This article describes the hardships that are being endured in order to find out how much money the Olympics held in Vancouver will cost overall. The New Democratic Party launched an appeal to get access to more information on the money being spent and after initially being denied they received a letter from VANOC vice-president John McLaughlin originally wrote to the government in March. The letter was asking for more money for described projects that would have beneficial outcomes. Although the NDP gained access to this, important pieces had been removed from it; the cost and what projects they were proposing.
The Province, political columnist Michael Smyth had this story published November 19th 2009. Smyth is an experienced journalist who has been in the field for over 20-years writing for Canadian Press and also a regular on television and radio. Smyth writes this in an opinion aspect as he proclaims some of the points personally by using “I”. Smyth started writing sports before moving on to politics which gives him knowledge on the Olympics but does not necessarily leave a bias.
The article uses a quote from VANOC vice-president John McLaughlin as well as refers to work the NDP has done in this case. The NDPs involvement in this article was they were trying to request documentation regarding the Olympic budget.
After reading the article many questions popped into my head. My main question was how much money is the government spending to make the Olympics happen and how much are they expecting to make in revenue. After researching this I found some articles stating some of the costs that are being covered by the 20 million dollar Olympic and Paralympic Legacy Fund. $65,000 is being spent on 6,000 Olympic banners to hang around Vancouver while $25,000 was spent on a four page newspaper supplement in the Vancouver Sun. Also an article published January 27th 2010 in the Globe and Mail stated that $377,000 was spent handing out tickets to members of City Council and their spouses for free. The taxpayers money could have been spent on other things, such as the four full time work positions that were eliminated this winter.
For the past few months the Olympics has been something that I have taken interest in. Not for the glory that most Canadians associate with it but because I feel the money could be spent a bit more wisely and distributed to other places in need of it. Over the past year I have read many articles against the Olympics and their spending and in trying to keep and unbiased reflection I have also read many that are pro Olympics. I do think that they are a great asset for our country, but at what cost. How much money is Canada willing to swindle and take from the public to hold these ‘games’.
I enjoyed reading the article as it did give insight in to a part of what goes on within the Olympic planning. It left a desire to find more information and get more opinions on the spending.
