Hey, where's the thank-you note?

The British Columbia government finally told taxpayers who used the tickets they bought for the 2010 Winter Olympics.

The 216-page Report on Integrated Hosting and Ticketing, published May 6, said more than $942,000 was spent on 3,750 tickets to the Games. Of those, 164 were for the Feb. 12 opening ceremony at B.C. Place Stadium where the top ticket price was $1,100 but some VIPs received $2,640 deluxe luxury suite tickets, courtesy of B.C. taxpayers.

Here is the list of those who enjoyed the biggest show in Canadian history -- for free.

Businesspeople:
CAI Private Equity managing partner Peter Restler and guest; Ex-Yahoo! chief operating officer Jeff Mallett and two guests; Mitsubishi Canada president Shinji Kowase and guest; Jim Pattison Group president Jimmy Pattison and two guests; BHP Billiton president Graham Kerr and guest; Cummins vice-president Dave Crompton and guest; Listel Group president Hiro Suzuki and vice-president Kaz Kadano; Mitsui and Co. manager Shogo Yoshida and senior-vice president Takuji Senda; Mitsubishi Motors CEO Koji Soga and president Osamu Masuko; Okabe Group (Coast Hotels) past chairman Kaname Ohno and guest and Noriyuki Matsumoto and guest; Marubeni general manager Tomomi Yamamoto; VanEdge Capital partner Glenn Entis and guest, John Lasseter and guest, Paul Lee and guest, advisor Robin Louis and guest.

Politicians, new and old:
Nova Scotia Premier Darrell Dexter, Nunavut Premier Eva Aariak, Northwest Territories Premier Floyd Roland; Former Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien and two guests; Ex-B.C. Premiers Dan Miller and guest, Glen Clark and guest, Ujjal Dosanjh and guest; Ex-B.C. MLA Ian Waddell; Gov. Dan Little and guest (note: Idaho has a Lt. Gov. Brad Little); B.C. Speaker of the House Bill Barisoff and guest, Alberta speaker Ken Kowalski, Yukon speaker Ted Staffen and guest, Ex-Vancouver mayors Larry Campbell and guest, Sam Sullivan and guest; Ex-Whistler Mayor Hugh O'Reilly and Patricia O'Reilly.

Canadian Forces personnel:
Capt. Holland, Capt. Soley, Cpl. Boyes, Cpl. Fleury, Cpl. Frouws, Cpl. Gagne, Cpl. Trouchon, Gen. Walt Natynczyk and guest, L.S. Castromayer, L.S. LePage, L.S. Sully, M. Cpl. Hanson, M. Cpl. Jorgenson, M. Cpl. Pennel, M. Cpl. Royes, M. Cpl. Yeo, M.W.O. Quesnel, Pte. Labbe, S/Lt. McNeill, Sgt. Desmarais, Sgt. Letkeman, Maj. Susan Van Duinen and guest.

RCMP personnel:
Dep. Comm. Gary Bass and guest.

First Nations:
Chief Sophie Pierre, Chief Edward John and guest, Chief Jody Wilson, National Chief Shawn Atleo and guest, Chief William Charlie and guest, Dan Smith, Doug Kelly and guest, Greg Horn, Cindy Sutherland, Tim Raybould.

Holders of $2,640 VIP luxury suite tickets:
Oregon secretary of state Kate Brown, B.C. Transportation Minister Shirley Bond, Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach and guest, Quebec Premier Jean Charest and guest, Prince Edward Island Premier Robert Ghiz and guest, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and four guests (note: 2 were in $1,100 seats), Washington Gov. Christine Gregoire and guest.

Olympians and Paralympians:
Daniel Wesley, Greg Westlake, Gordon Robertson, Kathy Kreiner-Phillips, Sen. Nancy Greene and guest, Dominic Barton, Christoper Daw, Gary Cormack.

Special Olympics:
Andrea Zonneveld, Patty Wheeldon, Rene Girard, Rick Lucy.

Celebrities and entertainers:
Allison Lawton (wife of tycoon Frank Giustra), Eric McCormack and two guests, Janet Holden, Michael J. Fox and two guests, Joan Woffenden-Lawton, Jonathan Abrams, Kate Alexander Daniels, Kerry Fitzpatrick, Robin Balick, Steve Nash and guest, Tamara Lee Reynolds, Athena Bax, Brett Wilson, Fraser Walter and guest, Katrina Kum, Clifton Murray and guest, Remigio Pereira, Kathleen Micallef, Victor Micallef, Dal Richards and guest.

Act Now contest winner: Garth Buhr and guest; 2003 contest winner: Maria Uhrynchuk and guest.

They should've said "merci" to you for the tickets

It was the last event of the 2010 Winter Olympics and the 129 tickets bought by the British Columbia government weren't cheap. The province spent $775 for each taxpayer-funded ticket to the closing, except for those lucky to be inside the host province's luxury suite at B.C. Place Stadium. Their tickets, also taxpayer-bought, were $1,560 each.

So who used those free tickets? See the list below, from the Integrated Hosting and Ticketing report, published May 6.

Olympians:
Darcy Marquardt, Mike Lewis, Richard Hortness, Bruce Deacon, Jay Morrison, Scott Patterson, Veronica Brenner, Brian Price, Pamela Rai.

Relatives of 2010 athletes:
Carol Morrison, Char Agosta, Charlie Loo, Dennis Morrison, Jerry Rush and guest, Joel Parrott, Julie Morrison, Nino Agosta, Toni Loo, Clifton Brown and guest, Brent McIvor and guest, Oakley Semple and guest, Rod White and guest, Glenn Parrott, Roc Spence and guest.

Potential Olympians and Paralympians:
Aleisha Cline, Bob Ursel, Dan Raymond, Diane Gushulak, Grace Machines, Jacalyn Brown, Jessica Hewitt, Jim Cotter, Katie Tsuyuki, Marla Mallett, Rick Sawatsky, Sylvia Kerfoot, Tom Velisek, Tyler Mosher, Warren Tanner, Christa Guloien, Kevin Folk, Nick Brush, Andrea Dziewior, Brent Pierce, Chris Wong, Dominique Vallee, Ellie Terwiel, Jacquie Armstrong, Karolina Wisniewska, Kelly VanderBeek and guest, Kevin Recksiedler, Mark Olson, Matthew Hallat, Mira Leung, Morgan Perrin, Sean Geall, Annamay Pierse, Danielle Wotherspoon, Darryl Neighbour, Gina Grain, Jacqueline Roy, Josh Dueck, Kat Gillis, Katie Baker, Thea Culley, Tyla Flexman, Alex Orlando.

