A 2038 Canadian Olympic bid could kick start a national rejuvenation project

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If we were to try to pinpoint the high-water mark of the Canadian project in this century, I suspect most people would pick Feb. 28, 2010 – Sidney Crosby scores the golden goal at the Vancouver Olympics.

It was the great ‘where were you when it happened?’ moment in a country that doesn’t have many of those.

Eight years later, the Olympics had become so devalued that when the idea of hosting them again was put to a straw poll in Calgary, it wasn’t close. Most couldn’t be bothered to vote on the issue. A clear majority of those who did were against the idea.

Had it gone the other way, it’s possible the second Calgary Olympics would be kicking off in three weeks time.

In a country looking for strange new things to get excited about – strip mining, Chinese cars, domestically produced potato chips – imagine how great an Olympics would be now? That’s something you wouldn’t need a marketing campaign to convince yourself is good for you.

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There’s no point in regretting decisions made in a different world. Eight years ago, the Olympics was the geopolitical equivalent of showing off.

Times have changed. With the Olympics front of mind again, it is time for Canada to begin a new bid. Not do a study. Not put out feelers. But start acting today on plans that were created years ago for bids that didn’t work out.

The know-how is there. The facilities exist, or exist in part. The money’s available. We just need to decide to do it.

This isn’t about self-promotion in the 2018 sense of that term. It’s about self-promotion in the 2026 sense – those who do not project robustness are setting themselves up to be victims of those who do.

An Olympics says something about you – that you’ve arrived. You can get things done. You’re viable and open for business. It’s why developing countries are so anxious to bankrupt themselves staging one.

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For the next two years, the U.S. gets to use the Olympics as an international cudgel – the same thing it’s currently doing with the upcoming World Cup.

You don’t like what Washington’s doing? Oh, okay. Maybe you shouldn’t come to the World Cup. Or maybe you should skip the Olympics. Or maybe you shouldn’t be in the Olympics. Or maybe we won’t hold the Olympics. Once L.A. 2028 is behind it, America switches sticks and begins beating people with Utah 2034.

There is more power in sport than in any unused arsenal. The U.S. gets that, and we’ve forgotten it.

It’d be great if we had other deterrents – say, aircraft carriers – but we don’t. We do have access to the Olympics, which is given away to people who put their hand up and volunteer.

After appointing a new boss, the International Olympic Committee is currently overhauling its selection process. The next available slot is the 2036 Summer Games.

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Since it is unlikely anyone will agree to hold three of the next six Games in North America, Canada ought to focus on its natural strength – the 2038 Winter Games.

What does the IOC like in a host these days? They like a Games that blends into a territory, rather than lands like a debt bomb on a single city. They like places that have shown they can host an event of this size. They prefer spots that can do it on the cheap with existing infrastructure because, as Milan is currently proving, building from scratch can become a PR disaster.

I give you Montreal-Toronto 2038. That has all the little pulls the IOC and the rest of the world love – a Franco-Anglo alliance of familiar world capitals, both of whom have a reputation of throwing a decent party. Big cities, but not too big. A country where you know that everything that is promised will be delivered.

A Canadian Olympics is the safest possible Olympics. After two decades of getting yelled at for making the wrong calls, the IOC likes things safe.

Coast to coast to coast, Canadians seem to agree on a few things right now. One of them is that we need things to do. We’ve spent too much of this century dithering.

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Liquefied natural gas is great, but it’s not fun. Nobody gets excited about the idea of clear-cutting a route to the coast.

An Olympics is fun. We might even get that high-speed rail link we’re currently projecting into the next millennium.

Will it cost a lot? Absolutely. Too much? Maybe. Whatever it costs, we’ll be paying ourselves to do it. As long as we’re plotting out make-work projects, how about one everyone can enjoy?

We either reach into our own pockets to support big ideas, or others are going to show up here with big ideas of their own. Ideas we won’t like. So, first order of business – have a big idea.

Canada’s last one was Vancouver 2010. Before that it was Toronto 2008, Calgary 1988 and Montreal 1976. And before that we realized we didn’t have enough big ideas, so we figured we should think about playing host to the Olympics.

This summer’s World Cup will be the proof of concept. We know we can do it. This isn’t a business or logistical decision. It isn’t even a political one. It’s a question of feeling.

Do we like being in things together, all pulling in one direction? Does it make us feel closer, hopeful, more capable? Does it make you want more of that? If those answers are yes, the next step should not require one of those endless, circular Canadian conversations. For once, let’s link arms and jump.

With Calgary speaking on our behalf, Canada was right not to want the Olympics eight years ago. That was when this country could afford fewer friends, less international pull, a quieter life.

We’d not only be dead, dead wrong to make the same decision now. We’d be giving up a way – maybe the most obvious way – to kick-start the national rejuvenation project most of us agree we badly need.