Moncton — City of Moncton officials have announced that they will be submitting a bid to host the upcoming 2026 Olympic Winter Games. The move comes as a shock to the public given that the 2021 Francophonie Games were recently cancelled due to budget concerns.
Mayor Dawn Arnold spoke at a press conference where the city announced their intentions. “Moncton is an ideal location for the Olympics. This is an incredible opportunity for us to host a large sporting event. We have tried hard to land the Brier, the Memorial Cup, and the Francophonie Games — but this time things will be different!”
Arnold was quick to reply when asked if she thought the International Olympic Committee would even be able to find Moncton on a map. “Absolutely not, that’s why we need these games. Do you think anybody had ever heard of Sochi, Pyeongchang or Torino before the Olympics were held there?”
Premier Higgs also spoke at the announcement in support of the games. “These games will be broadcast all over the globe, and we will see the benefits in our tourism industry for decades to come if we’re successful. This will be nothing like the Francophonie Games; I have appointed a personal friend of mine to head the organizing committee. They’ve told me that the bid will be no more than $17 million.”
Higgs reassured the crowd that the numbers were accurate.
“We will use existing infrastructure, Moncton has the Avenir Centre, Coliseum, and Louis-J.-Robichaud Arena for ice surfaces, Poley Mountain for downhill ski events, and Albert County for cross-country skiing and biathlon events. We will convert the vacant houses in Saint John into an Olympic village and shuttle athletes in for each event. Everything will be fine so long as another government doesn’t get elected between now and then.”
The Manatee was able to reach Thomas Bach of the IOC for his opinion on the bid. “Bigger cities are staying away from these games now because of the large costs associated with them. We are beginning to see smaller cities applying more often in an attempt to brand themselves.”
Bach was asked for his opinion on the strength of the Moncton bid given what happened with the Francophonie Games.
“I’m not familiar with that incident, but Mr. Higgs and Mrs. Arnold seem like respectable people. I’m sure they have put a lot of thought into this. Submitting a bid on the Olympics should never be taken lightly.”
The IOC will award the bid for the 2026 Olympics on June 24 this year from Lausanne, Switzerland. Moncton is currently the frontrunner now that Sion, Graz, Sapporo, Erzurum and Calgary have all withdrawn their bids.