Contest winners:
ActNow BC: Lee Shanks and guest; Right To Play winner (name not given) and guest.

B.C. Sports Hall of Fame inductees Gerry Sorensen Lenihan, Silken Laumann and two family members.

B.C. Olympic curling medalists:
Diane Dezura, Georgina Wheatcroft, Julie Skinner, Sandra Jenkins.

Businesspeople:
China Eastern Airlines vice-president Jiang Bo Liu and guest; VanEdge Capital partner Glenn Entis and guest, Paul Lee and guest, Robin Louis and guest; Vancouver Art Gallery director Kathleen Bartels and guest, assistant director Paul Larocque and guest.

Consul Generals:
Italy, Francesco De Conno and guest; France, Marie De Lattre and guest; China, Ma Shu Liang and Shugen Liang; India, S.K. Makhijani and guest; South Korea, Tong Mo Suh and guest; Germany, Klaus Achenbach and guest; United States Phillip Chicola and Victoria Chicola; Britain, Alex Budden and Dianne Budden.

Holders of $1,560 apiece luxury suite tickets:
Ambassador of France, Francois-Marie Delattre and guest; Consul Gen. of Mexico Angel Villalobos-Rodriguez and guest; B.C. Speaker of the House Bill Barisoff and guest; Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty and guest; Manitoba Premier Greg Selinger; RCMP Dep. Comm. Gary Bass and guest, and seat reserved for security (no name).

"We paid, they scored!"

The Province of British Columbia paid VANOC $264,000 for luxury suite number 213 in General Motors Place (aka Canada Hockey Place) for the 2010 Winter Olympic hockey tournament. According to the Report on Integrated Hosing and Ticketing, the exclusive tickets were valued at $400 each.

The report said the government spent $127,684.67 on catering at sporting venues, but did not break down the cost of food and beverage at suite 213. The cost had to have been around $46,600 -- that's how much Crown corporation BC Hydro paid for burgers and beer at its GM Place Olympic suite.

So who enjoyed the Olympic hockey tournament in-style and on your dime? Here are the names of the invited guests for every game. (Note: some names were not disclosed. At some games, tickets were not fully allocated. The government said space was paid for but reserved for security and people in wheelchairs.)

Feb. 13
Canada 18 Slovakia 0 (women)
ARI Canada director of operations Karen Mongelli, Digi BC x 2, Fedex Sherry Ahorn, Focus Partners venture partner Allan Kwan, Group National Provincial executive director Marcelo Hernandez, GSR Ventures managing director Sonny Wu, International Ship Owners of Canada Stein guest x 2, Minister Iain Black, Minister Harry Bloy, Mobile Monday Foundation chairman Jari Tammisto, Near Field Communications chairman Koichi Tagawa, Nokia executive vice-presidents Anssi Vanjoki and Niklas Savander, Qualcomm CEO Dr. Paul Jacobs, Shanghai Investment Co. president Gao Tia Guo, Sierra Wireless vice-president of engineering Riley Hoyt, Wavefront director of engineering operations Allan Swain, Wireless West chief medical officer Dr. Eric Topol.

Feb. 16
United States 3 Switzerland 1
Breakwater Resources CEO Fred Hermann and guest, Enecsys Ltd. executive chair Mossadiq Umedaly and 4 guests, Khosla Ventures founder Vinod Khosla and guest, Kleiner Perkins Caulfield & Byers John Dennison and guest, Clean Edge, LaFarge Ron Bruhaug and guest, MLA Randy Hawes, suite reserve, Sage Group founder Doug Allen, SNC Lavalin senior advisor Henry Wakabayashi, VanEdge Capital partner Paul Lee, Vantage Point Ventures managing director Stephen Dolezalek.

Canada 8 Norway 0
CN Rail Kelley Swendsen and guest, Electrabel head of portfolio management Charles Hertoghe and 2 guests, McElhanney Consulting vice-president John Blair and 2 guests, Minister Barry Penner, MLA Don McRae, Pacific Bio Energy Corp. CFO Brad Bardua, vice-president Brad Bennett, CEO Don Steele and 3 guests, Riverbank Power Corp. CEO John Douglas and guest, Vij’s Restaurant Vikram Vij.

Russia 8 Latvia 2
Air Liquide director Pierre Gauthier, Canadian Hydrogen Fuel Cell Association board member Andreas Truckenbrodt and guest, CEO John Tak and guest, CEO David McKenzie, Confederation Centre for the Arts McKenzie and guest, Edmonton Chamber of Commerce chair Carmon McNary and guest, Garage Technology Ventures managing director Guy Kawasaki and guest, MLA John van Dongen and Minister Naomi Yamamoto, Ottawa Chamber of Commerce chair Tim Redpath and guest, Rubicon Pharmacies guest of COO Robert Gore and guest, Vancouver Board of Trade Mike Cochrane and 2 guests.

Feb. 17
Finland 5 Belarus 1
Air China general manager Zhi Gang He and guest, BHP Billiton president diamond and specialty products Ben Armstrong and guest, Burnet, Duckworth and Palmer partner Jay Reid, CanEra Resources CEO J. Paul Charron, Crew Energy CEO Dale Shwed, Dundee Solar Income CEO Clarke Herring and guest, First Energy CEO Jim Davidson, Macquant Capital vice-president George Gosbee, Maersk Logistics manager Brian Hetherington and guest, Minister Colin Hansen, MLA Marc Dalton, P. Kiewit Sons vice-president Frank Margitan and guest, Sure Energy CEO Jeff Boyce, Westport Innovations CEO David Demers, Whitecap Resources CEO Grant Fagerheim.

Sweden 2 Germany 0
B.C. Cancer Agency president Douglas Nelson, vice-president Dr. Sam Abraham, B.C. leadership chair Francois Bernard, Biomark Technologies CEO Rashid Ahmed, president China Yan Li and guest, Christie Consulting president David Christie, KPCB partner Bing Gordon, Khosla Ventures Khosla guest, MDInfo co-founder Jeremy Bloom, Minister Kevin Falcon, MLA Dave Hayer, Pacific Bio Energy Corp. director Erik Dysthe and guest, PricewaterhouseCoopers partner Rick Griffiths, Romich Medical principal Dr. Roy Jackson, Soprema Inc. vice-president Renauld Leclerc and two guests, VanEdge Capital partner Paul Lee.

Czech Republic 3 Slovakia 1
Air G senior business development manager Kyle Shackley, business development Diego Noguez, Crick director Eric Burger and guest, Italian Chamber of Commerce Adolfo Rossi, Antonio Lagamba, Celso Boscariol, Giovanni Boscariol, Giovanni Cunsolo, Liberata Soriano, Renata Soriano, Rocco Cunsolo, Minister Iain Black, MLA Pat Pimm, Northern Freegold GIS data manager Graeme Hopkins and guest, geologist Samantha Dyck and guest, Strongbow Exploration CEO Kenneth Armstrong, vice-president Dave Gale.

