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Public support and global publicity are new goals of 2010 Bid Corp

Vancouver and three others short listed to host 2010 Winter Olympic Games Supporters of the bid for Vancouver and Whistler to host the 2010 Olympic Winter Games are on a mission to raise pubic support.

Vancouver and three others short listed to host 2010 Winter Olympic Games

Supporters of the bid for Vancouver and Whistler to host the 2010 Olympic Winter Games are on a mission to raise pubic support.

"I see this frankly as a competition between the people of Canada and the people of Austria, the people of Switzerland, and the people of South Korea," John Furlong, Vancouver 2010 Bid Corporation’s chief operating officer, said Wednesday. "I think if the people of Canada rise to this occasion then this is there for us to win."

The effort to raise support levels comes in the wake of Vancouver and Whistler being shortlisted to host the 2010 Games, along with Salzburg, Austria, Bern, Switzerland and Pyeongchang, Korea.

Eliminated from the race Wednesday were Andorra La Vella, Andorra; Harbin, China; Jaca, Spain; and Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina.

During the process to choose the candidate cities the IOC looked at several key areas to assess each city’s bid. In a working report released this week it highlighted each bid’s strengths and weaknesses and rated them.

On a scale of one to 10, with 10 being the best, a benchmark of six was set for candidate cities. Vancouver and Salzburg were deemed above the benchmark while Bern and Pyeongchang were found to "straddle" it.

Vancouver was the only candidate to rate in the top three in every area and came out on top when it came to providing the athletes’ villages and the general concept of the Games.

There is no doubt that Salzburg will be Vancouver’s real opponent in the race to win the 2010 Games.

The areas considered by the IOC in level of importance, with the most important being first, were accommodation, general infrastructure, sport venues, Olympic villages, security, government support and public opinion, environmental conditions and impacts, transportation, general concept, experience in hosting previous sporting events and finance.

The Vancouver Bid Corp’s mini bid book listed public support at about 80 per cent. But a MORI poll done by the IOC as part of its investigation to choose the candidate cities found support in Vancouver and Whistler to be about 62 per cent.

The B.C. bid wasn’t alone in this. MORI also found support in Salzburg to be 68 per cent, down from the 83 per cent it reported in its mini bid book.

Pyeongchang reported it had 96.8 per cent but the IOC found it to be closer to 78 per cent.

Bern’s bid, which is facing serious opposition from organized watchdog groups, had reported support levels of 67 per cent but the IOC’s polling firm found support to be only 42 per cent.

Bern’s bid must survive two referendum votes – one in September and one in November – before it will get more financial support from the city and the canton.

"The IOC is not going to give this away," said Furlong.

"They are going to give it to the country which deserves it and you deserve it if you have the best concept and the most support.

"So we have to build support and we have to rally the country to play in the game with us and then we just have to tighten up every one of these areas as tight as we possibly can."

Furlong found some relief in the conclusions of the IOC working report on Vancouver and Whistler’s transportation plans.

"We thought the transportation report on us was pretty darn good given everything that we have been dealing with," he said.

"We were second of eight (behind Salzburg). It was very gratifying and said Vancouver, as a city in terms of transportation infrastructure, is one of the best in North America and that was good.

"Obviously the (Sea to Sky Highway) was in there but if we can get a decent solution and get it in place then I think this is over in terms of an issue."

The working report stated Vancouver’s plans were "sufficient to good."

"However, (the Sea to Sky Highway) is not anticipated to be improved to four lanes on its entire length," states the report.

"There seems to be some uncertainty due to technical difficulties in the final configuration of the project."

Furlong was relieved that the B.C. bid did not take a major hit in any of the areas studied.

Bern cannot say the same.

In the conclusion of the working report it stated: "The Working Group feels the project put forward does not best respond to the needs of the athletes and could create significant organizational difficulties."

Of Pyeongchang’s bid the working group stated it needs "further development."

Furlong and others from the Vancouver bid will be heading to Lausanne, Switzerland on Sept. 9 to learn more about how they can market and publicize their bid in the next 10 months.

As part of a cost-cutting measure the finalists won’t be allowed to launch any international promotional campaign until Jan. 10, 2003, after the full 350 page bid book has been submitted.

Its hoped that all the candidates will stick to this guideline.

Vancouver, and all the other applicant cities, was clearly told not to show up in Lausanne this week to learn whether they had been short listed.

But as it came down to the wire representatives from Bern, Pyeongchang and Salzburg showed in Lausanne and were seen by media outlets doing some kind of lobbying.

Furlong, while disturbed by this, said Canada will always play fair.

"They gave us a clear indication that coming to the thing was not a good idea so we stayed away and apparently there were receptions and things going on and we’ve just been hearing about it," said Furlong.

