Vancouver city council voted Wednesday night to postpone a decision on whether it wants to explore hosting a bid for the 2030 Winter Olympics.
Municipal councillors voted 7 to 4 to postpone the discussion until early 2021 to allow the city’s department dealing with hosting sporting events to perform preliminary analysis and allow for input from interested public speakers.
The original motion was brought forward by Coun. Melissa De Genova in April but discussions were postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
She has said a second Winter Games would be another boost to the city after the success of the 2010 Olympics, and could be part of a post-pandemic economic recovery plan.
On Wednesday, De Genova said she looks forward to hearing from members of the public in the future.
“Let’s allow speakers come out on either side, for or against, to help inform us of what they want, and to see where things will be at with the pandemic and what our recovery will be like,” said De Genova.
Coun. Jean Swanson voted against the motion, noting she feels money spent on the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver could have helped people living in poverty.
Swanson also noted her concerns about the environmental impact of the Games.
“I’m actually very uncomfortable with the idea of promoting something during a climate emergency that involves a bunch of flying around in airplanes all over the world, so I think there are lots of reasons we should stop this idea right now,” Swanson said.
With files from Meera Bains of CBC News
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