still waiting

[KnowItAll]

ok, all those olympic supporters.

I am still waiting to hear about all the money we all made. Still waiting to hear the bc govt tell us about all the things they going to do with all the extra money they got. Still waiting for the experts to tell us how much better off we all are economy wise.

Instead, I keep hearing about possible cutback here and there, no money to pay the teachers, etc.

Where the hell is all that money we made.

Cleary dirtbag campbell and his cronies will be spending the rest of their lives laughing at how they got away with skyway robbery and made suckers out of the BC pro olympic supporters, and unwilling victims out of the rest of us.

[Sir Purrcival]

It went back to the Federal Gov. when we dumped the HST.

You can't measure the Olympics overall in 1 year. Try a decade of World Championship competitions in Luge, Bobsled, Ski Jumping, and so on. Try a decade of athletes training at these facilities that didn't exist before. Ask Calgary if they have done well with their Olympic Venues since 1988. The benefits of the Olympics will continue over many years which if we are going to spend Billions of dollars is the way it should be. Short term pain, long term benefits. There are far more egregious examples of waste of Taxpayer money than the Olympics. Fast Ferries, David Hahn, BC Rail, the salary of just about every MLA since Bill Bennett. Those are all examples of spending waste.

[KnowItAll]

It went back to the Federal Gov. when we dumped the HST.

and what a stupid move that was. Hurts us now, and hurts us later. So many short sighted dumb people just didnt get it.

And, as far as I know, we have not paid the feds back in full yet. Its another debt we still owe.

[KnowItAll]

You can't measure the Olympics overall in 1 year. Try a decade of World Championship competitions in Luge, Bobsled, Ski Jumping, and so on. Try a decade of athletes training at these facilities that didn't exist before. Ask Calgary if they have done well with their Olympic Venues since 1988. The benefits of the Olympics will continue over many years which if we are going to spend Billions of dollars is the way it should be. Short term pain, long term benefits. There are far more egregious examples of waste of Taxpayer money than the Olympics. Fast Ferries, David Hahn, BC Rail, the salary of just about every MLA since Bill Bennett. Those are all examples of spending waste.

Been two yrs. Facilities in Whistler still not used.

so what if some facilities still remain and are used. Used by such a small percentage of the population (not me) and yet a debt for all still to pay. Where and when will we see a "decade of athletes training at these facilities" that are not or were not already training elsewhere in the province anyhow?

Bottom line, our debt had increased because of the Olympics, yet out govt still cries that they have no money and more cuts are on the way.

[Spud387]

Well i dunno about you, but I use the Canada Line & Olympic "Oval" regularily and those, as well as, the Olympic experience have been well worth it.

Don't forget that BC Place is likely only what it is today because of the Olympics. The internal upgrades were for the Olympics and because those were getting done, they could justify the new retractable roof cost.

[Sir Purrcival]

When and where? First off, the facilities for training haven't existed in this province for some venues. Where were they training then? Calgary, the US and Europe. What you fail to seem willing to grasp here is that athletes require, places to stay, food to eat, equipment to train on as do the fans of the sports they participate in. That generates economic activity that benefits lots of people, not just the small percentage you allude to. That's why it can't be measured over such a short period of time. Whats more, much like Expo 86, the Olympics provided a broader profile for the city and province around the world. That also translates into tourism dollars. I'll give you one little example of this however. I was recently in Costa Rica and you know how it is when you travel, you meet people, they ask where you are from and I tell them Vancouver Canada. Well, at least one family got all keen on that and said they were skiers and had seen Vancouver in the Olympics and was it a good place to go for a ski vacation and so on. They apparently go skiing in Europe every year but thought that Vancouver might make a nice change. That was all Olympics. Just one little story but you can be sure it isn't the only one like that. I would be willing to bet that if they do choose to visit BC for even a week, they will easily drop 5 large into the local economy and probably a lot more. It is hard to measure that kind of impact. In the end, the Olympics have come and gone. Nothing you say or do is going to change that. You can cast your vote next election, blame the politicians whom you think most responsible but other than that, the barn door has been left open, the horse has bolted and it won't be undone.

[Wakesbetterthanyou]

Take the Olympics for what they were. An expensive "look at us" party.