Spreading the Olympic Wealth
Olympics bring a lot of power to developers, event organizers and civic boosters, but if that’s all who benefit then everyone else ends up paying for what am0unts to a massive transfer of public resources – building the power of the few at the expense of the many. Will the Olympics benefit all of BC, or only a few in BC?
Here’s an update on the government’s economic impact of the Olympics, which may have been cut by $6 billion since the last time figures were publicized:
Finance minister Colin Hansen said today the economic impact from the 2010 Winter Olympic Games will be “billions and billions” but declined to give a firm figure.
Yesterday the Tyee reported that the government had quietly downgraded its estimate of economic activity around the games from $10 billion to $4 billion. Today Hansen faced questions on the issue from New Democratic Party MLAs in the legislature and from reporters in the hallway.
There will be lots of direct spending by VANOC and corporate sponsors, Hansen told reporters, as well as ongoing impact from the high-profile event. It’s a big number regardless, he said. In the billions of dollars.
In February’s budget speech Hansen had pegged the figure at $10 billion, but today declined to offer a firm number. It all depends on what aspect you want to look at and what parameters you want to put around that analysis.
I don’t think that’s good enough for a finance minister, NDP finance critic Bruce Ralston said. It’s a big difference between a $10 billion economic impact and a $4 billion economic impact. We’re three months away from the Games. Why can’t the minister answer that question?
Asked if Hansen misled British Columbians last February on the issue, Ralston said, Certainly there was every motivation to exaggerate the impact of the Games going into the election.
