Olympic Complaints, & Who And Where Is The Moderator On This Board?

[AnnaG]

When Vancouver does well, BC does well. The growth of the interior and island has been fueled by Vancouver real estate.

Yeah, it costs so much to live there we have refugees escaping to the rest of BC. Someone sells their shoebox there for half a million and comes here and erects a thousand room mansion which drives property taxes through the roof for everyone else. Only that someone is dozens of someones.

What happens in Vancouver matters a lot to most of us. The spin offs will last for years, as Paul mentioned, and it comes with infrastructure, not just debt.

I'll say it matters.
Yeah, infrastructure for the lower mainland, debt for the rest of BC.

The torch relay starts within a couple of weeks. I know it comes through Campbell River on November 2. I can't wait to see BC advertised to the world. My feeling is, it's not going away so why not celebrate and take some pride in this. No amount of complaining will lower the cost or make it disappear. Turn the frown upside down and see the glass half full.

Nuts. As I mentioned before I hope like crazy this won't be a copy of Montreal. I am so tired of keeping my fingers, toes, arms, legs, eyes crossed I am one big cramp.

 

[Kreskin]

We can find a reason to complain about anything, even the value of our assets rising. I don't see the point when there is so much positive to take, and the negative is out of our control.

 

[AnnaG]

We can find a reason to complain about anything, even the value of our assets rising. I don't see the point when there is so much positive to take, and the negative is out of our control.

Look, Kreskin, the place we live here may be of higher value to someone else, but to us it is both priceless and valueless because we won't sell it. For all we care the value of it could hit a couple million but that doesn't mean anything to us unless we sell it. And I don't want to move. Therefore, we do grumble when these transplants from the coast come here with their attitudes and cause our taxes to head skywards. Yet we do manage to welcome them with smiles anyway, even though the smiles aren't returned and we are looked upon as dumb country hicks.

 

[Kreskin]

Well yes, if you would be happier if there was a real estate crisis for everyone else then the Olympics will be a problem.

 

[AnnaG]

Well yes, if you would be happier if there was a real estate crisis for everyone else then the Olympics will be a problem.

huh? Why are you focusing on the real estate thing when I listed several things? Tell me how everyone in BC benefits by having medical services cut back, especially when healthcare is sliding downhill anyway. Tell me how people benefit from education being cut.
Besides, you seem to think unchecked growth in real estate is a good thing. It ISN'T a good thing here. People live here for the main reason that it is not wall-to-wall people and we purposefully sacrifice services and conveniences to have it that way.

 

[Kreskin]

I'm not purely focused on real estate. I'm focused on the positive aspects of the Olympics. Complain all you want.

 

[AnnaG]

I'm not purely focused on real estate. I'm focused on the positive aspects of the Olympics. Complain all you want.

All two of them?
Thank you for your permission. That's the thread title, though.

Interesting:

The Financing and Economic Impact of the Olympic Games

 

[Liberalman]

In an interview on CTV news the Aborigionals have said that they will sut down the Olympics by protests and more agressive tactics and he said that he does not support bombings but if someone does it he won't condem it.

Whistler is on Indian land and the government forcably moved them off the site early on.

 

[TenPenny]

I'm not purely focused on real estate. I'm focused on the positive aspects of the Olympics. Complain all you want.

So in other words, the one benefit to the Olympics is that real estate values in Whistler will go up.

Whoopee!

 

[taxslave]

Then why are they cutting the number of sailings?

This is only October. They always cut back this time of the year. No usable snow yet. I have no idea if there will be enough extra traffic to add sailings but there will be enough truck traffic to help make the existing sailings more profitable.

 

[VanIsle]

.... and why the cuts in education, healthcare, seniors programs, community programs, etc. for the entire province as well as fudging the budget a bit? Hansen's figures in February predicted a #1 to 2 billion deficit and the experts came back with figures from $1.75 to 2.25 billion.

Exactly! Those cuts imo are just to use more money to pay for the Olympics.

 

[VanIsle]

So in other words, the one benefit to the Olympics is that real estate values in Whistler will go up.

Whoopee!

They went way up and then according to reports they really took a drop. Now it's about time for them to go back up again. Should put the prices about where they were a few months back.

 

[VanIsle]

This is only October. They always cut back this time of the year. No usable snow yet. I have no idea if there will be enough extra traffic to add sailings but there will be enough truck traffic to help make the existing sailings more profitable.

The existing sailings would be more profitable if they went on the basis of more riders via less cost. I see in last night's paper that the cut backs caused even walk ons to wait 2 or 3 sailings. More and more talk about walk on only boats. Someone put in a great idea for a tunnel to the mainland like Britain but hell will freeze over before that ever happens.

 

[Colpy]

In an interview on CTV news the Aborigionals have said that they will sut down the Olympics by protests and more agressive tactics and he said that he does not support bombings but if someone does it he won't condem it.

Whistler is on Indian land and the government forcably moved them off the site early on.

Ahhh...according to our native friends, 110% of BC is on aboriginal land.........that's right, 110%.

So.....Who cares???????

 

[AnnaG]

In an interview on CTV news the Aborigionals have said that they will sut down the Olympics by protests and more agressive tactics and he said that he does not support bombings but if someone does it he won't condem it.

Whistler is on Indian land and the government forcably moved them off the site early on.

Who are "the Aborigionals"? This aboriginal didn't say that, nor did my sister or father.

 

[AnnaG]

$30-million bonus package that has been set aside for Vanoc staff once the 2010 Winter Games are over. Bonuses for cost over-runs? Awesome!

As of Feb. 2009:
$900 million for security
BC covers $165 million for infrastructure + $87.5 million for general expense

The expert calculators think the Olys will cost between $1.75 billion and $2.25 billion while the budget was $1.526 billion which was up from
BC's total committment to $765 million which is a bit more than the $620 million maximum (+ $139 million for contingency fund in case of cost over-runs) promised by Hansen. So about $2 billion cost to taxpayers across Canada to benefit a few people in the Lower Mainland.
Thank you so much for getting us into the Olys, you freaking Dippers, and thank you, BC gov't, so much for being so generous to the few Oly people exploiting our public bank account.

That's a pretty freaking expensive 2 weeks, IMO.
And what's more, Hansen keeps fudging about what is included in Oly spending.
And on top of that there's the argument between Hansen and the Auditor General about whether the costs for the pavilion that BC developed in Beijing for their Olys should be included in BC's Oly cost. Well, DUH! If Beijing didn't have the Olys would BC have developed a pavilion there? No. And that cost $170 million.

The consolation prize? The rest of the world will discover Canada and BC, and Hansen got to "project" a $10 billion profit.

I think LA had the right idea, they said basically they'd host the Olys if there was no cost to taxpayers and the costs were up to private concerns to cover.

CBC News - British Columbia - Olympic Village costs could erase profit

CTV British Columbia- Olympic security estimated to cost $1 billion - CTV News, Shows and Sports -- Canadian Television

BC Auditor Withholds Olympic Report | No Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics On Stolen Native Land

Quick Facts about the 2010 Olympics in B.C: 2010 Olympic Winter Games and Vancouver Fun Trivia & Traveler Info | Suite101.com

The Rece$$ion games | Vancouver 2010 | Sports | Edmonton Sun

I really do hope it turns a profit and that profit doesn't take 4 decades to show up.