Feb. 18
U.S. 6 Norway 1
Alliance of Motion Picture and TV Producers vice-president Tracey Wood, Bridge Studios general manager Ron Hrynuik, Directors’ Guild of Canada B.C. executive director Crawford Hawkins, Dundee Solar Income CEO Clarke Herring and guest, Entertainment Partners Canada president Cheryl Nex, Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer and guest, Minister Colin Hansen, Kevin Krueger, North Shore Studios and Mammoth Studios president Peter Leitch, Rainmaker Animation CEO Warren Franklin, Teamsters Local 155 secretary treasurer Ken Marsden, Union of B.C. Performers president Howard Story, Vancouver Film Studios COO Peter Mitchell, Walt Disney president of motion picture production Bruce Hendricks and guest, vice-president of Disney Interactive Howard Donaldson, Westport Innovations CEO David Demers.

Canada 3 Switzerland 2
Bishop’s Restaurant owner John Bishop and guest, Garage Technology Ventures managing director Guy Kawasaki and 3 guests, House of Q Brian Misko and guest, Minister George Abbott and MLA Gordon Hogg, Nu Restaurant and Lounge Maureen Seay and guest, Osoyoos Indian Band Development Corp. Chief Clarence Louie and guest, conversation technician Ron Hall and guest, Tojo’s owner Hidekazu Tojo and guest, Walt Disney production president Bruce Hendricks, B.C. line producer Justis Greene.

Slovakia 2 Russia 1
B.C. Trucking Association CEO Paul Landry and guest, vice-president of communications Louise Yako and guest, Dokie Wind president Greg Cook, Endurance Wind Power vice-president David Rankin, Government of Slovakia ambassador Stanislav Opiela and guest, Halifax Chamber of Commerce chair Bruce Russell and 3 guests, Lignol Innovations CEO Ross MacLaughlin, Minister Naomi Yamamoto, MLA Richard Lee, Pristine Power CEO Jeff Myers, Pulse Energy software operations lead Chuck Clark, Sempa Power director of sales and marketing Chris Whitney, Vancouver Board of Trade Derek Somerville and Mike Osborne.

Feb. 19
Sweden 4 Belarus 2
3M sales representative Mike Parsons, Avaya director Gordon Jackson, g.m. Greg Best, Cisco Canada president Nitin Kawale, regional manager for western Canada public sector Steve Kinsey, major account manager Terry Pettigrew, HP Advanced Solutions James Hamilton, client sales executives Peter Baran, Trevor Murphy, IBM managing partner Allan Hart, heatlhcare industry director Barry Burk, public sector g.m. Greg Brophy, delivery executive Peter Sandall, Minister Ben Stewart, MLA Rob Howard, Star Solutions International Pais guest x2, Telus vice-president Jason Macdonnell, acting manager of business solutions Michael McCarthy, vice president of sales and marketing Tim Draper.

Czech Republic 5 Latvia 2
Aboriginal Tourism B.C. CEO Keith Henry and guest, associate vice-chair Linnea Battel, Arts Club Theatre executive director Howard Jang, Burnaby Village Museum services supervisor Deborah Tuyttens and guest, Council of Tourism Associations chair Jim Storrie and guest, Go2 director Rob Fussey, Grouse Mountain Resorts vice-president Scott Ellis, CEO Stuart McLaughlin, Link BC projects and events Terry Bubb, Minister Ida Chong, Kevin Krueger, Thompson Okanagan Tourism Association CEO Glenn Mandziuk, Tourism Association Northern B.C. CEO Anthony Everett, Tourism Burnaby executive director Matthew Coyne, Vancouver Coast and Mountains CEO Kevan Ridgeway, Vancouver Community College dean school of hospitality and business Jonathan Rouse.

Finland 5 Germany 0
Automotive Fuel Cell Corporation CEO Andreas Truckenbrodt, B.C. Technology Council chair Cheryl Slusarchuk, Chrysalix Energy Venture Capital CEO Wal Van Lierop, Dpoint Technologies CEO James Dean, Energy Aware Technology president Janice O’Hearn, IBM general manager Greg Brophy and 3 guests, Sabrina Gill, Zubin Nazir, Light-Based Technologies vice-president Ed Sadowski, Minister Colin Hansen and MLA Dave Hayer, Nexterra Systems CEO Jonathan Rhone, Offsetters president James Tansey, Switch Materials CEO Doug Wiggin and guest, Tantalus Systems Corp CFO John Haylock, Westport Innovations executive vice-president Elaine Wong.

Feb. 20
Switzerland 5 Norway 4
Francophone delegation: artist Amougou Jean Faustin, Connie Smith and guest, Place de la Francophonie executive producer Daniel Simoncic, 2 guests, musician Elgin Vine, International Francophonie Organization Gabriel Cote, marketing director Isabelle Valois, director, guest John Wiggins, ArtsGames 2009 gold medalist Julie Picard, artist Lilliana Rusu, Magali Forte, ArtsGames 2009 silver medalist Marielsa Niels, photographer Natasa Laurentiu, artist Philippe Dalois, Scott Pollard, Minister Naomi Yamamoto, MLA Norm Letnick.

Slovakia 6 Latvia 0
Latvia ambassador Margers Krams and guest, South Africa consul general Christopher Meyer and Rebecca Meyer, Consul of Chile Maria Eliena Cuevas and guest, Colombia Rosa Marshall and guest, El Salvador Rosa Elena Moreno and guest, Peru Carlos Roman, Leonardo Chavez and guest, Slovakia Ivano Chomo and 2 guests, Netherlands Jacob Koedood and guest, Minister Naomi Yamamoto, MLA John van Dongen.

Belarus 5 Germany 3
Centre for African Integration Mohamed Salde, Karen Initiative Domenica Pistrin, Lindseigh Lochhead, Lisa Sadler, Luciano Pistrin, Shirley Gemmell, Minister Ben Stewart, MLA Jane Thornthwaite, MOSAIC executive director Eyob Naizgh and guest, Multicultural Advisory Council Andree St. Martin, Ashli Komaryk, chair Edmond Luke, Michelle Rokotonaivo, Mo Dhaliwal, Myrt Turner, Raj Pagely, Randy Sandhu, Provincial Nesika Award Elsa Folgale, Paul Mulangu.