"I think though that one of the advantages that you have when you play by the rules is that you get to say to the IOC, ‘You asked us to perform at a high level we’ve done what you’ve asked.’

"I think there is a place to play and I think if everyone decides to ignore the conditions I think it just makes for an ugly contest. I don’t think we are going to do that.

"We are going to be tough. We are not going to lie down, but we are going to play fair."

Bern’s high score in the working report in the financial area also left some at the 2010 Bid Corp scratching their heads.

It has been widely reported that Bern has had serious financial difficulties, running out of money a few weeks ago. At the last minute a large private donor bailed the bid out.

"In the document Bern’s financial plan got a very high review, which made us all wonder how it was all done and put together, so this is all stuff we still have to figure out," said Furlong.

Although there is no word yet if the findings of the working report will alter Vancouver’s bid book, Furlong said it’s likely to be discussed.

"We will review every word in the document," he said.

"We are going to try to technically look into each area and see where we can take the standard up a notch and improve the quality of the bid. It will put a deeper perspective on the evaluation process."

Furlong believes Vancouver still has an ace up its sleeve – the visit of the IOC evaluation team in February next year.

"One of the disadvantages that Vancouver and Whistler have is that we are not as well known as we might think," he said.

"Obviously because Bern and Salzburg are in the heart of Europe they have an advantage over us because they are well known.

"But we will settle up on that when (the evaluation team) comes and see us. They will be able to look at the concepts, live and in colour, and they will be able to get to see what we can do and we are very confident that that will be very meaningful in terms of scoring us in the final bid."

Whistler’s Mayor Hugh O’Reilly couldn’t agree more.

"The reality is, in my opinion, that Vancouver and Whistler are still somewhat of an unknown commodity," he said.

"I think Salzburg probably has the highest recognition of all the candidate cities. Now we are finally allowed to go and continue talking, not just to other Canadians, but to go out internationally and talk about the great assets Whistler and Vancouver bring.

"I believe that could make the difference.

"Many of the people who are actually doing the voting are from summer countries, IOC members who know nothing about winter products, so we have to get out there and make sure that they know that we have the capacity to deliver what we promise to deliver."

Locally many have raised concerns about how Whistler as a community might be affected by hosting such a large hallmark event like the Winter Games.

Will those who have suites to rent turf out their tenants hoping to cash in on the Olympic cow? Will the Games put even more pressure on the community to expand? Is it really sustainable to build a new highway to Whistler and bring even more people into the resort by car?

O’Reilly believes the community can be protected as long as the municipality’s guiding principles remain front and centre in the process.

"We have always stated this," he said.

Nightly rentals aren’t allowed in houses at the moment and there are no plans to change that in the near future.

O’Reilly hopes that the lesson of the Millennium remains on everyone’s minds.

Many thought they would make tons of money by renting their places out for the celebration, but for many it was a bust.

"I would suggest that people have to be careful," said O’Reilly.

"In any major event there is the risk that people don’t come because they fear it will be too crowded.

"If you’ve got a suite lets hope you continue the rental because you have to ask yourself if two weeks rent is going to replace a year with a good tenant?"

Protecting tenants is high on the list of things the Vancouver-based watchdog group Impact of Olympics on Community Coalition is monitoring.

Spokesman Jim Green said he was encouraged when Bid Corp chairman and CEO Jack Poole indicated at the short-list announcement that he was in favour of bylaws to protect tenants from eviction.

"That is a symbol to us that they are listening," said Green.

IOCC member and tenants rights activist Linda Mix has also been asked to join the Bid Corp’s board as a voting member.

"If they deal with us properly we add a lot of value to the bid and we can bring a lot of support to the bid," said Green, who fired off a list of the top concerns the watchdog group has to the IOC Wednesday morning.

The IOCC is still pushing for a referendum on hosting the Games.

"I think this is very important when you look at the $6 billion that is going to be spent while we are facing cutbacks in education and every other aspect of our lives," said Green.

"We have to ask ourselves is this the best use of our money?"

The Bid Corp has estimated it will need $34 million Cdn to run the bid portion of the Games. That includes a $500,000 US non-refundable cheque the 2010 Bid Corp must give the IOC for being selected to the short list. That’s on top of the $100,000 US cost to just submit a bid.

It is estimated that it would cost $2 billion Cdn for the Games operating budget. Not included in the Olympic budget but still very much part of the infrastructure are the costs associated with upgrading the Sea to Sky Highway, building a light rapid transit system from the airport to downtown Vancouver and construction of a new downtown convention centre. Total cost could be $6 billion Cdn.

The host of the 2010 Games will be chosen by 128 IOC members in Prague in July 2003.