Lindsay Kines, CanWest News ServicePublished: Canada.com
VICTORIA - The 2010 Olympic Games will cost B.C. taxpayers nearly $1 billion more than the provincial government previously indicated, according to the province's acting auditor general. In a hard-hitting report released Thursday, Arn van Iersel pegs the true cost of the Olympics at a minimum $2.5 billion, of which $1.5 billion will come from the province.The B.C. government insists its total commitment to the Games is $600 million. But van Iersel says that figure ignores key Olympics-related costs such as $775 million in upgrades to the Sea-to-Sky Highway, $41 million in expenses for the B.C. Olympic Secretariat, and $8 million for a rapid-transit line stop at the athletes' village. The government, he says, needs to come clean with the public. ''Given the province has the ultimate responsibility for the financial outcome of the Games, we feel there should be regular and complete reporting of the total Games costs to the taxpayers,'' the report states. ''To date, the province has only reported to taxpayers on the $600 million envelope it has established; however, there are many other Games related cost that are not being reported as such by the province.'' B.C. Economic Development Minister Colin Hansen took issue with van Iersel's findings, arguing that the Sea-to-Sky Highway would have been improved anyway, and should not be considered an Olympics-related cost. ''Sure there's lots of things that the government is doing that we are wrapping an Olympic flag on,'' he said. ''But those are programs that are not part and parcel of us living up to our obligations for the staging of the Olympics.'' The 65-page report also highlights significant problems with the management and marketing of the Olympics, and warns that costs could go even higher. Van Iersel found, for instance, that the province lost $150 million in projected revenue from broadcasting and international sponsorships by failing to adopt a routine ''hedging strategy'' that would have protected them against fluctuations in the dollar. He found, too, that the government will have to wait six years longer than expected to launch a marketing campaign, because it didn't realize the International Olympic Committee restricts such campaigns until the previous Olympics are over. B.C. had planned to start its campaign in 2003, but now will have to postpone it until after the 2008 Olympic Summer Games in Beijing. Van Iersel said the delay could hurt the provinces plan to reap $4 billion in economic spin-offs. The auditor's report also notes that the Vancouver Organizing Committee (VANOC) has transferred construction risks for many of the venues to other partners. But if rising costs make it impossible for those partners to finish the job, ''there is a risk the province will have to contribute more funding to VANOC to get the projects completed,'' the report says. The province has set aside $76 million for such unexpected costs, but the auditor general also questions whether that emergency fund will be enough. NDP critic Harry Bains said the report shows B.C. risking a financial disaster on par with the 1976 Olympics in Montreal.''All you have to do is go back to what happened in Montreal, and then go back to what happened in Athens,'' he said. ''We don't want to see that kind of stuff happening here, but the way this government is going, the direction this management is going, I think theres a real risk of going in that direction if we don't stop it now.'' A federal report, also released Thursday, confirms the auditor general's warnings about rising construction costs. The report, dated May 19, 2006, was prepared in response to VANOC's request for an extra $110 million, already approved, and says governments will likely face further requests in the future. ''Escalation continues to run rampant in British Columbia as a result of higher material and labour costs, and the lack of competitive bids and skilled trades people, especially in the Lower Mainland,'' the report says.Victoria Times-Colonist.
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