Feb. 21
Russia 4 Czech Republic 2
Bioteq Environmental Technologies manager of engineering Michael Bratty, Britco strategic planning director Chris Gardner, Cannon Design principal Robert Johnston, Kryton International CEO Kari Yuers, Minister Moira Stilwell, MLA Douglas Horne, Russia honorary consul Alexander Bardin, minister to IMF Alexey Mojin, chief of staff to deputy PM Zhukov Alexey Morozov, Boris Nikolskiy, guest Ekaterina Zhukova, guest of Vladimir Kojin, Russian Olympic Committee president Leonid Tyagachov, minister of sport Vitaly Mutko, CEO office of the President Vladimir Kojin, Sandwell Engineering president Charlie Brit, Stantec principal Michael Kennedy, Structurlam president Bill Downing, Temple Scott Associates senior vice-president David Moors, partner Jennifer Rideout.

U.S. 5 Canada 3
ARCH Venture Partners managing directors Bob Nelson, Clint Bybee, CFO Mark McDonnell, partner Paul Thurk, B.C. Advantage Funds Amos Michelson, Cooledge Lighting CEO Art Aylesworth, Dow Venture Capital Monty Bayer, Frazier Healthcare Ventures Petrick Heron, Growthworks Rolf Kekleer, Intellectual Ventures Alex Marquez, Edward Jung, Patrick Ennis, Minister Colin Hansen, Reserve suite, Ostara Myles Degenstein, Premier’s Technology Council Greg Peet, UTIMCO Mark Shoberg, Venrock parnter Matt Trevithick, Vulcan Capital managing director Stephen Hall, Yaletown Venture Fund general partner Mike Satterfield.

Sweden 3 Finland 0
Allon Therapeutics CEO Gordon McCauley, Bauerfeind AG (no name), Dynamics GmbH (no name), K’nigsee Implantate CEO Frank Orschler, Life Sciences BC senior director Barry Gee, Minister Naomi Yamamoto, MLA Ralph Sultan, Thuringia, Germany Prime Minister Christine Lieberknecht, Dr. Peter Miethe, Dr. Ing Peter Traut, interpreter Echbauer, security Jan-Peter Mock, protokoll TSK Karl-Michael Danzer, Knut Korschewsky, Manfred Grob, German Canadian Chamber of Commerce Sascha Gurka, 2 guests, Wolfgang Lemb, Zymerworks CFO Neil Klompas.

Feb. 22
women’s hockey semifinal: U.S. 9 Sweden 1
Capacent Glacier managing partner Magnus Bjarnason, Glacier Partners sustainable energy director Charles Arrigo, managing director Ignacio Kleiman, Iceland secretary general Liney Halldorsdottir, Magma Energy vice-president Alison Thompson, chef de mission Andre Stefansson, vice-president Andrea Zaradic, vice-president Cathie Hickson, CEO Ross Beaty and 4 guests, Minister Margaret McDiarmid, MLA Douglas Horne, 3x suite reserve.

women’s semifinal: Canada 5 Finland 0
Canfor general manager Bill Caverly, Emirates Airlines Andrew Parker and guest, Haida Forest Products president Jim Gillis, Hanwa Co. executive vice-president Tim Inoue, Interex general manager Bruce Pollock, Interfor g.m. Steven Hofer, LJ Resources president Jim Jia, Minister Pat Bell, MLA Randy Hawes, Mitsui Homes g.m. Jun Mori, executive vice-president Yoshi Saito, Nice International president Shojiro Kodama, Quadra Wood Products president Dave Sweeny, suite reserve, Sumitomo Forestry managing executive director Yasuyuki Abe, Tolko export manager Dennis Yano, West Fraser export manager Mike Nomura, Western Forest Products senior vice-president Don Demens, Wing Co. president Shuji Horimoto.

Feb. 23
men’s qualification: Switzerland 3 Belarus 2
Alberta Minister of Culture Lindsay Blackett, Canadian Olympic Committee board member Therese Brisson, Canadian Sport Centre Pacific treasurer Peter Jackson, CEO Wendy Pattenden, Ernst and Young senior vice president Catherine Peacock, senior vice-president Tim Philpotts, KPMG partner Archie Johnston, Gary Webster, Kwantlen Polytechnic University chancellor Arvinder Bubber and guest, Mainroad secretary treasurer Doug Bjornson, vice-president operations Noel Mankey, Minister Ida Chong, suite reserve, Singapore Airlines vice-president HaoYu Dai, Sport Langley special events director Carla Robin, Langley 2010 B.C. Summer Games vice-president Jamey Paterson, vice-chair Michael Jackstein, U.S. Olympic Committee chief of sport performance Mike English, YVR aviation marketing director John Korenic.

Men’s qualification: Canada 8 Germany 2
ARCH Venture Partners Clint Bybee, partner Kristina Burow, B.C. Cancer Agency, v-p Sam Abraham, B.C. Technology Industry Association CEO Pascal Spotherfer, Boreal Genomics principal David Broemeling, CDRD CEO Natalle Dakers, Copperleaf Technology CEO Judi Hess, Dow Venture Capital global director Monty Bayer, Minister Iain Black, suite reserve, Peter Kiewit Sons v-p Frank Margitan and guest, Premier’s Technology Council co-chair Greg Peet, suite reserve x 2, Ventures West Brent York x 2, Teraspan Networks Inc. CEO Neil McDonnell, UBC university-industry liaison Angus Livingstone, Xenon CEO Simon Pimstone.

Men’s qualification: Slovakia 4 Norway 3
Blue Energy Canada CEO Martin Burger and guest, Endurance Wind Power vice-president Kevin Heany, Fraser Basin Council executive director David Marshall, director external relations Bob Purdy, Minister Iain Black, Mitsubishi Canada CEO Shinji Kowase and guest, Norsat International CEO Aimee Chan and guest, Warner Bros. executive v-p digital production Chris Defaria, B.C. line producer Jim Rowe, Vontobel Private Banking president Thomas Amgwerd and guest (x2 both), B.C. Technology Industry Association executive director David Marshall and guest (x2 both),

Feb. 24
Men’s quarter final: U.S. 2 Switzerland 0
ARCH Venture Partners partner Paul Thurk, B.C. Innovation Council founder Greg Aasen, Centre for Digital Media executive director Dr. Gerri Sinclair, Mingleverse Labs co-founder Ron Steven, Minister Naomi Yamamoto, OpenText v-p Dennis Croft, SNC Lavalin project manager Tom Tasaka and guest, suite reserve due to capacity x3, VanEdge Capital Glenn Entis and guest, Rick Mischel and guest, Vulcan Capital managing director Stephen Hall, Warner Bros. executive v-p Chris Defaria and 3 guests.

