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119-738: In 1978, the RCMP commenced the Emergency Response Team (ERT) Program developing an Emergency Response Team Course and establishing 31 part-time Emergency Response Team tactical units across Canada. In 1981, the Solicitor General directed the RCMP to form a counter terrorist unit the Hostage Assault and Rescue Program (HARP) to be based in Ottawa from the best ERT members in the ERT Program. HARP

238-559: A 2016 feature film, Eddie the Eagle . The Jamaican bobsleigh team , making their nation's Winter Olympic debut, was also popular in Calgary. The team was the brainchild of a pair of Americans who recruited individuals with strong sprinting ability from the Jamaican military to form the team. Dudley Stokes and Michael White finished the two-man event in 30th place out of 41 competitors and launched

357-574: A Canada-wide incident, the Canadian government initially mandated the creation of the Special Emergency Response Team or SERT on January 22, 1986. 51 officers were trained for SERT duties as the unit would operate in circumstances where local police forces do not have enough resources to resolve the incident. The SERT was eventually disbanded in 1993 as they were not suited for quasi-military operations with problems on whether lethal force

476-905: A drug grow op in Chilliwack, BC. In 2012, the RCMP and Navistar Defense Canada Inc. worked together to create their own armoured vehicles for the ERTs when RCMP Assistant Commissioner Russ Mirasty, commanding officer of the RCMP’s for F division in Saskatchewan, unveiled them to the public. Known as the Tactical Armored Vehicle, these were made at the cost of US$ 14,019,826 with a working lifespan of 15 years. 18 TAVs were delivered to various ERTs throughout Canada as their main support vehicle when on call. Prospective male and female ERT operator candidates are required to have two years of operational experience in

595-469: A fraction of Witt's gold medal-winning score. American speed skater Dan Jansen 's personal tragedy was one of the more poignant events of the Games as he skated the 500 metre race mere hours after his sister Jane died of leukemia . A gold medal favourite, Jansen chose to compete as he felt it is what his sister would have wanted. Viewers around the world witnessed his heartbreak as he fell and crashed into

714-536: A hatchet before he was shot in Prince George, BC. An investigation was conducted by the BC Independent Investigations Office. The Commission for Public Complaints Against the RCMP has launched an official inquiry into the death as well. The RCMP was found to be justified in the shooting after the investigations. 1988 Winter Olympics The 1988 Winter Olympics , officially known as

833-446: A level playing field for all broadcasters. For the first time, the negotiations were based on a series of sealed bids and representatives from ABC , CBS and NBC vied for the opportunity to broadcast the Games. After six rounds of sealed bids, the ABC delegation led by producer Roone Arledge was successful with an agreement paying a record US$ 309 million ( CA$ 386 million Canadian at

952-596: A lot of criticisms because of the various environmental concerns,the rejection by International Ski Federation (FIS) of slopes for each of the 10 events in the program and the use of artificial snow due the lack of natural snow on that season. After the first inspections,the International Ski Federation (FIS) officials noted the venue's lack of technical difficulties needed for the Olympic competition. Therefore, these FIS delegates proposed some major changes in

1071-428: A minimum of two days for part-time ERT operators. Before the timed obstacle was implemented on April 1, 2009, ERT operator candidates are required to pass a physical training exam that consists of a 1.5 mile run in under 11 minutes, 40 consecutive and uninterrupted pushups, 40 sit-ups in one minute, 5 wide-grip pull-ups and bench press with a weight of 135 pounds. ERT training consists of three blocks. They consist of

1190-424: A monthly basis between on call and training, and if required, could deploy as a whole unit. The former HARP members formed the initial nucleus of the unit with additional operators recruited from the ERT Program which at the time had approximately 350 members. To be eligible to apply for SERT a volunteer must have had seven years of service with the RCMP. Volunteers had to pass a nine-day selection course and complete

1309-528: A nightly summary, while CTV had the rights to Winter Games with CBC broadcasting a nightly summary. The nightly summary of the Games was also televised on CBC . Japan's broadcast rights were awarded to NHK in July 1986 for US$ 3.9 million. OCO'88 made several alterations to the Olympic program as part of efforts to ensure value for its broadcast partners. Now, the premier and main events, including ice hockey and figure skating, were scheduled for prime time and

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1428-543: A nine-month delay. Second, the Olympic Oval was built on the campus of the University of Calgary for C$ 40 million. Contrary to what was proposed in the bid in which this infrastructure would be outdoors, throughout the process it was realized that it would have to be 100% covered and is the first fully enclosed 400-metre long track speed skating in the world, to protect the athletes and public from bitterly cold weather and

1547-557: A period of one and half months. The program ended after an agreement could not be reached with the members who had requested that HARP be made full-time so that they could be based permanently in Ottawa. In March 1985, terrorists attacked the Turkish embassy in Ottawa killing a security guard and holding the embassy occupants hostage for several hours. In May, the Solicitor General submitted

1666-613: A plasterer before the Games to making £10,000 per hour per appearance afterward. Left embarrassed by the spectacle he created, the IOC altered the rules following Calgary to eliminate each nation's right to send at least one athlete and set minimum competition standards for future events. Regardless, the President of the Organizing Committee, Frank King, playfully saluted Edwards' unorthodox sporting legacy, which would also be commemorated with

1785-469: A police vehicle, striking the door but not injuring any of the officers inside. Among the recommendations made after the inquiry include cultural relations training, including the presence of an elder's program at the RCMP Depot before ERTs would be officially deployed. Bob Hrycan, a lawyer for Calvin and Fisher Pelletier, accuses the RCMP of conducting excessive force. The Pelletier family has made calls for

