Snappy newsletters. Simple Facebook sharing. Spirited comments. Sweet features are waiting… GET THEM NOW!

Hot on Facebook
Uproar After NC State Agent 'Fixes' Girl's Lunch Preschooler has to eat chicken nuggets instead of mom's meal »

Newest Bailout: 2010 Olympics

Vancouver games get $369M loan approved

By Jason Farago,  Newser Staff

Posted Jan 19, 2009 11:42 AM CST
Email

(Newser) – The global recession is putting the 2010 Olympics Games in Vancouver in peril, writes Canada's Globe and Mail. This weekend the provincial parliament in British Columbia passed an emergency bill that allows the host city to borrow $369 million to make sure the athletes' village will be ready in time. The original lender to Vancouver cut off funding last fall, and the city has been subsisting on high-interest bridge loans.

Both the federal and the provincial government had refused to help Vancouver pay for further construction, leaving the city to pay $70,000 a day in interest alone. The government insisted that the city will be ready to host the winter Games in February 2010, but one opposition politician who opposed the bill laced into Vancouver for overspending. "Let's call this what it is," she said; "it is a corporate bailout."

The mascots for the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics, from left, Miga, Quatchi and Sumi pose for photographers following their debut to students in Surrey, British Columbia, Tuesday, Nov. 27, 2007.
The mascots for the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics, from left, Miga, Quatchi and Sumi pose for photographers following their debut to students in Surrey, British Columbia, Tuesday, Nov. 27, 2007.   (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Jonathan Hayward)
Construction work on the athletes village for the 2010 Olympic Games continues in Vancouver, British Columbia, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2009.
Construction work on the athletes village for the 2010 Olympic Games continues in Vancouver, British Columbia, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2009.   (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Jonathan Hayward)
Jacques Rogge, president of the International Olympic Committee, talks with The Canadian Press in Vancouver, British Columbia, on Thursday, Feb. 28, 2008.
Jacques Rogge, president of the International Olympic Committee, talks with The Canadian Press in Vancouver, British Columbia, on Thursday, Feb. 28, 2008.   (AP Photo/The Canadian Press)
USA-2, piloted by Steven Holcomb, center, starts its third run in four-man bobsled at the Winter Olympics at Cesana Pariol, Italy. They will compete at the Vancouver Olympics in 2010.
USA-2, piloted by Steven Holcomb, center, starts its third run in four-man bobsled at the Winter Olympics at Cesana Pariol, Italy. They will compete at the Vancouver Olympics in 2010.   (AP Photo/Herbert Knosowski, File)
« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow
To report an error on this story, notify our editors.
A snapshot of the day's best news stories.
 
COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 3 comments
bewilderbeast
Feb 15, 2010 5:17 AM CST
The city will be saddled with debt for years while the Olympic "movement" (read "MAFIA") will walk away with HUGE profits. When will politicians stop donating taxpayers money to mafia sports bodies? (I guess the answer is: Only when we MAKE THEM).
Guest
Feb 12, 2010 9:38 PM CST
Vancouver is already prohibitively expensive to live in, but add to that the bar tab that Vancouverites and the province will have to pay off. The Olympic games bankrupts cities and is nothing more than a commercial wank fest for international elite to slap each other on the back and enjoy a big show. Tons of backroom deals, land swaps and promises of future business prospects.
Shannonals
Jan 20, 2009 10:21 PM CST
bailing out the Olympics Games, brings a tear to the eye

In Canada, Olympics-bashing is all the rage
Canadian Press

One year to go, and much left to do
Vancouver Sun

World • Money • Sports

 
Canada • British Columbia • loan • Vancouver • winter sports • bailout • Olympics • 2010 Vancouver Olympics

More Newser Stories

Accused LA Arsonist Eyed in Vancouver Fires

Man Drives With Dead Wife for 225 Miles

9th Foot Washes Up in BC

6.4 Quake Hits Off Vancouver

Melbourne Ousts Vancouver as Top Place to Live
NEWS FROM OUR PARTNERS
Other Sites We Like:   24/7 Wall St.   |   Betty Confidential   |   BuzzFeed   |   Cracked   |   Fark   |   Timelines   |   The Frisky   |   Geek Sugar   |   NewsOne