My rant to those drunk on Olympic Hatorade
Ok… I know I’ve obviously caught Olympic fever (just read my last 20 posts)but I’ve noticed a lot of Olympic bellyachers and I have I few questions and comments for you:
We had the opportunity to say no to the Olympics. The IOC would never have chosen Vancouver to host if we didn’t have the city support. Were you one of the 34% who voted no when we had the referendum? Did you even vote? Good for you if you did.
You say it’s sucking up tax payer dollars and making you poor. The recession has nothing to do with the Olympics – the recession is making all of us broke. Seems like out of frustration people are pointing at Olympic spending but when you take a closer look, BC was probably the least effected province by the recession because of the Olympics. Large events like Expo and the Olympics stimulate growth in the city which translates into work. Yes times are tough but it’s not because of the Olympics.
Having the Olympics in BC brought in Federal funding that without the games would not likely have been spent in western Canada. Just ask the Torontonians that are furious that little old Vancouver has a new rapid transit connecting the airport to the city core before they do.
The dollars spent should go to solving the homeless problem or health care? Pouring money into systems that are not working will not help things. Is it a homelessness problem or is it that we haven’t figured out how to help/solve the drugs/addiction and mental illness issues people face that lead them to the streets. I’m sure that the recession has translated to higher homelessness as well but the answer to that isn’t in hand outs it’s in stimulating growth of the economy so people able to work can find it. And I’m not going to even get into all the new panhandlers in the city looking for handouts… I’ve lived here a long time and recognise a lot of the faces of the homeless people in Vancouver. For the most part they are not the people that you see recently out there asking for hand outs.
Yes our city is suddenly ‘sponsored’ and at first I was so annoyed that I couldn’t pay for my red mittens with my bank card – only Visa or cash but before we saw signs of the recession ending sponsors were reluctant to spend the dollars required for the games. We are so lucky that they did step up and support. If sponsors didn’t sink all those dollars into the games we’d be picking up the shortfall. So paint my town with logos for the next month, and honestly some of the huge building ads look cool. It’s not forever people ; )
Tourism is an important industry for BC bringing in billions in revenue to our province, it’s growing and it doesn’t use up natural resources. The amount of exposure and awareness and resulting tourism gained by hosting the games could never be attained any other way. It’s not just the people that visit during the games it’s the world that will be watching the games and falling in love with our province then planning trips in the future (that is as long as we stop pouting and put on a good show).
My last point… Vancouver is known for being so chill we don’t know how to get up and have fun. We’ve got so much going on over the next two weeks, free concerts and opportunities to showcase talent and the arts. Why not embrace it? I just don’t get why you wouldn’t.
Ok. Stepping down from soap box now so I can go cheer on the torch relay as it passes by : D
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sandtoesha 
Yeah Tammy! Thanks for speaking for the REST of us…those that ARE proud British Columbians. Welcome Olympics…this is going to be fun!!!
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