1904-578: A proposal to Cabinet to establish a full-time national counter terrorist unit by either the RCMP or the CAF. At the time, the CAF did not have a special operations force . Neither the RCMP or CAF wanted the responsibility. In June, terrorists placed a bomb on Air India Flight 182 in Toronto and also a bomb on CP Air Flight 003 in Vancouver . In December, Cabinet decided to form a unit and on 22 January 1986 selected

2023-405: A public contest. The 1988 Winter Olympic Games were the most expensive Games, summer or winter, to be held at that time, with total expenses exceeding CA$ 879.6 million. The high cost was anticipated, as organizers were aware at the outset of their bid that most facilities would have to be constructed. The venues, constructed primarily with public money, were designed to have lasting use beyond

2142-517: A second gold in Calgary. Her compatriot Christa Rothenburger won the gold medal in the 1000 metre race in speed skating, then went on to win a silver medal in the team sprint cycling event at the 1988 Summer Games to become the only person in Olympic history to win medals at both Olympic Games in the same year. The Soviet Union won gold in ice hockey as Nordic neighbours Finland and Sweden took silver and bronze, respectively. As it had in 1976, Canada again failed to win an official gold medal as

2261-620: A shift in television policy by the International Olympic Committee and growing enthusiasm by broadcasters in the United States. Amendments to the Olympic Charter in 1977 established a policy mandating joint television rights involving the IOC and the local organizing committee and was enshrined in the 1981 bid agreement for the Calgary games. The joint negotiating committee convened in 1984 late-January, some weeks before

2380-461: A significant cost at that time. Three of them are located within Calgary and the other two are located west of the city. First, the Olympic Saddledome was planned to be the main venue of the games, hosting ice hockey and figure skating finals.This arena is also part of Stampede Park and was expected to cost C$ 83 million, but a cost overrun pushed it to nearly C$ 100 million and caused

2499-594: A six-month training course to respond to incidents on land such as barricaded strongholds, trains, planes and vehicles. The course was based on methods and tactics of the 22 SAS, the US FBI Hostage Rescue Team and the German Federal Police GSG 9 . SERT had a limited capacity to respond to maritime counter-terrorism incidents such as at sea. In 1987, the RCMP purchased 80 hectares (200 acres) of land about 30 kilometres (19 mi) from Ottawa for

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2618-407: A special operations force Joint Task Force 2 (JTF 2) with SERT formally handing over responsibility to JTF 2 on 31 March, with the unit becoming operational the following day on 1 April 1992. SERT operators provided training to the initial JTF 2 volunteers based on their own selection and training course. The SERT Dwyer Hill Training Centre was handed over to JTF 2. The JTF 2 role remained the same as

2737-621: A team of 150 students from Bishop Carroll High School , the sister-brother pair made up to 300 appearances per month in the lead-up to the Games. From their introduction at the closing ceremonies of the Sarajevo Games in 1984 until their retirement at the conclusion of the Calgary Games, the pair made about 50,000 appearances. The iconic mascots graced signs welcoming travellers to Calgary for nearly two decades until they were replaced in 2007. The mascot's names "Hidy" and "Howdy" were chosen by

2856-522: A threat-based priority system if multiple emergency calls require ERT presence. ERT teams are legally bound to operate in Canada and overseas when required. The RCMP established the ERT in 1977 in 31 centres throughout Canada. The creation of the ERT was modelled after the RCMP's Hostage Assault and Rescue Program. Because of the problem in geography, which prevents the RCMP from pooling their resources to respond to

2975-468: A training facility for Dwyer Hill. The Dwyer Hill Training Facility construction was completed in 1989 with the facility providing an indoor swimming pool, 50-metre indoor range, Close Quarter Battle House, Method of Entry building, four-storey concrete tower, large passenger bus, 300-metre range sniper range and a former Air Canada Douglas DC-8 . In 1990, the Royal Canadian Air Force formed

3094-469: A wider probe into the shooting death of Delbert Pelletier. In 2009, ERT tactical gear was reported to be stolen in Kamloops , BC. No weapons or firearms were taken. Some of items that were permanently missing are now believed to have been sold/bought in the underground black market. ERT operators were involved in the shooting death of ex-Canadian soldier Gregory Matters in 2012, who was reported to be using

3213-517: A year-round destination for Albertans, by facilitating and accelerate Canmore's economic transition away from coal mining to tourist attraction. However, the Nakiska ( Cree meaning "to meet") ski resort was the most controversial and polemic complex built for these Winter Olympics. It is located on Mount Allan (inside Kananaskis Country ) and it hosted the alpine skiing events.It cost around C$ 25 million to Alberta government funds. This venue drew

3332-502: Is also mandated to assess the situation and determine whether extreme danger or the presence of small arms cannot be easily resolved by RCMP officers on general duties or by other police forces throughout Canada. The ERT offers consulting services to its fellow officers such as firearms files and shootings that involve police officers. ERTs operate as a floating work-site team, which allows them to be called up for duty from their residences and not in an RCMP office. They also operate under

3451-484: Is necessary or not, given its RCMP status. The Marine Security Emergency Response Teams were created as a part of the ERT in 2006 with initial training in the waters of British Columbia as a key component of the Critical Incident Program to ensure ERT operators are fully prepared to respond to calls when a situation develops in the marine environment. MSERT teams were involved in protecting participants and

3570-479: Is reflected in the annual Calgary Stampede , which also relied heavily on volunteers to run the Olympics. Over 22,000 people signed up for more than 9,400 positions, no matter how inglorious: doctors, lawyers and executives even offered to collect the waste generated during the opening ceremony. Also, for the first time, a "Homestay" program was created and several local families opened their homes to visitors from around

