll--I'm sure the results are even better than 64% (I think they said 80%). As you can see, they're not as scientific or "democratic" as a referendum or plebiscite (although referendums still suck).

Besides, expecting 70% or more of Vancouverites to agree on anything is a tough go. If the question was "Do you like cookies", it'd be a split vote--one loving them, the other side questioning the fat and sugar content.