Posted Feb 17, 2009, 12:45 AM
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Join Date: Dec 2003
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Vancouver Sun Supports the 2010 Winter Games
Quote:
Olympic benefits will far outweigh the costs, now and in the future
Vancouver Sun
Published: Saturday, February 14, 2009
A Canadian news service recently quoted a New York City street vendor who reportedly told a Canadian tourist: Canada should always host the Olympic Games. Nothing ever goes wrong there.
Beauty, of course, is in the eye of the beholder, and it's not surprising that Americans are paying no attention to reports of ballooning costs of the 2010 Winter Olympic Games north of the border. From the perspective of the casual observer, all is well with Canada's Olympic preparations.
It's too bad more British Columbians don't see that it's perfectly true.
There is little doubt that Vancouver will host a well-managed, safe and spectacular sporting event that promises to bring thrilling world-class competition to our venues old and new.
But a celebration of this magnitude comes at a cost, and that single aspect of the Games is the only thing we seem to talk about.
Whether they make money has become the overriding concern, as if it was the sole reason Vancouver bid for the Games.
There's been scant discussion about supporting amateur athletes, both able-bodied and physically challenged, and the fulfilment of their dreams, about inviting the international community to our home -- to see for themselves the "Best place on Earth," about inculcating the love of winter sports in young and old, or bringing our diverse populations together in a spirit of inclusiveness and cooperation.
Instead, we've focused, rightly or wrongly, on the costs related to the Games.
We have added up costs related to anything Olympic, including road repair and other infrastructure construction that may or may not have happened without the Games, tallied up legacy money set aside to support worthwhile causes, and come up with an Olympic price tag of $6 billion.
Even at that disputable sum, the Olympics could still deliver benefits that outweigh the costs.
The most cited cost-benefit analysis, prepared by Intervistas Consulting in 2002, estimated an increase in provincial gross domestic product in the order of $10.7 billion between 2002 and 2020.
In addition, government revenues would realize a gain of $2.6 billion and 244,000 jobs would be created. The weakest scenario in the study showed a GDP boost of $6.1 billion, an extra $1.4 billion in government revenue and 126,000 new jobs.
With some effort we could probably do better than that. In its best case assumptions, the Intervistas study projected a modest increase in annual GDP of about 0.3 per cent. If we can parlay Olympic activity into an increase of 0.5 per cent a year over the next 15 years, B.C will have an extra $14.9 billion it can use to improve health care services or spend on other priorities. Just a quarter point more, 0.75 per cent, would add $22.8 billion to the economy.
Is there a chance the Olympics could lose money? Yes. An analysis done for the 2012 London Olympic Games estimated that there was a 10 per cent chance that those games would be unprofitable.
It is reasonable to assume Vancouver faces similar odds. That leaves the risk-reward ratio heavily in our favour.
The eyes of the world will be on Vancouver and British Columbia for 17 days next February. It is the ideal time to do a hard sell on tourism, particularly convention business; and on foreign and out-of-province students. Few jurisdictions can offer the quantity and quality of post-secondary institutions found in and around Vancouver.
In addition, those who travel to watch Olympic competitions tend to be an affluent lot, including some who may be persuaded that B.C. is a great place to invest or locate a business. We haven't seen yet the kind of aggressive marketing campaign required to capitalize on the the unique opportunity the Olympics offers to reach millions with these kinds of messages.
But let's not forget benefits that are harder to quantify. Since the auditor-general insists that transportation infrastructure is an Olympic cost, the Games have brought us the Canada Line, which will enhance the environment by taking thousands of cars off the roads and raise productivity (and reduce stress) as it cuts the commute time from Richmond to downtown to less than 25 minutes.
Improvements to the Sea to Sky Highway will do more than allow easier access to Olympic venues. They will save lives for years to come.
There's no argument that the Olympic Games will cost more than we thought they would, and that governments could have been more forthright in disclosing their financial liabilities.
But the Games may also bring more benefits than we expect -- and many of those cannot be measured in dollars and cents.
© The Vancouver Sun 2009
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