B.C. has stake in Olympics

Vancouver city council is asking the province for permission to borrow up to $458 million to finish building the Olympic Village, CBC News reported Monday.

The British Columbia government would amend Vancouver’s charter to give the city emergency borrowing authority; usually, the city must have voter approval in a plebiscite in order to borrow large sums.

The Olympic Village, budgeted to cost $875 million, is being built by Millennium Development Corporation.

Last Friday, Millennium lost its $875 million loan agreement with Fortress Investment Group after receiving only $317 million from Fortress. Vancouver loaned the project $100 million but, because the city signed a completion guarantee agreement, it’s responsible for raising an additional $458 million to finish the Olympic Village.

Premier Gordon Campbell said the province will do all it can to help the city, but Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Monday the federal government won’t step in.

It’s surprising that repeated examples of Olympic cities building up massive debt before the Games—notably Montreal, which only finished paying off its debt 30 years after hosting the Games in 1976—weren’t enough to convince Vancouver of the need for better planning.

Although the staggering budget shortfall is largely the city’s fault, it’s unfair to make the poeple of Vancouver shoulder all of the costs. The entire country is implicated in the pride or shame of the 2010 Games’ success or failure.

The federal government, who supported the Olympic bid, has a continuing stake in the project. Ottawa should at least discuss a financial contribution before denying the possibility entirely.

British Columbia will benefit the most from tourism and new infrastructure and it should be prepared to handle the bulk of the costs as an investment for the future.

Vancouver is still paying lawyers to investigate the leak of information to the Globe and Mail that made the city’s budget woes public in October, and it’s disappointing the city council continues to waste limited time and resources on a superfluous cause.

All levels of government should stop pointing fingers and start working together for solutions.

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