It cost British Columbians almost $15 million a day to ensure a peaceful Olympics. Budget documents released Tuesday reveal that B.C. has agreed to pay $252.5 million of the Games’ $900-million security bill. That figure is part of a budget with a projected $1.7-billion deficit that includes $60 million in restored funding for sports and the arts — the government took a hammering for cutting those services at the same time that Olympic spending rose — and a $300-million commitment to build the long-delayed Evergreen Line for transit to the Tri-Cities. “We are building on our competitive advantage, building on the momentum of the Olympic Games,” said Hansen, who believes B.C.’s low personal and corporate income taxes will lure businesses attracted by the positive experience of the Games. “There is a renewed sense of confidence that the economic recovery will be sustained.”
The Olympic security arrangement came out of a negotiated federal-provincial cost-sharing agreement. Originally, the federal and provincial governments each agreed to pay $87.5 million of a security budget originally estimated at $175 million. As those expenses ballooned to $900 million, the federal government agreed to take over the security costs — with an agreement that B.C. would cover infrastructure costs for roads, bridges and other projects. The two governments finally agreed that B.C. would cover $165 million in federal responsibilities, bringing B.C.’s contribution for Olympic security to $252.5 million — about $15 million for each day of the games.
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