By Loreth Beswetherick The Vancouver-Whistler 2010 Bid Corporation has found their man. Board chairman Arthur Griffiths announced Wednesday that Don Calder has been named chief executive officer of the group. Calder, who resigned in February as president and CEO of B.C. Telcom following the merger of B.C. Tel and the Telus Corporation, will now drive the estimated $20 million bid to host the Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver and Whistler Feb. 5-21, 2010. The bid must be made to the International Olympic Committee in September 2002. The committee’s decision will be reached in September 2003. Griffiths also named a further 24 new directors and three ex officio members who have been added to the initial nine-member board named in June. They include Whistler representatives Suzanne Denbak – president of Tourism Whistler; Doug Forseth – senior vice president of operations at Whistler-Blackcomb; municipal administrator Jim Godfrey and Steve Podborski – president of Pod Enterprises. Calder, 55, is a graduate of both McGill University and the University of British Columbia. Among other community commitments, he is the 1999 United Way of the Lower Mainland campaign chair, a director of the Vancouver General and UBC Hospital Foundation plus chair of the Greater Vancouver Economic partnership. "Don’s appointment, and that of the new directors, means we now have the broad community and national participation we need to start pulling Canada’s bid together," said Griffiths. "Right from the start we want to make sure that our bid is a team effort with strong roots in Vancouver, Whistler and the rest of B.C. All of us look forward to working with Don as we take Canada’s bid off the drawing board and turn it into an Olympic reality for our province and our country." Mayor Hugh O’Reilly said the rounded out board has the look of a winning team. "Whistler and Vancouver are world class destinations with the communities and facilities, and now the board of directors to build a winning bid." The new additions to the bid corporation also include: Rick Anston – president and CEO of Tourism Vancouver; Peter Armstrong – president and CEO of the Great Canadian Railtour Company; Leila Bell-Irving – president of Vancouver Hospital Enterprises; Iona Campagnola – chair of the Fraser Basin Council; Ken Dobell – CEO of the Greater Vancouver Transit Authority; Brian Dolson – ass. dep. Minister of Small Business, Tourism and Culture; Bob Foulkes – VP of corporate communications at Westcoast Energy; John Furlong – CEO of the Arbutus Club; Ken Georgetti – president of the Canadian Labour Congress; Rusty Goepel – vice chairman of Goepel McDermid, Nancy Greene-Raine – director of Skiing at Sun Peaks; Carol Anne Letheren – CEO of the Canadian Olympic Association in Toronto; Joe Mathias – Squamish Nation Chief; Les McDonald – president of International Triathlon Union; Judy Rogers – Vancouver city manager; Gerry Scott – director of the David Suzuki Climate Change Campaign; Allen Stager – Mount Currie Indian Band Chief; Sandra Stevenson – president and CEO of Sport B.C.; Carole Taylor – journalist and corporate director and Peter Ufford – vice president of external affairs at UBC. These new directors plus the four from Whistler are added to the board of nine appointed this summer which includes: O’Reilly, Griffiths, Philip Owen, Ian Waddell, Greg Greenough, Marion Lay, Bill McKerlich, Don Rosenbloom and William Warren. It is estimated the Games will attract 4,000 athletes and officials, 10,000 media and 20,000 overnight visitors per night. The Winter Games will also need upwards of 16,000 community volunteers. Based on financial information from recent Games, the cost of the Vancouver-Whistler bid is estimated at $20 million. It is expected a successful bid will generate more than $1 billion in revenue from ticket sales, sponsorship and television rights. In addition to generating more than $250 million in incremental tax revenues for the provincial and federal government, the Games are expected to provide a surplus of more than $200 million for sports and community legacies as well as new venues worth $240 million.
