Inuksuit, Mount Washington

Cate Simpson’s interview in This Magazine’s Jan/Feb 2010 issue of Christopher Shaw, founder of No Games 2010 and now lead spokesperson for 2010 Watch, opened my eyes to the dark side of the Olympic machine. It’s sad to read about the curious spending priorities for a two-week event that will leave a large hole in the province’s coffers for decades to come:

This: Who are the biggest losers in the Games?

Shaw: You and me, and our kids and our grandkids. This is going to be the Big Owe: we’re going to be paying for this for 30 years. The Olympic adventure has cost Vancouver a considerable amount of money, and some of it will never come back. The operating budget is a $60-million deficit, and there’s no way the city can keep the 250 units [of the Athlete’s Village] that were going to be social housing. They have to sell them. Basically, the province is paying for Vancouver’s party.

Editor Graham Scott excoriates the dialectic of spending $1.98 billion to widen the Sea-to-Sky Highway for a two-week event rather than implement a national housing strategy for the homeless. Even more bizarre: the President of the IOC requires a “video wall”, a bank of televisions to ensure that he can see any Olympic event at any time, at the same time. Can’t he change channels?

If only we could have world-class athletic competition without the circus.

The best part of the Olympics is watching the games, learning about the stories of the underdogs, the champions, and cheering for their quest for excellence under pressure. That’s the spirit.