Men’s quarter final: Canada 7 Russia 3
Aldeasa Duty Free Yada guest, Britco president Rick McClymont, Eclipse Computing executive g.m. Ben Campbell-Barry, CEO Bradley Stoop, Fast and Epp managing partner Paul Epp, Krasnodar Krai vice-governor Alexey Agafonov, first deputy head of admin Dzhambulat Khatuov, vice-governor Galina Zolina, vice-governor Nikolay Doluda, chairman of legislature Vladimir Beketov, Minister Colin Hansen, Praxair USA president Jim Fuchs and 3 guests, SNC-Lavalin project manager Tom Tasaka, suite reserve, Today Show Josh Rhodes (x2), host Natalie Morales.

Men’s quarterfinal: Slovakia 4 Sweden 3
AirG (Wavefront) Raj Bhangu, Business Development Bank of Canada Frank Pho (VanEdge Capital), Minister Steve Thomson, O2 UK business manager James Hampton Finn and guest, China Shipping 5 allocated but not used, VanEdge Capital partner Paul Lee, advisor Robin Louis, Vistra Capital Management advisor Jeff Dowle, Volvo Powertrain Anders Kellstrom, Warner Bros. EVP Chris Defaria and guest, Wavefront Jim Maynard, Westport Innovations Lance Follet and guest, EVP Nicholas Sonntag.

Feb. 25
Women’s bronze medal: Finland 3 Sweden 2
Forum for Women Entrepreneurs program analyst Ashley Todd, Heather Kelly, Hapag Lloyd managing director Holger Oetjen and guest, Minister Colin Hansen, MLA Gordon Hogg, Port Metro Vancouver vice-president Peter Xotta, Air China 7 allotted but not used, Time Warner Inc. senior vice-president international relations Hugh Stephens and guest, Volvo Powertrain vice-chairman Anders Kellstrom, Westport Innovations vice-president Lance Follet, EVP Nicholas Sonntag and guest.

Women’s gold medal: Canada 2 U.S. 0
Olympians: Kristina Groves and guest, Clara Hughes and guest, Silken Laumann and guest, Marianne St. Gelais and guest, Michele Stilwell and 2 guests, Christine Nesbitt and guest, Maelle Ricker and guest, Ashleigh McIvor, Jenn Heill and guest, Minister Naomi Yamamoto.

Feb. 26
Men’s semifinal: U.S. 6 Finland 1
Association for Mineral Exploration of B.C. chair Lena Brommeland, director Mike McPhie, Gavin Dirom, Digital Domain CEO Cliff Plumer and 3 guests, Imperial Metals chairman Pierre Liebel, Kiska Metals Corp. CEO Jason Weber, Krome Studios CEO Robert Walsh, Lignol Innovations COO Michael Rushton, Mining Association of B.C. CEO Pierre Gratton, Minister Hawes, MLA Terry Lake, Rio Tinto Alcan general manager Allan Moss, CEO Jacynthe Cote, gov’t relations director Richard Propanko, Roca Mines CEO Scott Broughton, B.C. Business Council Virginia Greene, Terrane Metals CEO Rob Pease.

Men’s semifinal: Canada 3 Slovakia 2
Amazon vice-president worldwide corporate development Peter Krawlec, Blast Radius EVP Bill Schonbrun, CEO Gurval Caer, Dorsey and Whitney partner Jeffrey Peterson, Google Canada site director Steve Woods, KPC&B partner Bing Gordon, Minister Iain Black, MLA John Yap, Speaker Bill Barisoff, OpenText vice-president Dennis Croft, Prime Focus vice-president Amit Gupta, Research in Motion strategic alliance manager Chris Wormald, Sony EVP Debbie Denise and guest, suite reserve, VanEdge Capital Owen Matthews, Tandem Exploration Fund partner David Bookbinder and guest, VanEdge Capital partner Glenn Entis, Paul Lee.

Feb. 27
Men’s bronze medal: Finland 5 Slovakia 3
Olympians Catherine O’Brien and guest, Sandy Hartley and guest, Paralympian Patrick Anderson and guest, coach Adam Frost and guest, athlete Say Luangdem and guest, achievement award Hudson Stewart and guest, Minister Iain Black, MLA Ralph Sultan, 6 unallocated to provide room for wheelchair guests.

Feb. 28
Gold medal game: Canada 3 U.S. 2
David Foster and guest, Jim Richards, Vicki Gabereau and guest; Rio Tinto Alcan CEO Jacynthe Cote and vice-president Eric Ryan; Dr. Peter AIDS Foundation chairman John deC. Evans (CEO Trilogy Properties Corp.) and guest, executive director Maxine Davis and guest; Coaches Association of B.C. 2008 coach of the year: Chantel Spicer and guest; B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell and guest; Olympians Ashleigh McIvor, Chris Del Bosco, Denny Morrison, Francois-Olivier Roberge, Jay Morrison, Lucas Makowsky, Mathieu Giroux, Tessa Virtue, Scott Moir, Adam Enright, Kevin Martin, John Morris, Marc Kennedy, Ben Herbert and two guests of men’s gold medal curling team; VANOC directors: Ken Dobell, Peter Brown and guest, Rick Turner and guest, Rusty Goepel and guest, Darlene Poole and guest.

BC Hide-ro won't say who used its Olympic luxury box

What do...

Pia Nagpal, Brook Thalgot, Elin Aasen, Geoff Henshaw, Paul Seto, Paul Kennedy, Jennifer Thompson, John Thomas, Arien Korteland, Jeff Chiu, Simon Vickers, Michael Newland, Rob Klovance, Debra LeRose, Brianne Rusk, Greg Stanway, Harper Hadden, Michael Wenzlaff, Simi Heer, Sylvia Von Minden, Gareth Clarke, Margo Longland, Oscar Ceron, Kyle Horwood, Mike Brandson, Steve Hobson, Darren Richter, Scott Janzen, Carmelina Sorace, Ron Matromonaco, Brent Billey, Sunny Sharma, Christopher Roberts, Kevin Wallace, Melodie Bell, Wayne Cousins, Jeff Whitson, John Hougan, Cam Matheson, Ken Bell, Tiffany Kask, Pat Mathot and Walter Greeley.

...have in common?

They’re all BC Hydro employees. They’re also the only people that BC Hydro is willing to admit went to its $264,000 luxury suite in GM Place for Olympic hockey in February. That's where BC Hydro spent $46,600 of your money on burgers and booze... hey, just mere blocks from soup kitchens on the Downtown Eastside! Read the story here. See the documents here.

