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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...

OK so reading comprehension and outdated info difficulties there.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...

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.

This is why the Olympics should be fully privately funded. Let the people who want it pay for it.

Of course I agree with decision but Tory's speech was so annoying. I hate the assumption that everyone in the city has Major Feels about the Pan Ams or big events in general. A lot of us don't care at all.

It would kinda weird to announce a bid at this point. Public opinion is at best mixed, there is no info on plans or costs or ... anything really. So if a bid were to go ahead, the scenarios would be: 1) making up plans as we go along 2) plans that were cooked up with no public input being...

All of this is patently wrong. There is a ton of research by actual economists, urban planners, etc that debunk it, and many posts in this thread link to that research. It makes sense that you keep falling back on the emotional arguments because the economic ones do not hold up to scrutiny.

You're the guy talking about fear and self-concept and distrust. Can't have it both ways.

Go back and read all the previous posts (and the many links posted) that show that most of the TV and sponsorship money goes to the IOC, that the Pan Am venues are too small and will be too old by 2024, that the stadium will be useless, and that the security costs are indefensible for an event...

Hehe. All this stuff about how people opposed to the bid are "listening to the voices of fear" and "lack vision and courage" is what Pick-Up Artists call "negging". IIRC, it's supposed to make the other person eager to prove they're not scared/whatever by doing the thing the negger wants...

Right. So we already had a democratic process and research to determine that Toronto should not bid for the 2024 Olympics. Now the mayor is trying an anti-democratic process to get a bid anyway, with no council vote. Not in response to popular support. He isn't even asking the public what...

There was already a staff report on feasibility and costs, and a Council vote on a bid in Jan 2014. That's the democratic process, and the answer was no.

If the bid proponents are not consulting with the public on whether to bid, why do you think they will consult with the public on what the bid would contain, or what would happen (i.e. actually get built - the host city contract enables the IOC to come up with new demands all the time and the...

Just to add: There are lots of attractive, functional cities that have never hosted an Olympics or any similar large-scale events. The Olympics are totally unnecessary from a city-building point of view.

The media is awash right now with articles about the Olympics being a toxic hot potato, and all the reasons why. Few people are willing to go on the record saying they think the Olympics are good for cities or economies. If Toronto puts in a bid now, we'll get lots of international media...

I never said it was OK to displace slums either way. Again, the recent history of the Summer Olympics involves displacing neighbourhoods. Not just in horribly corrupt countries but also in the UK. There are people in London who can tell you all about it and I have linked to their info. This...

The displaced London neighbourhoods were not slums. But is it OK to clear slums for the Olympics, does that make it better? Apparently it's OK to destroy habitat, it's not like there is a mass extinction event going on or anything. Of course events that happen outside of cities tend not to...

Scale is relevant when you are talking about land required for venues, and summer v. winter is relevant when the sports happen outside the city or inside it. And you can't cherry-pick to only Canadian examples at one time and then throw it open to international examples at others when you are...

Hang on, since when are we only comparing to other Canadian Olympics? And if we're doing that, we should only compare summer Games to summer Games and so on, since it's widely acknowledged that the two are different. E.g. the winter Games are smaller and largely take place outside of cities...

That was possible because it was publicly-owned land. And even then it took years of planning before any construction began. The Olympics create a legal "state of exception" where private land can be expropriated much faster and cheaper than the usual process would allow. It's a way to snap...