B.C. spent nearly $1M on Olympic ticketsLast Updated: Thursday, May 6, 2010 | 4:19 PM PT
CBC News
A report by the provincial government says B.C. spent $970,000 on Olympic tickets for politicians, dignitaries, business leaders and members of the public.
The report says just over half of the 4,600 Olympic tickets the provincial government bought were used to host dignitaries and business leaders at the Games.
It says another 43 per cent were handed out to members of the public through contests and other means, while three per cent were used by cabinet ministers and MLAs as part of their hosting duties.
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-columbia/story/2010/05/06/bc-olympic-ticket-report.htmlCitizen watchdog groups will be keeping a watch for reports of the new businesses and economic growth that comes to BC this year due to the Olympic hosting program and business meetings. What will the return on taxpayer investment be?
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I spotted an item on the Olympic Village housing, which was to be entirely turned over to social housing. There is another wrench in that plan:
Vancouver cuts Olympic Village social housing
Last Updated: Friday, April 23, 2010 | 8:23 AM PT Comments145Recommend66CBC News
Vancouver's Olympic Village was supposed to be a showcase for green and sustainable living, but ended up becoming a symbol for financial mismanagement for the 2010 Winter Games in February. (CBC)
Vancouver city council has approved a plan to halve the amount of social housing in the Olympic Village development.
Councillors spent hours Thursday debating how to keep an Olympic promise to provide 252 social housing units at the athletes' village, but in the end they approved a $32-million plan to rent out half of the city's units at market rates,
Under the plan, the market-rate units will be used for what the city calls essential workforce housing, targeting police officers, nurses and paramedics, and other key civic workers earning a maximum of five times the monthly rent.
The city's other 126 rental units will be reserved for low-income residents.
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-columbia/story/2010/04/23/bc-olympic-village-social-housing.htmlGiven that the city had to underwrite the financing to finish the buildings last year, I can understand why the city would like to ensure some market rental income to help pay down any debt from that commitment.
Laura Stannard, an activist with the Citywide Housing Coalition, said the city has repeatedly scaled back its commitment to provide social housing in the 1,100-unit Olympic Village.
"The promise that was made by VANOC, and in fact even before Vancouver got the bid [for the 2010 Games], the promises that were made if we got the Olympics were for thousands of units of social housing. And then it came down to 250 and now it's down to 125."