The public power company that is raising your electricity rates by about $100 a year (to pay for the VANOC power bill, perhaps?) says it cannot release the names of the invitees and their guests. They claim doing so would harm the personal privacy of those who got tickets for the luxury suite! That includes corporate clients from near and far and residential customers who won contests.

You mean, contest winners’ names must be kept secret? How can those who didn’t win tickets be satisfied that the contest was held fairly? Was the contest rigged?

Though, the documents are woefully lacking key information, BC Hydro is the first Crown corporation to provide me documents. I’m still waiting for B.C. Lottery Corporation and Insurance Corporation of B.C. to tell me what they spent during the Games.

Finally, it should be noted that the chairman of BC Hydro is VANOC executive vice-president of construction Dan Doyle. Neither VANOC nor Doyle are shining examples of public disclosure. VANOC is not subject to Freedom of Information and its board meetings are held behind closed doors. They had fun playing with your money at the Olympics, but they’re also arrogant enough to think that you don’t deserve to know!

Fan-to-Fan Furor

So you were a good, obedient Canadian and bought tickets to the 2010 Winter Olympics directly from VANOC. You heeded VANOC warnings that tickets could be cancelled without notice if bought or sold through unauthorized sources, such as sidewalk scalpers or Craigslist brokers.

After months of dillying and dallying, VANOC came up with its own in-house solution, the Fan-to-Fan Marketplace. Essentially, the organizing committee that sought to outlaw scalping became a scalper. It allowed tickets to be sold for whatever price but took a 20% cut of all transactions (10% from the buyer and 10% from the seller) in exchange for listing on Vancouver2010.com and processing the transaction.

Fans were told they'd have to wait until after the Games and wouldn't get their payment before April. Now it's May and VANOC says it put cheques in the mail last week. It said it had to doublecheck addresses.

Of course, wouldn't it be more sustainable to zap payment electronically? Those services are offered in the 21st century.

This time last year, VANOC had well-documented cashflow problems. Those were supposedly solved when the International Olympic Committee agreed to a $22 million bailout last summer. The British Columbia government is the ultimate guarantor.

Anyway, please respond in the forum below or directly to 2010goldrush (at) gmail (dot) com and tell me your Fan-to-Fan Marketplace experience. What was VANOC customer service like? Have you received your cheque? Did it clear the bank?

UPDATE: If you have not been satisfied by VANOC, you have a right to complain. In British Columbia, Consumer Protection BC handles consumer complaints on behalf of the government. The Consumers' Association of Canada is a non-governmental organization that can provide you with information on how to make similar complaints to the authorities if you are outside B.C.

Penny counts the costs

Penny Ballem can’t please all the politicians, all the time.

Vancouver’s city manager, who is also a VANOC director, made a valiant effort to report to council April 20 on civic taxpayers’ bill for the 2010 Winter Olympics.

The tally was a gross $729.2 million, which was whittled to $554.3 million with help from the federal and British Columbia governments. Her agenda, obtained under Freedom of Information, shows she met Feb. 24 with senior city hall staff including report author Annette Klein to discuss “Olympic costing.”

Coun. Suzanne Anton, the lone NPA holdover from the 2005-2008 council, criticized Ballem for including the $299.8 million of city facilities at the Olympic Village.

COPE Coun. Ellen Woodsworth read a list of items that didn’t make it into the report -- such as the sweetheart rent deal for VANOC, cost of closing Coal Harbour and Roundhouse Community Centres (to be the protocol centre and House of Italy, respectively), reduced hours at city hall and loss of revenue at local businesses because of transportation and security restrictions. If your business wasn't a downtown hotel or restaurant, chances are you suffered in February.

Ballem revealed that when she became city manager in December 2008, there was no accounting for civic Olympic costs, beyond the $20 million legacy reserve fund. “When I first started, I had been taken aback,” Ballem said. “I don’t think I was ever able to find a budget.”

Ballem said items were included because they were capital projects exclusively for the Games or on an accelerated Olympic schedule or operational expenses and reallocations. The broad definition corresponds with former B.C. Auditor General Arn van Iersel’s interpretation. He estimated in 2006 that the Games would cost B.C. taxpayers $2.5 billion, based on items planned or built on an Olympic-dictated schedule for use in supporting or staging the Games. His successor John Doyle said the provincial government was downplaying costs.

Wherever you are on the spectrum, you can’t fault Ballem for her effort. What other bureaucrat in this province is trying to deliver the truth to the people who paid for the party?

Certainly not Philip Steenkamp, the president of the B.C. 2010 Winter Games Secretariat.

His boss, Olympics minister Mary McNeil and her boss Premier Gordon Campbell keep telling us Vancouver 2010 was the “most successful in Olympic Winter Games history.” That communications strategy is based on the old maxim that if you repeat a lie often enough, people will believe it.

It’s only a matter of time before their house of cards crashes. VANOC may very well balance its books, but only with the International Olympic Committee’s bailout and a substantial, unannounced infusion from taxpayers.

The B.C. Fiberals and VANOC are just making us wait until they hope we won’t notice or care. They think October is safe.

One thing is certain, there won’t be a provincial “Ballemization” of Olympic costs, according to McNeil. Citizens and the media will have to search through the entire annual public spending report for the government to find out.

“There will not be a separate report (by the Olympic Games Secretariat), but as I’ve said, all expenses will be published in the Public Accounts, and they will be reviewed by the Auditor General,” McNeil said in a budget hearing on April 20.

That may be news to the Office of the Auditor General. Executive director Michael Macdonell didn’t offer any certainty in an April 9 email response to me.

“We are not the auditor of VANOC, and so will evaluate our position once we have received and assessed (its final) report,” Macdonell said.

VANOC, by the way, stopped publishing quarterly financial reports last year. McNeil misspoke when she said its most recent was in January.

VANOC is actually violating section 4.4 of the Multiparty Agreement that said the organizing committee will publish financial statements 60 days after the end of each quarter, in each fiscal year.

Blame game not over

The much-anticipated report into the death of Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili from the International Luge Federation was published at 3 a.m. Vancouver time on April 19.

Yeah, I woke up to be among the first to read it and write about it. Reporters who remained asleep didn't miss much. Maybe I was expecting too much from a typical European-based sports federation in self-preservation mode.

The 20-page document has few new revelations, no diagrams and no definitive timeline. (Note to FIL: a timeline should contain times. Your page 16 doesn't.) There is a photograph of Kumaritashvili on page 3 and kind words about the 21-year-old who died on the opening day of the 21st Winter Games. It details the donations to Kumaritashvili's family and does say that the family continues to wait for the VANOC insurance payment.

FIL continues to blame "driver error" and it describes how Kumaritashvili died. But it doesn't describe the why.

