Hundreds of Insurance Corporation of British Columbia (ICBC) “shareholders” would rather donate funds to sue the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Bid than to have it given to the Bid Committee through increased insurance rates, co-plaintiff Chuck Gould explained to GamesBids.com Tuesday. He said that his group has received calls from across the province offering to help defray legal costs that are currently coming out of the plaintiffs’ own pockets.
Chris Shaw from the No Games 2010 Coalition has joined Gould in preparing the lawsuit, which names ICBC and the Vancouver 2010 Bid Corp. and calls for the court to order that a $1.8 million donation to the bid be repaid on the grounds that it was an “illegal transaction”. Larry Pierce, a Vancouver lawyer known for his success in disability cases against ICBC, has also joined the cause.
The group has filed for class-action certification which won’t be heard by the courts until January, according to Gould. The ICBC must file a defence by the end of January or certification will automatically be granted by the courts resulting in a province-wide class-action law suit against ICBC and Vancouver’s Olympic Bid just days before the IOC inspection team arrives in town.
“What defence can they offer?” Gould asked, referring to ICBC. “We are trying to get them back their own money.”
ICBC spokesman Doug McClelland denies that the donation was illegal and explains “…the bulk is earmarked for road safety issues and the Sea-to-Sky Highway is one of the most deadly and one of the most expensive stretches of road for ICBC. Road safety is definitely part of our mandate and our business, so in that sense the contribution is within our mandate.” But during a debate with Bid President John Furlong on Vancouver’s CKNW radio, Shaw rebuffed this explanation by referring to Premier Campbell’s and the Bid’s previous remarks that the upgrades to the Sea-To-Sky-Highway were not linked to the bid and would happen anyways. Furlong would not comment on the ICBC statement.
The plaintiffs have also suggested that they will be looking into the donations made by two other crown corporations including B.C. Hydro and the B.C. Lottery Corp. who donated $1.5 million and $1.1 million respectively. If forced to give all of the money back, the Bid Committee could be facing a $4.4 million shortfall during a critical phase of their campaign. If Vancouver wins the bid on July 2 they’ll have ten days to pay a guarantee deposit of $1.56 million to the IOC.
If certification for a province-wide class-action suit against the Bid is granted, there’s no telling how the IOC Evaluation Committee might react. The IOC tries to maintain tight legal control of Olympic organizing committees and they are very cautious of any issues that risk tarnishing their golden rings. In the manual given to candidates for the 2010 Games, the IOC warns that “…the post-election attitudes of the public, media, sponsors and supporters can be very critical and damaging…plan and budget accordingly in order to avoid unnecessary expenditure and criticism.”
Gould told GamesBids.com that his group will soon open a bank account to accept the many donations that have been offered.
