Gary Collins, British Columbia’s Finance Minister, said he is “very nervous” about the projection that a successful 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver will result in a $10-billion bonanza for British Columbia. The projection was made in a January report by the capital projects branch of the competition, science and enterprise ministry.
He said, “I think it would be very naïve not to be nervous about that. There have been successes with the Olympics. There have been, you know, difficulties and disasters with the Olympics – look at what happened in Montreal. So I think for sure I’m very nervous about that and will be watching it very carefully over the year ahead, no question about that”.
B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell said there is no way Vancouver could suffer the kind of losses faced by Montreal because the culture of the Games has changed and because of the difference between the nature of the Summer and Winter Olympics.
He said, “the Olympics are a great project for the province. They will create thousands and thousands of new jobs. They are going to create an enormous amount of economic spin-off and for the long term British Columbia is going to be in incredibly good shape”.
Meanwhile, B.C.’s auditor-general told the legislature’s public accounts committee last week he is looking for ways to examine the Olympic bid before the money is committed. “I think what we would be looking for is what did the organizing groups and government themselves do in their due diligence in terms of assessing the costs and the full nature of the costs, the revenue estimates”.