3689-574: The CA$ 72.2 million Canada Olympic Park , and CA$ 40 million for the Olympic Oval . Provincial expenses included CA$ 14.4 million to build the Canmore Nordic Centre , and CA$ 25.3 million to build Nakiska . All three governments contributed to the CA$ 97.7 million Olympic Saddledome . Of OCO'88's reported revenue of CA$ 526.8 million, CA$ 110 million was paid to the IOC as a share of television and market rights, and an additional CA$ 7 million

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3808-493: The CBS network for $ 243 million, a 20 per cent reduction compared to Calgary. A series of ticket-related scandals plagued the organizing committee as the Games approached, resulting in widespread public anger. Demand for tickets was high, particularly for the main events which had sold out a year in advance. Residents had been promised that only 10 per cent of tickets would go to "Olympic insiders", IOC officials and sponsors, but OCO'88

3927-721: The Calgary Metropolitan Region and the Alberta Province and also canadian prairies landscapes, as a perfect places for hosting the Winter Olympics. At the bidding documents,the city was marketed with a capitalist, oil-driven and vibrant economy that also had mountain playgrounds, extensive wilderness , and a rodeo culture. When the two images of Calgary and Alberta were brought together,they seemed to be contrasting; however, they complemented each other as part of extensive and intense bidding lobby process. Calgary

4046-582: The Chinook winds . Third, Canada Olympic Park (formerly called the Paskapoo Ski Hill ) was renovated for C$ 200 million and is located on the western outskirts of Calgary. This most expensive venue of these Winter Olympics hosted the men's bobsleigh , luge , and men's ski jumping and its portion of the Nordic combined events. Also, it hosted some events of the demonstration sport of freestyle skiing . From

4165-586: The Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in 1987 held in Vancouver and in 1988 to the XV Olympic Winter Games in Calgary and to the 14th G7 Summit in Toronto . SERT had been concerned for sometime that due to its size it lacked the capacity to competently assault a wide-bodied aircraft and that it would require an increase to its size with the additional of a third sub-unit. In February 1992,

4284-729: The G20 Summit in Toronto, ON . In March, 2011 the RCMP ERT responded to a residence in Surrey, BC where a 13-year-old girl had been shot in the back and the house set on fire. The girl ran from the house to a nearby school. Believing the shooter and additional young victims were in the residence, ERT officers forced their way into the house while it was still on fire. The shooter was located inside with an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. ERT officers provided CPR at scene until BCAS paramedics arrived, however

4403-485: The Pacific Ocean at Victoria, British Columbia before returning east to Alberta, and finally Calgary. The torch covered a distance of 18,000 kilometres (11,000 mi), the greatest distance for a torch relay in Olympic history until the 2000 Sydney Games , and a sharp contrast to the 1976 Montreal Games when the relay covered only 775 kilometres (482 mi). The identity of the final torchbearer who would light

4522-417: The Royal Canadian Air Force 's Snowbirds , the parade of nations and the release of 1,000 homing pigeons . Canadian composer David Foster performed the instrumental theme song ("Winter Games") and its vocal version ("Can't You Feel It?"), while internationally recognized Canadian folk/country musicians Gordon Lightfoot singing Four Strong Winds and Ian Tyson performing Alberta Bound were among

4641-702: The Stampede Corral shared the functions of secondary venues for the ice hockey tournament and the figure skating preliminaries. Though the Stampede Corral did not support the International Ice Hockey Federation 's (IIHF) standard-sized Olympic ice surface, OCO'88 was able to convince the IIHF to sanction the ice rink for Olympic competition, in exchange for a C$ 1.2 million payment. A record 57 National Olympic Committees (NOCs) entered athletes at

4760-452: The XV Olympic Winter Games ( French : XV Jeux olympiques d'hiver ) and commonly known as Calgary 1988 ( Blackfoot : Mohkínsstsisi 1988 ; Stoney : Wîchîspa Oyade 1988 or Wenchi Ispase 1988 ; Cree : Otôskwanihk 1988 / ᐅᑑᐢᑿᓂᕽ 1988 ; Sarsi : Guts’ists’i 1988 ; Kutenai : ʔaknuqtapȼik’ 1988 ; Slave : Klincho-tinay-indihay 1988 ), were a multi-sport event held from February 13 to 28, 1988, with Calgary, Alberta as

4879-473: The five purpose-built venues for those Games are now used for training and hosting various winter sporting events every year. These policies helped Canada develop into one of the top nations in Winter Olympics competition. The climax of this effort was the overall first-place finish at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver , Canada. Calgary made its fourth attempt at hosting the Winter Games when it bid for

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4998-468: The " Battle of the Carmens "—between Witt and American rival Debi Thomas , who had both elected to skate to Bizet 's Carmen in their long programs—were the marquee events of the Games. Boitano won the gold medal over Orser by one-tenth of a point. Witt won the gold while Thomas won the bronze medal. Manley was not viewed as a medal contender, but skated the greatest performance of her career to come within

5117-452: The $ 23.5 million contract to serve as the host broadcaster, responsible for the manpower and equipment to televise the games. In 1978, while the bid was strengthened, CBC and CTV signed an agreement that if Calgary were the eventual winner, the two broadcasters would create a consortium in which the purchase of television rights would take place jointly. The previous arrangement had CBC provide full coverage for Summer Games with CTV broadcasting

5236-499: The 10 official Olympic Winter sports, and lettering was engraved on the steel caldron portion. The torch used a mixed type of three fuels (gasoline, kerosene and alcohol) to allow a continuous burn during the unpredictable Canadian winter. Approximately 100 torches were manufactured for the Games. The 1988 Winter Games began on afternoon of February 13 with a $ 10 million opening ceremony in front of 60,000 spectators at McMahon Stadium that featured 5,500 performers, an aerial flyover by

