Governing the Olympic Winter Games: Reflections from Canada

As we celebrate 100 years of the Olympic Winter Games, it is an appropriate time to reflect on these Games and particularly on their governance. In this paper, I examine the governance of the Olympic Winter Games from a Canadian perspective and reflect on why there have been multiple failed bids and what it means for the Olympic Winter Games and their owner, the International Olympic Committee, moving forward. From the previous studies on Canadian Olympic (Winter) Games governance and documentary evidence from the more recent bid attempts, I show how the structure and processes, institutions and procedures, and multijurisdictional and multisectoral nature of the Games in Canada allowed the country, in the past, to be innovative in its governance and the actors brought onboard, such as the Four Host First Nations. However, current national realities (e.g., reconciliation efforts with the Indigenous communities) have challenged established (Western colonial) ways of doing and led, at least in part, to the failed bids. Yet, the Indigenous way of governing may be a light of hope for the International Olympic Committee as it struggles with a lacklustre reputation and its need to address the environmental sustainability of the Olympic Winter Games.