Tacked onto the story in the Telegraph by its Olympics editor Jacquelin Magnay is a fact box containing five unanswered questions.

Five unanswered questions
- Why was the steel pillar positioned directly next to the track and alongside a turn previously identified as dangerous?
- Why was the steel pillar unprotected without padding?
- Why wasn’t the track modified in the year before the Olympic Games when athletes had officially complained about the dangers?
- Why weren’t international sliders given more official practice time in the months leading up to the Games?
- Why did the International officials approve the track when excessive speed had already been identified as a problem?

Will the British Columbia Coroners Service enlighten us when it reports next month? Or will we have to wait for VANOC and FIL executives to testify in a Coroner's inquest or B.C. Supreme Court lawsuit?

This story is not over. As long as these questions remain, the sport of luge, the Whistler Sliding Centre and VANOC will live under a black cloud.

Furlong: "We had tested for everything, this was not one of those things."

The mere mention of Nodar Kumaritashvili still makes me cry on the inside. It hit me hard Feb. 12 when I heard there had been a crash at the Whistler Sliding Centre.

It was an already busy day. The Olympic torch relay was in downtown Vancouver, blocked by protesters. Military helicopters and fighter jets buzzed overhead in the hours before the opening ceremony at B.C. Place Stadium, the focal point for world sport.

Just minutes after the crash bulletin hit the news wires, I found the shocking replay video that someone uploaded to YouTube. At best, I thought, he would be paralyzed. He must have been aware of the risks, but he was among the top 50 in the world and was skilled enough to be allowed on the track. The most extreme track in the world, but one the International Luge Federation had deemed safe.

Then CKNW broke the news at the top of its noon newscast, according to a report from Sun Media: A 21-year-old had died on the first day of the 21st Winter Olympics.

It made the clouds hanging over Vancouver that much heavier. It was harder for me to work on the day I anticipated for almost seven years. The half-mast flag at city hall spoke volumes.

That night, the march into B.C. Place Stadium by the Georgian team -- wearing black armbands, sullen faces and the weight of grief on their shoulders -- was greeted with standing ovations. Even the media stood and clapped. Most of us rarely do that.

At a news conference earlier that day, VANOC CEO John Furlong said: “We are heartbroken beyond words to be sitting here. I am so sorry to be in this position, to be reporting this to you. It's not something that I have prepared for, that I ever thought I would need to be prepared for.”

On April 16, during his farewell speech to the Vancouver Board of Trade, Furlong said “We had tested for everything, this was not one of those things. We tested for every conceivable thing that could happen to us so that we could know what to do if it happened during the Games.”

I regret, for fear of being callous, not challenging Furlong on that statement after the Board of Trade speech. I know it's easy for me to criticize. I didn't have to stand before the world on Feb. 12 like Furlong did. Furlong helped carry Kumaritashvili's coffin at a Feb. 15 funeral in Vancouver and he went to Georgia after the Paralympics to be with Kumaritashvili's heartbroken family. All noble gestures. Not one was easy or without emotion.

It is simply inconceivable that the potential for an athlete death at such a large event featuring such dangerous sports was never considered. If the risk had never been discussed at a VANOC executive planning meeting, then someone was not doing his or her job.

Even bigger risks with much less likelihood were on the minds of VANOC partners.

The Canadian government spent $900 million on security and public safety for the Vancouver Olympics and that budget included funds for the RCMP and Canadian Forces to practice nuclear and chemical bomb scenarios. It also included fake newscasts organized by Public Safety Canada!

Yes, I know about Munich 1972 and Atlanta 1996, but I’m not aware of a single terrorist-caused death at any Winter Games.

There were, however, at least four fatalities involving athletes and officials at Winter Games before Vancouver.

Tragedy struck twice at Innsbruck 1964. Kazimierz Kay-Skrzypeski of Great Britain died in the Olympic luge track at Igls, Austria two weeks before opening. Skier Ross Milne of Australia crashed in a practice for the men’s downhill.

At Calgary 1988, Austrian surgeon Jorg Oberhammer fell under a snow grooming machine after colliding with another skier. Shocked Olympians Pirmin Zurbriggen and Martin Hangl witnessed from the chairlift above.

At Albertville 1992, Swiss speedskater Nicholas Bochatay ran into a snowcat while skiing outside the competition area. Three weeks before Lillehammer 1994, Ulrike Maier of Austria was killed at the world cup race in Garmisch-Partenkirschen.

Every time I visited the Whistler Sliding Centre for sliding sports’ training sessions or competitions, there was always a pair of B.C. Ambulance Service ambulances with four paramedics at the ready. This didn’t sit well with members of their union, who were fighting for a new collective bargaining agreement.

The Canadian Academy of Sport Medicine met in Vancouver at the Westin Bayshore June 3-7, 2009. Before the convention, 48 doctors from across the country participated in a simulated bobsled crash at the Justice Institute of B.C. in New Westminster. The exercise scenario involved the aftermath of a four-man bobsled flying off the track and into the grandstand. Members of the Games-time medical team not only had experience working at sliding sports events, but also motorsports races. Just as athletes knew the risks, the doctors knew the grisly results of the worst accidents.

Longtime Vancouverites remember the tragic death of Maple Ridge CART driver Greg Moore in the last race of the 1999 season at Fontana, Calif., and the 1990 death of Molson Indy Vancouver track worker Jean Patrick Hein. Hein was struck by the car of Willy T. Ribbs at a chicane near B.C. Place Stadium.

VANOC had insurance policies for Olympic participants, to protect against serious injury and death claims. One such policy will compensate Kumaritashvili’s parents.

It also seems inconceivable that VANOC’s communications department had not considered a fatality.
VANOC vice-president of communications Renee Smith-Valade’s previous career was a communications executive with Air Canada.

Canadian carriers have been involved in relatively few tragedies, but Canadians have had front-row seats to some of the most famous air disasters. Sikh terrorists killed 329 people in the 1985 Air India flight 182 that blew-up off the coast of Ireland. The flight originated in Montreal. Swissair flight 111 crashed near Halifax in 1998 when faulty wiring started an onboard fire, killing 229.

A company as big as Air Canada with so much at stake must’ve had a crisis communications plan ready if and when the unthinkable happened.

* * * * *

I write this in anticipation of the April 19 release of an IOC-ordered report by the International Luge Federation. The report is supposed to spread the blame because FIL says there is no single cause.

That seems to be an aboutface from Feb. 13 when the IOC, FIL and VANOC rushed to blame the athlete. They refused to criticize the fastest track in the world, the quality of maintenance or the booking policies that gave preference to Canadian athletes.

