Calgary's city council overwhelmingly voted to let its residents have a say as to whether the 1988 Winter Olympics host should gear up to host the Games again in 2026.
At Monday's meeting, council voted 14-1 in favour of holding a plebiscite asking residents whether the city should pursue the Olympics. According to the Calgary Herald, the plebiscite will likely take place between October and February 2019. The vote is expected to cost $1.9 million, but the funding source is as yet unknown.
"Council agreed today, with quite a large majority, that we will go ahead with asking people what they think, once there is a deal to take to the people," Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi told the Herald. "There's still a lot of work to be done. (If) there's no deal there, if it looks like we cannot make this work financially or there are other good reasons to not do it, council still has the chance to say, 'We're pulling out.'"
The bid still needs to survive a vote in June regarding "the financial implications" of holding the Games in Calgary, the paper also reported.
As the International Olympic Committee has encouraged potential hosts to find ways to minimize costs by reusing past venues, Whistler Olympic Park has been considered for the ski jumping and Nordic combined events, as Calgary's jumps are out of date and would be costlier to replace than Whistler's would be to upgrade.
Pemberton Enduro slated
The Pemberton Enduro will give riders an early-season challenge when it runs this Saturday, April 28.
The sold-out race will feature about 1,700 metres of climbing on its 35-kilometre course. There will be four stages, though the final course will be a mysterious blind route.
According to the race guide, "There are no moves that are more difficult than what you have ridden in prior stages. The stage will offer a bit of everything, maybe some pedalling and perhaps a short three step hike a bike."
The pro/youth division starts at 9:45 a.m. while the open division will start at 10 a.m.
The race start will be at Pemberton Distillery.
For more information, check out facebook.com/pembertonenduro.
Pemberton Speedway opening
If you're hankering for some auto racing, the Pemberton Stockcar Association has got you covered.
The Test and Tune event for drivers to work out their offseason kinks in a non-competitive atmosphere is on Saturday, April 28 from 1:30 to 6 p.m. while the Grudge Match race will take place the following day from 12:30 to 5 p.m.
Both events are free to the public, and families are encouraged to bring a picnic to the track.
The season officially kicks off with the first race on May 19.
For more information, visit www.pembertonstockcars.com.
First Toonie Race coming
The Whistler Off-Road Cycling Association (WORCA) will kick off its 2018 Toonie Season on May 3.
The course, which will include trails like Comfortably Numb and those around Green Lake, will hold sign-in at the Wedgemount parking lot and feature an après at The Adventure Group's Cougar Mountain base. Sign-in starts at 5:30 p.m. with the race getting underway at 6:30 p.m.
Riders are encouraged to get their ducks in a row before the race by pre-purchasing their memberships, signing their waivers and pre-paying for the Toonie Race season online at www.worca.com.
Welsh's Spruce Kings fall in final
Nolan Welsh and the Prince George Spruce Kings fell just short in their pursuit of British Columbia Hockey League infamy.
The Spruce Kings were defeated in the Fred Page Cup championship series by the Wenatchee Wild in five games, with the clincher coming in the form of a 3-0 Wenatchee victory on April 19.
Welsh, a forward from Whistler in his first year with the team, was held without a point in the series as Prince George managed just nine goals in five games. However, the 18-year-old posted three goals and four assists over the course of Prince George's 24-game playoff run. He also notched three goals and 10 assists in 58 regular-season contests.
Wenatchee, the first American team to win the Fred Page Cup since the Bellingham Blazers in 1979, will move on to play for the Doyle Cup against the Alberta Junior Hockey League champion Spruce Grove Saints. The winner of that best-of-seven series will advance to the Royal Bank Cup tournament in Chilliwack from May 12 to 21 to determine the national champion.
Meanwhile, Whistler goalie Beck Warm saw his second action of the Western Hockey League playoffs on April 23. Warm performed mop-up duty in the Tri-City Americans' 8-4 loss to the Everett Silvertips in Game 3 of their third-round series, saving both shots he saw as he played the final 8:16. Tri-City, which went through Kelowna and Victoria without losing a game in the first two rounds, now trails the best-of-seven series 2-1.
Game 4 is set for Thursday, April 26 in Kennewick, Wash. The winner of the series will face the winner of the Swift Current Broncos and Lethbridge Hurricanes. Swift Current leads that series 2-1.
