At Whistler’s all-candidates meeting on Wednesday, Sept. 28, there was a question asking if the candidates supported the 2030 Olympic bid. Nearly all the candidates said yes.
I was amazed. What were they basing their decision on? Information on a 2030 bid is hard to come by. There is little solid information available, and yet there will be a decision made in Mumbai next June. (I guess this means funding a delegation to Mumbai as well if we go ahead.)
(Editor's note: The International Olympic Committee had been scheduled to meet in Mumbai at the end of May 2023, but decided last month to delay the annual meeting until September 2023, reportedly due to a governance upheaval at India’s national Olympic committee.)
In July, Vancouver city staff recommended council hold off on a decision on a potential bid for the 2030 Olympics, because there are so many unknowns, largely related to the costs to prepare and host another Winter Games. Government involvement at all levels was unknown and uncommitted with insufficient time and staff to work on this. Read more at council.vancouver.ca.
Prior to Whistler’s 2010 agreement to become part of that bid, there were several public forums where presentations were made and questions were asked. Have we seen anything like that? I answered a telephone survey about 2030 in which the questions were pre-worded and the answers given as a range of satisfaction. At the end, I was allowed a comment reinterpreted by the survey taker. Not what I consider public input.
Security costs for 2010 were US$1 billion, according to CBC News. With the addition of Sun Peaks, there are now three locations instead of two as in 2010—what will security cost? Multiple billions? There is no legacy from this cost—it’s up in smoke the day the Games end.
There are so many worthwhile areas to focus on funding these days—we all know the obvious, but maybe that’s because they’re important. Why not cut to the chase and use the funds now, instead of ending up with some narrowly focused legacy projects after the party is over?
In January 2022, in the Vancouver Sun, Douglas Todd wrote: “2030 Winter Olympics a hard sell for British Columbians ... Questions simmer about finances, the housing and opioid crises, the pandemic and how much the Games would contribute to reconciliation.”
He also questions whether increased tourism is a viable argument. In Whistler, we are currently not coping with our own success, so we may risk our reputation if our current state of affairs continues.
Prior to the 2010 Olympics, I volunteered at the Olympic information centre in the village for two years; I packed athlete welcome packages; I was a Weasel Worker at the pre-Olympic downhill. During the Games, I housed out-of- town volunteers, and I worked the whole Games with the Canadian team in the Cheakamus Olympic Village. There was more. I saw the Olympic Games from the inside out.
The Olympic Games in its current format is a financially unsustainable extravaganza. By removing our support, the IOC may begin to see that it cannot continue this way. There is not a good enough argument for spending an unknown amount of taxpayer funding on a festival that is in dire need of major restructuring.
Do you want a council with this agenda? Not much choice after their near-unanimous “Yes” on Sept. 28. But be vocal if you don’t want to go along with this bid process. And let’s get some information available. The decision will have to be soon.
