July 22, 2003
Kamloops Daily News



Premier Campbell's conversion to big spender is quite    
remarkable.  Before the Olympics, the premier was all for   
cutting spending -- schools, hospitals, courthouses,       
shelters for women and youths at risk, campgrounds,
Pharmacare, avalanche warning, and just about anything he
could.  Winning the Olympic bid for Vancouver has changed
his mind.

Now the premier can't spend money fast enough.  Campbell
will bankroll the biggest spectacle in the world in 2010.
His government will hire thousands of workers over a seven
year period to build convention centers, roads, rapid
transit and games facilities.  The B.C. Liberals will become
a bigger employer than the left-leaning government they
replaced.

The premier's conversion is remarkable because up until now
Campbell has led us to believe that governments don't create
jobs.  The role of the government,  he has told us over and
over,  is to get out of the way of the free enterprise
system.   By reducing environmental regulations and lowering
wages for workers, we were led to believe that big business
would create prosperity that would be only rivaled by our
province's natural beauty.

At least, that was what he thought until the glory of
Olympic Games illuminated the new way -- spend, spend,
spend.  Now he is a believer in big government projects and
will spend his way into the hearts of British Columbians and
the world.

Or, more correctly, the premier will spend our tax dollars
on a huge sports spectacle.  Never mind that we would rather
spend our money on more sensible things, like human
resources.  Campbell has forgotten that B.C.'s biggest
resource is its people and the wisest expenditure is on
health, education, clean air and water, safety, and helping
the less fortunate to their feet.

Campbell's gamble is that he will recover our tax dollars
through revenue from ticket sales, TV rights, and corporate
sponsorship.  It's not a sure thing.

"The Province of British Columbia, as the sole guarantor of
the Games, is assuming all the financial burden of what is,
clearly, a risky business venture," says a report from the
Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.   "The 2010 Games
will not 'pay for themselves,'" says the report.  In fact,
Olympic games usually loose money or worse, because of bad
accounting, no one is ever quite sure.

UCC economist Jim Seldon has seen it all before and cost
overruns are common. "I've looked at both the studies
prepared by the provincial government and the one by the
CCPA -- plus a lot of other benefit-cost and economic impact
studies for 'events' of various sorts over the years,"
Seldon told me.  Cost recovery is unlikely.

But Seldon thinks that the CCPA study could have done a
better job in the study of benefits.  Instead of looking at
the costs, look at the value received through the
expenditure of our tax dollars.  That could have been tested
by a question: "Would you be willing to pay $10 a year more
in taxes  for the next ten years to have the Olympics come
to BC."

If taxpayers are willing to pay more taxes for the Olympics,
then it's not a cost but a benefit.  "The idea is pretty
simple:  if you are willing to pay $10 for something rather
than go without it, then that item logically must be worth
at least $10 to you and maybe more," according to Seldon.
So, even if we are a bit short in recovering our investment
the money may be well spent.  Or not.

And what about all the thousands of construction jobs in
created by the Olympic games.  In fact, jobs are created by
almost any government project.  It doesn't matter if it's
building Olympic stadiums, highways, hydro dams, fast
ferries, or just digging holes in the ground.

The real question is not whether jobs are created but
rather, what are the lasting benefits of those jobs?  Will
the pride of hosting a world-class event and attracting
world's attention for a few weeks be worthwhile?

Time will tell if Campbell's gamble will be a lasting legacy
and the money well spent.  Will it be as durable as former
Premier W.A.C. Bennett's hydro dams and a public electrical
utility?  Or will it be more like Premier Glen Clarke's
failed dream of B.C. as a world class ship-building
province?

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