5355-627: The 1988 Winter Olympic Games, which also marked Canada's seventh bid for the Winter Olympic Games. Montreal made the first Canadian bid for the Winter Games in 1956 and won the rights to host the 1976 Summer Olympics , and Vancouver made attempts to host the 1976 and 1980 Games. Calgary, alongside neighbouring Banff , under the leadership of the Calgary Olympic Development Association (CODA), submitted bids for

5474-601: The 1988 Winter Olympics, with eight more NOCs than any other previous Olympic Winter Games. 1,109 men and 315 women, for a total of 1,424 athletes, participated in these Games. Fiji , Guam , Guatemala , Jamaica , the Netherlands Antilles and the Virgin Islands had their Winter Olympics debut in 1988. There were 46 events contested in 6 sports (10 disciplines). In addition, there were 22 events in 4 demonstration sports and disciplines that have no official status in

5593-624: The Canadian Olympic Association (COA) delegated officially all Olympic responsibilities, including staging the Winter Olympics under the Olympic Charter , to the newly formed OCO'88 in February and September 1983 respectively. However, conflicts within OCO'88 grew in the public eye and a review of the entire management structure was conducted after Ralph Klein threatened it with a public inquiry in 1986. Thus, Frank King remained as CEO, but with

5712-461: The Eagle by 20th Century Fox in 2016. At approximately C$ 829 million, the Calgary Games were the most expensive Olympics ever held at the time, as all the necessary infrastructure was built from scratch. The facilities that were built for these Winter Olympics helped the host region to turn into the heart of Canada's elite winter sports program, under the tutelage of WinSport . After the Games, their legacy still standing and in constant use, as

5831-478: The Games and were planned to become the home of several of Canada's national winter sports teams. The record-breaking cost of the Calgary Olympics came in stark contrast to the original projections during the 1981 bid, which estimated a total cost of CA$ 218 million, split between CA$ 126 million in capital costs and CA$ 92 million in operating costs. The significant growth in capital expenditures came despite

5950-488: The Games were awarded to Calgary, the cultural and community aspects of the bid were pushed aside by the newly formed Calgary Olympic organizing committee called the Olympiques Calgary Olympics '88 (OCO'88). It then proceeded to take on a "vigorous, resilient, and impersonal corporate business strategy" based in the work made by Los Angeles 1984 Organizing Committee (LAOCOG) toward the planning and operation of

6069-399: The Games were lengthened to 15 days from the previous 12 to ensure three weekends of coverage. However, a significant downturn in advertising revenue for sporting events resulted in ABC forecasting significant financial losses on the Games. Calgary organizers appreciated their fortunate timing in signing the deal. King described the timing of the contract with ABC as "the passing of the sun and

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6188-477: The Games. Bill Pratt was a former general contractor who took over as OCO'88 president in 1983. He was the main manager that oversaw the construction of the Olympic megaproject . Donald Jacques, a former general manager of the Calgary Exhibition and Stampede , once said, "Because of him, everything was built on time and on budget." However, Bill Pratt was controversial by rubbing many of his colleagues

6307-510: The IOC. The Calgary Herald headline after the announcement negatively reflected on the "bargain" the European network received, and OCO'88 chairman Frank King publicly expressed his disappointment with the IOC. Samaranch's argument for providing for a privileged negotiation with EBU was ensuring European viewers had equal access and coverage of the games, something he did not believe would occur if private networks from each nation were provided with

6426-399: The Jamaican team into worldwide fame. The pair, along with Devon Harris and Chris Stokes, crashed in the four-man event, but were met with cheers from the crowd as they pushed their sled across the finish line. Their odyssey was made into the 1993 movie Cool Runnings , a largely fictionalized comedy by Walt Disney Pictures .   *    Host nation (Canada) All of

6545-614: The National Policy Centre for all ERT teams for operational purposes: In 2001, the duties of the ERT were described as the following: From August 1995 to September 1995 RCMP ERT was involved in the Gustafsen Lake Standoff . In September, 2007 the RCMP ERT rescued a three-year-old child from a man who had fired numerous shots in a house in Chilliwack , British Columbia. In June 2010, RCMP ERT officers assisted with

6664-506: The Olympic cauldron was one of the Organizing Committee's most closely guarded secrets. The relay began at St. John's with Barbara Ann Scott and Ferd Hayward representing Canada's past Olympians and ended with Ken Read and Cathy Priestner carrying the torch into McMahon Stadium representing the nation's current Olympians. They then stopped to acknowledge the contribution of parathlete Rick Hansen and his "Man in Motion" tour before handing

6783-408: The Olympics were Finnish ski jumper Matti Nykänen and Dutch speed skater Yvonne van Gennip as they each won three gold medals. Italy's Alberto Tomba won gold in two skiing events, his first of five career Olympic medals en route to becoming the first alpine skier to win medals at three Winter Games. East Germany's Katarina Witt defended her 1984 gold medal in women's figure skating, capturing

6902-471: The RCMP to create the unit. In March 1986, the SERT was established tasked to respond to hostage incidents involving foreign diplomats or other crises beyond the capability of the ERT. SERT was confined to operating within Canadian territory and could not participate in operations to rescue Canadians involved in a terrorist incident abroad. SERT consisted of 49 operators divided into two sub-units of 24 who rotated on

7021-577: The RCMP, as well as to score a total of 225 or more at their PPC qualifications. ERT operator candidates are also required to attend to psychological evaluations to weed out candidates who have problems working in environments that involve confined spaces, height or water. Candidates are allowed into ERT operational service once he or she completes a nine-week ERT course in Ottawa, which consists of theoretical, firearms and tactical training. ERT operators are required to do training when not on duty, which consist of daily training for full-time ERT operators and

