VANCOUVER: The Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) today called for full disclosure of all Olympic-related costs in the wake of the B.C. government's release of its Vancouver 2010 Olympic Games cost estimate. The government report showed a financial commitment of $765 million and a hosting activity cost $160 million for a total of $925 million. This figure, however, leaves out many additional Olympic-related costs such as crown corporation tickets, paid ‘volunteers,’ and any of the Olympic-spawned capital projects.
"This chump-change cost estimate is an insult to the taxpayers of British Columbia because it doesn't include the Olympic-sized spending blowout on projects promised in the original bid," said Maureen Bader, B.C. Director of the CTF. "We know the Convention Centre, the Canada Line and the Sea-to-Sky highway upgrade together cost almost $4 billion dollars -- its time the government admitted these were Olympic costs and give taxpayers a full account of the Games."
The CTF is not alone in calling for complete transparency on all taxpayer-funded costs. A December 2008 letter from the Auditor General to the provincial government said that the "full cost of staging the Games should include a number if items that are not included in the official budget." In 2006, the Auditor General's report estimated the costs of the 2010 Olympic Games at $2.5 billion and outlined risks that showed the costs could go much higher.
"The government must stop downplaying the total cost of the Games and come clean," said Bader. "If we start adding up all the extras such as: the $560,000 to pay bureaucrats to volunteer at the Games; the tens of millions paid out by BC Crown Corporations for Olympic tickets and sponsorships; and the full $600 million cost of the 2010 Secretariat, we'll get a better idea of the true cost of the Games."
Maureen Bader, B.C. Director