Georgia's President, Mikheil Saakashvili said it best at a Vancouver news conference.

"I've heard remarks from the international (luge) federation that what happened was because of human error," Saakashvili said. "I don't claim to know the technical details, but one thing that I know for sure is that no sports mistake is supposed to lead to a death."

Blogger Phil Butler has a keen eye. A reader of his noticed something unusual on the video replay of Kumaritashvili’s last run. Could Kumaritashvili have been distracted?

“The initial supposed investigation pointed out that Nodar made a critical error going into turn 16, but they failed to mention workers wagging poles in the luger’s line of site just before he entered the shadows under their constructions.”

Exclusive: who had best seats at Olympic hockey final

So who were those people in the luxury suites at General Motors Place (aka Canada Hockey Place) for Sidney Crosby's golden goal on Feb. 28 that give Canada its 14th Winter Olympic championship of the Vancouver 2010 Games?

For the entire run of men's and women's hockey at "The Garage" from Feb. 13-28, suites were running $133,650-$252,450 on level 500 to $231,000-$264,000 on level 200. Tickets were included. Food and beverage service was extra. Single-game suites were going for as low as $2,800. The best bargain was $2,800 for a suite at the Czech Republic versus Slovakia match on Feb. 17. If you paid $15,000 for a suite at the Feb. 25 women's gold medal game, you would have witnessed, at no extra charge, the Canadian players drink beer and smoke cigars on ice. (The public was whisked out of GM Place after games, but suite-holders got plenty of time to stick around and finish their cocktails and snacks.)

Prices on the secondary market crashed for the men's gold medal game. One scalper was offering a suite for $1,600 with less than an hour to go before face-off, according to one of my sources.

The list below, as you'll see, is not complete. That's where you come in. Those with solid information that help me fill-in the blanks get a special edition Vancouver 24 hours Vancouver 2010 Olympic pin. Send email to 2010goldrush@gmail.com or click the email link in the upper right column. I also gladly receive mail (from those who would rather remain anonymous) to 554 E. 15th, Vancouver, V5T 2R5.

Luxury suite numbers and groups at the Feb. 28 men's Olympic gold medal hockey game.
201: TD Bank Financial Group
203: Concord Pacific
204: Aquilini Investment Group
205: Aquilini Investment Group
206: GE (Jet Set)
207: Heli-Jet
208: Coca-Cola
213: Province of British Columbia
214: VANOC
215: VANOC
216: VANOC
217: B.C. Roadbuilders
220: Contemporary International
221: Acer
223: Canaccord
224: Onni
225: Scotiabank
226: Vision Co.
227: Vision Co.
228: Vision Co.
229: Sun Microsystems
230: Aquilini Investment Group
231: Aquilini Investment Group
233: District of West Vancouver
235: Clarus Capital
236: Royal Bank of Canada
238: Rogers
239: Goldcorp
242: Canadian Pacific
243: Ernst and Young
244: Britco Structures
245: Deloitte
246: Weston Bakeries
247: BC Hydro
248: Royal Bank of Canada
249: Canwest
250: Hudson’s Bay Co.
251: Molson
252: Bell
253: CTV
254: Prime Strategies
255: Copperlion Capital
256: Canadian Olympic Committee
257: Edmonton OIlers
259: Jet Set
260: Jet Set
261: Aramark
267: International Ice Hockey Federation: Home team (each game)
268: IIHF Away team (each game)
275: IIHF
276: Province of Alberta
277: McCarthy Tetrault
281: Lisa and Mike Hudson
282: Olympic Panorama Arch Energy
501: Port Metro Vancouver
503: Acklands Grainger
504: Purolator
505: Olympic Panorama (Russia NOC)
506: General Mills
507: Rona/Bombardier
508: Shato Holdings
509: Fasken Martineau
510: Millennium Water Development
513: Olympic Panorama Russia
515: Finland Travel Bureau
520: Four Host First Nations

to be confirmed: 202, 219, 234, 258, 262
blacked out: 209, 210, 211, 212, 241, 263, 278, 279, 502, 511, 512, 514
single: 222, 237, 240, 264, 265, 266, 280

Vancouver Olympic Stadium: Montreal part deux?

B.C. Place Stadium was the most famous stadium on the planet for the Feb. 12 opening ceremony and Feb. 28 closing ceremony of the 2010 Winter Olympics.

The 1983-opened, 60,000-seat dome has a fascinating recent history that you can read here.

In May, the roof will be deflated and the structure will be retrofitted with a German-engineered retractable roof. If the pioneering project succeeds, it'll be on the front of every architectural magazine in the world.

If it doesn't, it'll be the west coast counterpart of Montreal's infamous Olympic Stadium. That billion-dollar, French-designed 1976 Games venue is known as one of the most-expensive stadiums ever built because the roof didn't work.

The British Columbia government and B.C. Pavilion Corporation, the taxpayer-owned company that runs B.C. Place, are not offering satisfactory answers to any questions about how the project will pay for itself.

The all-in price of the post-Olympic project was announced as $365 million for a retractable roof and interior renovations on Jan. 9, 2009. On Oct. 23, 2009, the roof alone was announced as $458 million. Minister responsible Kevin Krueger finally 'fessed up in a budget committee hearing when he told NDP critic Spencer Herbert that the interior renovation budget is $105 million.

So the price-tag today is $563 million. Fancy that: 563 is just 365 backwards. Is this the Liberal version of the NDP's disastrous back-of-the-napkin fast ferry fleet?

Along the way, the government and PavCo have said the stadium project would be financed by a 40-year government loan and the debt paid with long-term lease revenue from development of neighbouring property. Both Krueger and PavCo chairman David Podmore have been as transparent as the 27-year-old fabric.

I made two Freedom of Information requests to the ministry responsible for copies of the business plan and financing formula. I was denied on May 21, 2009 (click here) and Feb. 11, 2010 (click image on the right to enlarge).

Which begs two questions: Is there a business plan at all? If so, why hide it from the taxpayers?

Details continue to be rather sketchy. The March 2-released PavCo service plan for the next three fiscal years says:

Complete the BC Place Roof Replacement project by Fall 2011 and within or below the approved capital budget, and report out quarterly to the Shareholder on progress of achieving construction milestones (cost, scope, schedule) and details of project benefits... PavCo is seeking revenue opportunities for BC Place based on timing for the completion of installation of a retractable roof in Fall 2011... PavCo is seeking proposals for the development of BC Place lands in order to achieve the highest, long-term return to the Shareholder.

B.C. Place hosted the Olympic ceremonies. Is it also hosting some of the Olympic debt?

Over to you, Mr. Podmore. Show us the business plan, please.