7140-578: The SERT Assault Helicopter (SAH) Flight in 450 Tactical Helicopter Squadron to provide dedicated aviation support to SERT with three CH-135 Twin Huey helicopters. Earlier in 1987, a MOU had been agreed between the RCMP and the CAF for the provision of fixed wing and rotary wing support for SERT training and operations. Since inception, SERT had never been deployed on an operation. A SERT sub-unit pre-deployed in readiness to support law enforcement for

7259-576: The SERT of counter terrorist response ('black role') until 1994 when the Chief of the Defence Staff approved an expansion of JTF 2 to include the additional role of war time special operations ('green role'). In 2001, JTF 2 began to develop a maritime-counter terrorism capability. In 2020, Chris Madsen from the Canadian Forces College wrote that the CAF had recently unsuccessfully tried to return

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7378-522: The Sarajevo 1984 Winter Games at the IOC's president residency at the Lausanne Palace were held to negotiate the Calgary television contracts with American broadcasters. The negotiating committee was represented by Dick Pound for the IOC, Bill Wardle for OCO'88 and consultant Barry Frank. The co-negotiating committee designed a new tender process for the television rights bid with an emphasis on creating

7497-521: The Solicitor General finally provided SERT with the authority to commence recruitment for an additional sub-unit which would bring the total strength of unit to 72 operators. The Senate Special Committee on Terrorism and the Public Safety produced a report in 1989 that criticized the RCMP for failing to have conducted training exercises between SERT and other Canadian police forces tactical units. The Committee's earlier report in 1987 had found that there

7616-416: The Winter Games in 1964 , 1968 , and 1972 . However, CODA went dormant in 1966 after losing three consecutive bids. In 1978, Frank King and Bob Niven of Calgary's Booster Club took over the organization's leadership and revived CODA. King and Niven consulted former Olympic Sprinter and CODA founder, Ernie McCullough , and politician Arthur Ryan Smith , who had worked on previous bids, for guidance on

7735-481: The addition of more full-time staff. Also, more than 9,000 volunteers were registered who were allocated to the most diverse areas. Despite these changes, there was still some animosity within OCO'88. Kevin Walmsley noted that Bill Pratt and Frank King continued to have a very tense relationship and that any movement caused sparks with each other. Some members of the media commented that the changes made further alienated

7854-460: The basis for the successful 2010 Winter Olympics bid and the later unsucceful 2030 Winter Olympics bid. CODA then spent two years building local support for the megaproject , selling CA$ 5 memberships to approximately 80,000 of Calgary's 600,000 residents. Calgary also secured CA$ 270 million in funding from the federal ( CA$ 200 million) and provincial governments. Some civic leaders, including then- mayor Ralph Klein , travelled around

7973-477: The budget of all federal departments who had to in-turn implemented cuts. The RCMP estimated that they would save approximately $ 5 million annually as a result of the transfer. The CAF view on raising a special operations force had changed from 1985 and it was now open to a proposal being driven by the Deputy Minister of National Defence Robert Fowler to assume the responsibility from the RCMP. The CAF formed

8092-481: The city in January 1985 estimated the games would create 11,100 man-years of employment and generate CA$ 450 million in salaries and wages. In its post-Games report, OCO'88 estimated the Olympics created CA$ 1.4 billion in economic benefits across Canada during the 1980s, 70 percent within Alberta, as a result of capital spending, increased tourism and new sporting opportunities created by the facilities. The 1988 Olympic torch relay began on November 15, 1987, when

8211-439: The coin-flip, although he remained silent on the first flip, so a second coinflip was required, and NBC won with a choice of "heads", and after 30 minutes of deliberation submitted a $ 304 million bid. ABC's representative Arledge made a quick phone call to executive Fred Pierce, and ABC submitted a $ 309 million bid, exceeding NBC's bid by $ 5 million. ABC's record-setting bid was immediately controversial, first Arledge had exceeded

8330-482: The constant revisions of the project, the later addition of 4 more days in competition and mainly the gigantic demands for tickets, the Organizing Committee decided to move the closing ceremony to the Stadium which held twice the capacity of the Saddledome. The last time that the two Winter Olympic ceremonies were held at the same venue was at the 1960 Winter Olympics in Squaw Valley , California . The 1988 Winter Olympics' five main all-purpose venues were created at

8449-484: The counter terrorism role to the RCMP. Emergency Response Team (RCMP) The Emergency Response Team ( ERT ; French : Groupe tactique d'intervention ) are police tactical units of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police based throughout Canada and are mainly part-time teams. According to the RCMP, the ERT "is a group of highly-trained RCMP members capable of employing specialized weapons, equipment, and tactics to resolve extremely high-risk situations." The ERT

8568-460: The current management structure, were either fired or willingly resigned. Also, there were claims that some of the volunteers were verbally abused. As a result, David Leighton resigned as OOC President in 1982, after only five months on the job. Therefore, Bill Pratt, a former general manager of the Calgary Stampede , became the new OCOG's president shortly afterwards. The City of Calgary and

8687-538: The design for the Torch, the base of the torch is made of maple wood, the national tree of Canada, aluminum , and hardened steel, all 100% collected in Canadian territory. The torch was designed to remain lit despite the extreme conditions of Canadian winters. The Torch had to be light enough for relay runners to carry comfortably, and the final design came in at 60 centimetres in length and 1.7 kilograms in weight. The maple handle portion included laser-incised pictograms of

8806-548: The featured performers. Governor General Jeanne Sauvé opened the Games on behalf of Queen Elizabeth II as an estimated 1.5 billion people watched the ceremony. The weather was a dominant story throughout much of the Games, as strong chinook winds that brought daily temperatures as high as 17 °C (63 °F) wreaked havoc on the schedules for outdoor events. Events were delayed when winds were deemed unsafe for competitors and organizers used artificial snow making equipment to ensure skiing venues were properly prepared. It

