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Hartwicks say they could help pay for Olympics

Nan Hartwick said this week if the RCMP lay criminal charges as a result of their review of the way the province awarded rights to develop Powder Mountain in the 1980s, her company – Powder Mountain Resorts Ltd.

Nan Hartwick said this week if the RCMP lay criminal charges as a result of their review of the way the province awarded rights to develop Powder Mountain in the 1980s, her company – Powder Mountain Resorts Ltd. – would build the Olympic Nordic centre and an athletes village at no cost to taxpayers.

"Whistler doesn’t need to worry," said Hartwick. "We would be such a boon to tourism, it would be a smorgasbord, lots for everyone."

Hartwick and her daughter Dianne maintain that the provincial government of former premier Bill Vander Zalm acted criminally when it awarded the rights to develop Powder Mountain as a ski area to a company called Callaghan Resorts. The Hartwicks say those rights were "stolen" from their company.

The Hartwicks launched an unsuccessful law suit in 1999. That was followed by an appeal in 2001. A judgement released last October dismissed the appeal

But earlier this year the Hartwicks handed over more documents for the RCMP’s commercial crime section to review. RCMP Supt. Gordon McRae said in April the Hartwicks had presented "considerable documentation" which will be reviewed.

An RCMP spokesperson this week said the review of the "alleged new material" is still being reviewed to determine if a full investigation is warranted. There is no official RCMP investigation at this point.

This week, in response to stories about the province not signing off on the land bank and other Olympic legacies Whistler has been seeking, Hartwick said it was "no wonder the provincial government can’t promise land to Whistler."

The $90 million Nordic centre proposed for the 2010 Olympics would be built in the Callaghan Valley, not far from Powder Mountain. The athletes village, which would become resident restricted housing following the Games, is also proposed for the Callaghan Valley.

Hartwick added that Powder Mountain Resorts Ltd. has always proposed using BC Rail to get skiers to the resort.

"The project has never asked for government money. There would be thousands of jobs created," Hartwick said.

"We could help the Olympics."

Despite losing at trial and at appeal, the Nan Hartwick continues to believe in her dream for developing Powder Mountain.

"We’ve stayed quiet so long. We could do so much good," she said.

"We’ve devoted 20 years of our lives to this. It has been our life. We did everything right."