The upcoming Olympics in Vancouver have been the talk of that town for years. Now with less than 2 weeks to go until the opening ceremonies the excitement is reaching a fever pitch. It seems that in the past decade or so the Olympics have become more than a medium to champion amateur sport, they have become a competition between host towns/countries to out-do each other, not on the podium but in showcasing their attributes for the good of business and the economy. That, most certainly, is not what the spirit of the Olympic games is all about.
The cost of the games in Vancouver/Whistler will be somewhere in the 6 billion dollar range, all of which will come out of the pockets of tax-paying British Columbians. Supporters of the games argue that that is simply the price we must pay for the honor or hosting the games and that Vancouver must put its best foot forward as it is showcased on the world stage. Critics argue that the amount of money being spent on the games is nauseatingly large and could be put to much better use than building ski jumps and a speed skating oval.
I find myself perched on the fence between these two points of view. As someone who was born and raised in Vancouver I take pride in the fact that Vancouver will be front and centre on the world stage for 2 weeks in February. Vancouver has proved itself a deserving host of the games and is arguably ground zero for winter sport in Canada. The Vancouver-Whistler corridor is one of the most beautiful drives on the planet and is bursting with options for Winter (and Summer) recreation. The games will undoubtedly attract adventure tourists from around the globe for years to come bringing with them their almighty dollars.
On the other hand, 6 billion loonies is a lot of dough for 2 weeks of playing in the snow. The security budget alone for the games is near the one billion dollar mark. Estimates on the economic benefit of the games to Vancouver, Whistler and BC as a whole vary widely. Some reports peg the economic benefits at 5 billion + but more recent, conservative (and more realistic?) estimates place that number closer to 1 billion. Either way it's short of the 6 billion the games will cost to put on. That money could be used for lots of things of more benefit to British Columbians than building a bobsled track. Matthew good composed a list of potential spending alternatives for the 6 billion dollars. Here they are:
Health Care: The cost of the Olympics could have funded the construction of 6 state of the art hospitals to replace St. Paul’s.
Seismic Upgrades For Schools At Risk: The cost of the Olympics could have funded the entire budget of the seismic-upgrading program four times over for schools in British Columbia. As it stands now, only 32 out of hundreds of elementary and secondary schools have been upgraded as of last year.
Education: The cost of the Olympics could cover the four-year tuition fees of 345,383 UBC arts students – or 314,004 UBC science students – or 287,853 UBC engineering students – or 100,963 UBC medical students.
The cost of the Olympics could pay the salaries of UBC’s 587 full professors for 73 years.
The cost of the Olympics could cover the cost of educating every elementary and secondary student in the Province for roughly a year and a half.
Government: The cost of the Olympics could fund the Premier’s office for 500 years.
The cost of the Olympics could have paid the entire public service payroll of British Columbia for 2 years.
The cost of the Olympics could have allowed the Provincial government to waive property tax for 6 years and sales tax for over a year.
The cost of the Olympics could have funded all of the social welfare programs on the Lower East side – including food banks and social housing – that receive Federal, Provincial, and Municipal funding for more than 16 years.
The cost of the Olympics could have built roughly 20,000 units of social housing.
The cost of the Olympics could have afforded the city the ability to hire 3,000 new police officers and pay them, with full benefits, for 20 years.
Security: On average, every family in British Columbia will be paying $300 towards security costs during the games. Spread out over the country’s entire population of 34 million, every Canadian would be paying $26 dollars.
During the games, the military presence in Vancouver will be the largest since the Second World War.
The total cost of security is more than VANOC’s initial assessment of what the Olympics as a whole would cost.
$79 million dollars of the security budget is being used to house military and police personnel on three cruise ships.
Security costs include $29 million dollars for new computers and $6 million dollars for new radios.
BC Ferries will receive $15 million dollars for security upgrades even though no events are taking place on any of the coast islands to which they sail.
The Canada Border Services Agency is receiving $15 million dollars in supplemental funding.
So what do I make of it all? I don't know. I'm looking forward to being able to watch the games all day, every day while I'm recovering from surgery and doing the last few rounds of my chemotherapy. The Olympics holds a place in sport that cannot be duplicated in its excitement or world involvement and comes around only once every two years. Having the games in my hometown only adds to the excitement. I look forward to seeing my childhood winter playground showcased on the world stage and our Canadian athletes giving their best. But in the back of my mind during those 2 weeks I know there will be a dark place where the guilt will reside and I will keep asking myself the same question: Was this really the best possible use of 6 billion dollars of taxpayers money?
Since my last post a lot has happened. With the drain out I can actually move about without any pain but the abscess is still there and could be a constant source of potential infection as I fight my way through these last 3 rounds of chemo.