8925-579: The few that already existed and were within the campus of the University of Calgary . McMahon Stadium , the primary outdoor facility used mainly by the Canadian Football League 's (CFL) Calgary Stampeders and inside of the University of Calgary and had originally been chosen to host only the opening ceremonies and the Saddledome was chosen to be the place of the closing ceremonies . But with

9044-474: The first time both the ski jumping and Nordic combined cross-country skiing events were contested in a single day. Despite using artificial cooling, the bobsleigh and luge events did not need to be rescheduled; however, several races had to be postponed because of the high temperatures recorded and also because of the dirt that was carried away by these winds. The Calgary Olympic Development Association (CODA) Board of Directors had originally 25 members. It

9163-579: The following: Additional training courses, such as the Sniper / Observer course, the Aircraft assault course and the basic and advanced Marine Operations courses, are open to ERT operators once they are officially admitted. These advanced courses are overseen by the National Tactical Training Section. As of 2001 , ERT operators had access to the following firearms, which were standardized by

9282-488: The general public, with a host broadcaster producer , Ralph Mellanby , describing it as "an oilman's and cattleman's Calgary thing." Long-time IOC member Dick Pound , on behalf of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), went on record to say that the IOC grew increasingly frustrated, as it saw the actions of OCO'88 as a refusal to collaborate with them. The 1988 Winter Olympic Games coincided with

9401-468: The host of an Olympic Games. Canadians won two gold medals in demonstration events, including by Sylvie Daigle as one of her five medals in short-track speed skating. Canada's top official performances came in figure skating where Brian Orser and Elizabeth Manley each won silver medals. Promoted by the media as the " Battle of the Brians "—the competition between Orser and American rival Brian Boitano —and

9520-631: The main host city. This marks the most recent time that two consecutive Olympic Games were hosted in North America (with the 1984 Summer Olympic Games hosted in Los Angeles, California, United States). It was the first Winter Olympic Games to be held for 15 days, like the counterpart Summer Olympic Games . The majority of the events took place in Calgary itself. However, the snow events were shared by Nakiska ski resort in Kananaskis Country at

9639-508: The maximum allowable bid set by ABC's executives by $ 34 million, and in the coming weeks ABC's coverage of the 1984 Winter Olympics which cost $ 91.5 million returned poor Nielsen ratings . Early estimates speculated the network would lose $ 50-$ 60 million televising the games. The Wall Street Journal described the NBC agreement as the "biggest prize of the Winter Olympics ". The deal which

9758-399: The moon at the right time for Calgary". The revenue growth from broadcasting was significant for the Calgary Games, OCO'88 generated $ 324.9 million in broadcast rights, which was a significant growth over an eight-period (the 1980 Lake Placid Games generated US$ 20.7 million). ABC had net losses of more than $ 60 million, and broadcast rights to the 1992 Winter Olympics were later sold to

9877-455: The office of the organizing committee. At that time, the American dollar was trading 40 cents higher than the Canadian dollar, resulting in significantly higher than anticipated revenue through currency conversion. The ticket manager maintained his innocence claiming he was used as a scapegoat and sponsor credit card Visa was responsible for the error, despite his claims, the ticketing manager

9996-643: The official medal table). The Finnish ski jumper, Matti Nykänen , and the Dutch speed skater, Yvonne van Gennip , won three individual gold medals each. The 1988 Winter Olympics were also remembered for the "heroic failure" of both the British ski jumper, Michael Edwards , and the debut of the Jamaica national bobsleigh team . Both of them became subjects of major feature films about their participation in these Games: Cool Runnings by Walt Disney Pictures in 1993 and Eddie

10115-498: The opportunity to bid. Dick Pound was also critical of the decision and argued more revenue could be brought in from BBC and RAI alone and the privileged status suppressed the willingness of the EBU to make a market-value bid on the games. The CTV Television Network won the bid to broadcast the Games in Canada in December 1983, paying CA$ 4.5 million for the exclusive rights. CTV also won

10234-645: The outer wall in the first quarter of his heat. In the 1000 metre race four days later, Jansen was on a world record pace when he again fell. After failing again in Albertville, Jansen finally won a gold medal at the 1994 Lillehamer Games . One of the most popular athletes from the games was British ski jumper Michael Edwards , who gained infamy by placing last in both the 70 and 90 metre events finishing 70 and 53 points behind his next closest competitor, respectively. Edwards' "heroic failure" made him an instant celebrity; he went from earning £6,000 per year as

10353-509: The overall medal tally. The weather conditions were a problem facing OCO'88 during the Games, with temperatures ranging from −28 to 22 °C (−18 to 72 °F). After an unexpectedly freezing opening ceremony, the outdoor competitions scheduled to start the next day had to be postponed. This ended up affecting the men's downhill skiing event at Nakiska which was postponed for one day, due to Chinook winds blowing up to 160 km/h. The women's downhill event also experienced

10472-506: The previous three Winter Games combined. In the OCO'88's final report, the Committee admits the culmination of fraud charges, a large portion of premier tickets requested by Olympic insiders, and poor communications led to a negative public reaction to the ticketing process. For the first time in the history of the Olympics, both summer and winter, the Organizing Committee worked with a refund policy for returned or unused tickets. When an event

10591-540: The project. In October 1979, CODA secured the Canadian Olympic Association's (COA) support for Canada's official bid to host the 1988 Winter Olympics, winning over a competing bid by Vancouver with a vote of 27–9. Calgary's bid was at the time the most ambitious for the Winter Olympics ever, as the city lacked winter sports facilities and almost everything would have to be built from scratch. CODA proposed constructing all new venues, arguing that if Calgary

