The downside to the Olympics

Local Content - Editorial

Written by production

Wednesday, 17 February 2010 18:43

With the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympic Games well under way, questions have arisen about whether the benefits of hosting the global sporting event will out-weigh the costs of constructing the infrastructure to actually have the capacity to have them in our backyard. Last Sunday, the Poverty Olympics were held in Vancouver, which was actually a protest decrying the six-billion dollar, three week long competition that will have the eyes of the world on Vancouver. Twelve anti-Olympic groups converged on the city's infamous Downtown Eastside, one of Canada's most deprived neighborhoods that is noted for drug use and high crime rates. The group staged a mock Olympic Games, complete with a mock opening ceremony, mascots, and distributed fake tickets. The group said high rents have led to the eviction of residents from their meager living facilities. They said the $6-billion could have paid for 12,720 social housing units. A cost-benefit analysis, completed by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, suggested the Olympic Games in Vancouver would be a financial nightmare for the city. The evaluation looked at how society would gain and lose from Vancouver hosting the event. The study, completed in 2003 and long before the economic meltdown, concluded that the Games would not be attractive from a financial point of view and could not be justified based on the estimated economic impacts that would ensue. Even though there was plenty of outcry even back in 2003, the Vancouver, British Columbia, and federal governments forged ahead with their bid. The costs have skyrocketed since 2003. The cost for security, for example, was budgeted at $175 million. That pricetag is now estimated to be about $1-billion. Despite the economic crisis hitting the pocketbooks hard everywhere else, Vancouver mayor Gregor Robertson continues to insist they are right on track with the Olympic budget. Right. How can it be given the economic turmoil of the times and ongoing rising costs? Paint the Games rosy, but most people are well aware that the costs have well exceeded the revenues and once the event is over and done and the income tallied, the proof will be on the books. A recent poll of residents in metro Vancouver and the Sea to Sky corridor suggest that many are ambivalent about the Winter Olympics. About 63 percent of those polled, expect the Games to run a deficit. Has there been an Olympic Games venue in recent history that has not? As well, 83 percent believe the Games are planned to benefit the elite members of society. That  is not  bad assumption considering the price of tickets to watch a game, never mind the number of local low-income residents who lost their housing to make way for the event. As the Games get underway and the world watches as elite athletes compete for the gold, many in Vancouver are wondering how it will be paid for. Montreal just finished paying for their 1976 Olympic Games. As much of the world is getting a peek at the brand-new infrastructure to accommodate these athletes and the thousands of spectators from around the world, those in the Downtown Eastside will be too busy to watch. They are looking for a new place to live.