Well, hopefully everyone to visit Vancouver over the 2010 Winter Games felt extremely safe during their trip, because if not, they may be just a tad curious about the reported fifteen mill a day that was supposedly spent on Olympic security throughout the event. A report found in The Vancouver Sun today, written by Ian Austin and titled, B.C. Taxpayers on hook for $250-million Olympic security costs, explains that:
“…Budget documents released Tuesday reveal that B.C. has agreed to pay $252.5 million of the Games’ $900-million security bill...”
The costs that were anticipated to be accrued in hosting the Olympic Games in Vancouver, was the largest upset for British Columbians in the preliminary planning phases of the 2010 Winter Games. The general public and taxpayers of the province worried that the numbers given to the public just did not seem right. They knew that the bill for this upcoming, extravagant event would bust through the seams of the original budget probably well before the Opening Ceremonies even finished… And now, the hammer has dropped. In his article, Austin goes on to explain:
“…The Olympic security arrangement came out of a negotiated federal-provincial cost-sharing agreement. Originally, the federal and provincial governments each agreed to pay $87.5 million of a security budget originally estimated at $175 million…
…The two governments finally agreed that B.C. would cover $165 million in federal responsibilities, bringing B.C.’s contribution for Olympic security to $252.5 million — about $15 million for each day of the games…”
As post- Olympic spirits are still running high throughout Canada, from our Olympians successfully walked away with the majority of the Golds, this news may be better received than it would have been if the Games had not been such a success. However, as the final tastes of those Olympic hangovers finally wash away, this bill is going to be one that is hard to swallow…
For more information: Visit Ian Austin’s article in The Vancouver Sun…
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