10710-590: The public during the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver, BC. The ERT received armoured vehicles from the RCMP as a means of bolstering their effectiveness in the field. Surplus AVGP Cougars were handed to the ERTs in 2010 as a means of transporting ERT operators in situations where firearms were known to be involved. These vehicles are used without any turrets or other offensive weapons as they were removed prior to ERT adoption since they are used for transportation purposes only. They were first used by RCMP ERT teams to bust

10829-401: The same scenario. With the ski jumping venue facing north at Canada Olympic Park (COP), the same winds also disrupted those events, with the large hill event being postponed four times. It also disrupted the Nordic combined events, in which the ski jumping part had to be postponed as well. This situation ended up causing something unprecedented in the history of the Winter Olympics, as for

10948-548: The shooter later died. The ERT was found to be justified in shooting Delbert Kenneth Pelletier at the Muskowekwan First Nation in Melville, Saskatchewan . ERT was deployed to the area on November 13, 2006 due to reports of Pelletier being armed with a gun while acting irrational and suicidal. Pelletier's wife fled the residence prior to police arrival. Pelletier was shot by police snipers shortly after Pelletier shot at

11067-549: The slopes in an action to cause bigger difficulties. These modifications were met with praise from Olympic alpine skiing competitors. Like at Canada Olympic Park, this venue also hosted some freestyle skiing events as a demonstration sport. Three other existing facilities served as secondary competition venues for the Games. The first one, was the Max Bell Centre hosted the demonstration sports of curling and short track speed skating . The Father David Bauer Olympic Arena and

11186-404: The stadium capacity was about two times bigger than the indoor venue. King also noted that the Calgary Games offered a then-record 1.9 million tickets for sale, three times the amount available at Sarajevo or Lake Placid and that 79 percent of them were to be allocated to Calgarians. By the start of the 1988 Winter Games, a record of over 1.4 million tickets had been sold, a figure that eclipsed

11305-475: The three levels of government taking over projects which constituted nearly half of the original budgeted capital projects. The primary source of revenue for OCO'88 was the lucrative television contracts, bringing in CA$ 325.9 million (58.3 per cent of revenue), the absolute majority coming from American broadcasters, followed by corporate sponsorships at CA$ 88 million (15.8 per cent of revenue), and ticket sales of CA$ 41.9 million (7.5 per cent of revenue). Of

11424-482: The time) in exchange for exclusive rights for the games. CBS exited the bidding process after the second round with a final offer of $ 257 million, while ABC and NBC both reached the fifth round with an offer of $ 300 million. In the sixth and final stage, the IOC and OCO'88 decided a coin flip would determine which of ABC or NBC had the right to submit the first bid or defer, a decision neither network supported. NBC's president of sports Arthur A. Watson elected to call

11543-590: The torch to 12-year-old Robyn Perry , an aspiring figure skater who was selected to represent the future of the Olympic Movement three years before the IOC changed the year of the Winter Games, to light the cauldron. The design of the Olympic Torch for the Calgary games was a reproduction of the main landmark building of the Calgary skyline, the Calgary Tower . The National Research Council Canada developed

11662-574: The torch was lit at Olympia and Greek runner Stelios Bisbas began what was called "the longest torch run in history". The flame arrived in St. John's, Newfoundland on the Atlantic Ocean two days later and over 88 days, travelled west across the then 10 Canadian provinces and two territories. It passed through most major cities, north to the Arctic Ocean at Inuvik, Northwest Territories , then west to

11781-525: The total expenses for the Games ( CA$ 879.6 million), the Government of Canada contributed CA$ 200 million (22.7 per cent), the Government of Alberta contributed CA$ 130 million (14.8 per cent), and the City of Calgary contributed CA$ 43 million (4.9 per cent). The CA$ 320.8 million of government capital contributions not directly included in OCO'88's revenue statements included the Government of Canada constructing

11900-522: The west of Calgary, the other two main all-purpose venues were built at the foothills of the Rocky Mountains . First, the Canmore Nordic Centre was 90% funded by the province of Alberta , for C$ 17.3 million. It is located beside the town of Canmore and it hosted cross-country skiing , plus its men's portion of the Nordic combined, and the men's biathlon events.Was projected that the area could become

12019-628: The west of the city and the Canmore Nordic Centre Provincial Park in the town of Canmore . In 1988, a record 57 National Olympic Committees (NOC) sent a total of 1,424 athletes to these Games. These Winter Olympics would be the last attended for both the Soviet Union and East Germany NOCs. Just like the 1976 Summer Olympics , host country Canada failed again to win a gold medal on their home soil (They won three gold medals in demonstration events, but they are not added at

12138-538: The world to lobby IOC delegates. The arrival of the National Hockey League 's (NHL) newly relocated Calgary Flames from Atlanta in 1980 drove the city to construct a new multi-use arena that would later be named the Olympic Saddledome , demonstrating to the IOC Calgary's determination to host the Winter Olympics. The Olympic bid itself emphasized the unique cultural and natural characteristics who mark

12257-437: The world, and others were renting their rooms or houses to those who could not stay in pay a reserve in a hotel. Klein was among those who felt it necessary that the event be community driven, a decision which allowed the city's welcoming spirit to manifest. The Games' mascots, Hidy and Howdy , were designed to evoke images of "western hospitality". The smiling, cowboy-themed polar bears were popular across Canada. Played by

12376-460: The wrong way. One former co-worker once predicted back in 1983: "He will get everything built. There may not be many (of us) left around to enjoy it, but he'll get it done." His relations with the news media were also strained at times. He had barely settled into his new position when the Calgary press media began criticizing OCO'88 for excessive secrecy and for awarding Olympic contracts to Calgary's PR firm Francis Williams and Johnson Ltd. Pratt

