Ottawa to spend $10M on Olympic pavilion
Last Updated: Sunday, September 20, 2009
CBC News
Ottawa is spending $10 million to showcase Canada in a pavillion at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics — and it doesn't want to share the stage.
The federal government has announced it won't hold a joint pavilion with British Columbia at the Winter Games, despite a request from B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell.
The federal minister of state for sport, Gary Lunn, told a news gathering at the Vancouver airport on Sunday that B.C. and other provinces will develop their own pavilions, while Canada's will highlight the entire country.
The pavilion will promote both tourism and investment opportunities in Canada and be a focal point for Canadian fans and international visitors.
Canadian fans will be able to meet athletes at the site, show their support and get autographs.
The pavilion will be located in downtown Vancouver at the LiveCity celebration site.
Lunn couldn't say what it would look like. With five months to go before the Games, Ottawa will now start looking for bids to put it together.
VANCOUVER, B.C. - Canada's $10-million pavilion promoting this country during the 2010 Vancouver Olympics will be too broad to include the provinces, a federal cabinet minister said Sunday, explaining why Ottawa turned down a request from British Columbia to combine efforts.
British Columbia's premier had asked Ottawa to stage a joint B.C.-Canada pavilion, which is what happened last summer in Beijing and during the 2006 Games in Italy, but the federal government decided instead to go alone this time.
"The number of visitors, the size of the Games, it's really important that we have our own pavilion," Gary Lunn, the federal minister of state for sport, said Sunday while announcing a few details about the pavilion.
"British Columbia, their pavilion is going to be promoting British Columbia, as it should, but we have a responsibility to promote the entire country, all of Canada."
The federal government plans to spend $10 million on its display along with other pavilions at an open-air celebration site in downtown Vancouver called LiveCity, which will sit in what is now a large parking lot.
Canada's display will promote everything from tourism to business and investment opportunities in the country, and give visitors a change to meet Canadian athletes.
However, it's too early to say what exactly it will look like: with five months to go until the Games, Ottawa will now start looking for bids to put it together.
Lunn said the federal government is spending a considerable amount on the 2010 Olympics - and the pavilion will help this country get a return on that money.
"We've made this enormous investment in the Games, we now want to make this smaller investment to seize all the opportunities that will be there for us," said Lunn.
B.C. and Ottawa created a joint pavilion for the 2006 Turin Winter Games, with a log house in a Turin piazza.
The two governments partnered again last year in Beijing, with a $14-million facility located just off Tiananmen Square.
Mary McNeil, B.C.'s minister of state for the Olympics, said there was no hard feelings over the federal government's decision not to partner for a third time.
"We were the host province coming up in 2010, it was a natural fit to twin, and it worked out really well," said McNeil.
"That's why B.C. put an invitation out to do it again, but because we're in 2010 now and other provinces are going to be here, I think Canada made the decision it should have."
McNeil said B.C. had already planned to spend $4 million on a pavilion in the Vancouver Art Gallery. She said the province invited Ottawa to set up together at that site, but will now carry on by itself.
"We had not heard that Canada was even thinking of doing their own," she said. "We had said at the time, 'You're welcome to join us, but we're going ahead anyway."'
McNeil said the federal government's decision to put together a separate pavilion won't affect how much B.C. will spend.
Lunn insisted the $10 million Ottawa is spending on the pavilion reflects a strong federal financial commitment to the Games, which has already topped $1.2 billion.
Local organizers in Vancouver have been dealing with declining revenues while some costs are increasing, such as accommodations.
The organizing committee still believes it can avoid a deficit, partly due to a commitment from the International Olympic Committee to cover part of any budget shortfall.
Lunn wouldn't say whether the federal government is prepared to do more if the Games' finances become worse.
"We're working with VANOC (the Vancouver organizing committee) on their other funding pressures, as is the province," he said.
"We will be there to the very end to ensure that the partnership stays strong. I don't want to get into any more details than that."