12495-441: Was a director of that firm, before accepting the organizing committee job. OCO'88 had insisted that there was no conflict of interest involved in the whole process. Therefore, Pratt declared: "I have been nailed for a lot, but that does not bother me. The record stands". After the 1988 Winter Olympics bid was won in 1981, OCO'88 made a new technical assessment and had to re-plan all the originally proposed competition venues except for

12614-570: Was added to the list. An Olympic biographer, Kevin Wamsley, noted that the CEO Frank King, President Bill Pratt , Ralph Klein, and former COA President Roger Jackson had collectively the most influence on all aspects of these Winter Olympics. This organizing committee took a hierarchical form for planning these Olympics, which caused consternation from some staff, volunteers, and people in executive roles. The original staff, who were at odds with

12733-508: Was also a reluctance on the part of other police forces to train with the RCMP. There was a view in some large police forces that their own tactical units were as capable as SERT and that they would not require assistance from the RCMP to resolve a terrorist incident. In February 1992, the federal government decided to transfer responsibility for national counter terrorism response to the Canadian Armed Forces. The government had reduced

12852-487: Was at the time the highest amount ever paid for a sporting event, allowed OCO'88 to announce the Games would be debt-free. The negotiations with American television broadcasters were in sharp contrast to negotiations for Western European rights with the European Broadcasting Union quickly closing an exclusive deal with the IOC for US$ 5.7 million led by Juan Antonio Samaranch and Marc Hodler on behalf of

12971-571: Was awarded the Games, Canada's inventory of training facilities would increase significantly. The Vancouver bidding committee argued that Calgary's bid represented a "Big-ticket Games" idea, and estimated to cost nearly three times what Vancouver was expected to pay to host the Winter Olympics. Vancouver's bid was based on already developed infrastructure, including the Expo 86 precinct, the Pacific Coliseum and Whistler Blackcomb , which later served as

13090-460: Was chaired by Frank King, followed by former Mayors Ralph Klein and Ross Alger , and other prominent Calgarians. The executive committee president was Robert Niven. The Olympic Organizing Committee (OOC) was formed by utilizing many of the original board of directors members. It was initially started with 11 members and was grown to 25 members by October 1983. It grew further to 29 members by 1985, when former Alberta premier , Peter Lougheed ,

13209-443: Was convicted of fraud , theft , and forgery , and sentenced to 5 years in prison. Organizers attempted to respond to public concern by asking sponsors to consider reducing their orders and by paying $ 1.5 million to add 2,600 seats to the Saddledome, as well as increase capacity for ski jumping, alpine skiing and the opening ceremonies. This led to a change of the venue of the closing ceremonies from Saddledome to McMahon Stadium, as

13328-500: Was eliminated in the first round of balloting, Calgary won in the second and final round of balloting over Falun, by a margin of 17 votes. The announcement of CODA's victory sent the delegates in Baden-Baden and Calgary residents into singing and dancing. It also made then Alberta premier , Peter Lougheed , burst openly into tears in front of the cameras. Later, Ralph Klein sang a rendition of Mac Davis ' It's Hard to Be Humble . It

13447-620: Was later forced to admit that up to 50 percent of seats to top events had gone to insiders. The organizing committee, which was subsequently chastised by mayor Klein for running a "closed shop", admitted that it had failed to properly communicate the obligations it had to supply IOC officials and sponsors with priority tickets. These events were preceded by the ticketing manager for OCO'88 being charged with theft and fraud after he sent modified ticket request forms to Americans that asked them to pay in United States funds rather than Canadian and to return them to his company's post office box rather than

13566-468: Was one of three finalists during the 1988 Winter Olympics bid process. The other two were Falun , Sweden , and Cortina d'Ampezzo , Italy . The Italian town ( comune ) had before hosted the 1956 Winter Olympics and was seen by many as the favorite. The vote was held on September 30, 1981, in Baden-Baden , West Germany , during the 84th IOC Session and 11th Olympic Congress . After Cortina d'Ampezzo

13685-473: Was paid to the United States Olympic Committee for rights to broadcast the Games in the United States, and CA$ 3 million was reimbursed to NOC's for accommodation fees at the Games. The Games were a major economic boom for the city, which had fallen into its worst recession in 40 years following the collapse of both oil and grain prices three years before the games. A report prepared for

13804-457: Was postponed by at least 24 hours, the ticketholder was eligible for a refund. Due to weather issues, the 8 events that were scheduled for the first 24 hours had to be rescheduled, resulting in 130,000 ticket refunds totalling CA$ 2.9 million, with transactions handled by the Royal Bank of Canada . The city of Calgary is world-renowned for the enthusiasm of its population for volunteer work which

13923-531: Was the first Winter Olympics awarded to Canada and the second Olympic Games overall, following the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal . Cortina d'Ampezzo, along with Milan , would get to host the 2026 Winter Olympics . The town will be the fourth to host the Winter Olympics twice, along with St. Moritz ( 1928 and 1948 ), Lake Placid ( 1932 and 1980 ), and Innsbruck ( 1964 and 1976 ). Olympic historians, John E. Findling and Kimberly D. Pelle noted that once

14042-457: Was the first time in Olympic history that alpine events were held on artificial snow. The Games were also marred by the death of the Austrian ski team's doctor, Joerg Oberhammer, on February 25 after a collision with another skier threw him underneath a working snow grooming machine at Nakiska, crushing and killing him instantly. The incident was ruled an accident. The top individual competitors at

14161-541: Was to provide security for the 7th G7 Summit to be held in July 1981 in Montebello . The selected members were trained at Canadian Forces Base Petawawa by the British Army 22 Special Air Service (22 SAS) with CAF support. In late June 1981, 28 members completed the program. The RCMP had decided to not establish HARP as a full-time unit with members after serving a three-month period required to rotate back to their ERT for

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