Putting two and two together

Last week, this blogger broke stories on how the Vancouver Olympic committee cancelled its final instalment of bonuses for certain workers and that the Department of Canadian Heritage found discrepancies in the use of federal taxpayers' funds by VANOC.

Canadian Heritage was the ministry that oversaw federal involvement with and funding of the Olympics. The October 2010-dated audit document was itself dated Dec. 8, 2010. It appeared on the Canadian Heritage website's audits and evaluation section very quietly, after Christmas... after the Dec. 17, 2010 VANOC post-Games financial report and after the Dec. 23, 2010 Government-wide Canada's Games report. The latter report did not answer a key question: how much did the feds spend?

Canadian Heritage didn't find any improprieties and made no recommendations to VANOC. But the auditors who went over VANOC books last May and June and found $10 million in accounting discrepancies that needed adjusting. They were unable to look at how ceremonies producer David Atkins used almost $500,000 because the files were in Australia.

Canadian Heritage Minister James Moore was "not available" according to his press secretary. VANOC chief financial officer John McLaughlin did not respond directly to my queries about the cancelled bonuses or the Canadian Heritage audit. But if VANOC had to rejig its books after the audit, it may be reasonable that the first place it turned was the trust fund that contained those bonuses.

A trust fund that was reported quarterly in 2008 and 2009, but mysteriously not in the only report issued in 2010.

Here is the Canadian Heritage audit.

Canadian Heritage VANOC audit, October 2010

Bonuses that go bust and disappearing trust

Number two on the list of the five corporate values adopted by the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics organizing committee was “trust”.

According to Webster, trust is defined as:

1 a: assured reliance on the character, ability, strength, or truth of someone or something; b: one in which confidence is placed
2 a: dependence on something future or contingent : hope; b: reliance on future payment for property (as merchandise) delivered : credit
3 a : a property interest held by one person for the benefit of another; b : a combination of firms or corporations formed by a legal agreement; especially : one that reduces or threatens to reduce competition
4 archaic : trustworthiness
5 a (1) : a charge or duty imposed in faith or confidence or as a condition of some relationship (2) : something committed or entrusted to one to be used or cared for in the interest of another.

VANOC disclosed in its report for the year ended July 31, 2008 that it created a trust on July 1, 2008 “for the purposes of holding certain of the assets of the Employee Completion and Performance Plan [the “Plan”]. Employees were to be rewarded, based on length of service and seniority, once when they finished their assignments and again several months later.

“The purpose of the Plan is to support the retention of employees through to the end of the term of their employment agreement (“completion entitlement”) and reward achievement of organizational performance results. The purpose of the Trust is to hold the contributions to be made by VANOC relating to the completion entitlement of eligible Operations employees. VANOC has accrued $8,600 at July 31, 2008 related to the completion entitlement, which will be paid into the Trust once the Trust has been fully set up. Transactions between VANOC and the Trust will be measured at fair market value at the date of contribution. VANOC has an economic interest in the Trust as it is a named beneficiary together with the eligible employees, and is entitled only to the interest, capital gains and dividends earned on the Trust’s assets.”

By Oct. 31, 2008, VANOC “accrued” $9.8 million. Another $731,000 was added by Jan. 31, 2009 when it stood at $10.601 million. By April 30, 2009, it was $14.534 million.

Three months later -- when the fiscal year ended July 31, 2009 -- the “fair value of the trust’s assets” was $16.3 million.

The last citation was in the Dec. 21, 2009-released report for the period that ended Oct. 31, 2009 when the trust was worth $17.774 million.

There was no mention in the Dec. 17, 2010-published, post-Games financial report.

On Jan. 6, 2011, ex-employees were notified via an email memo from chief financial officer that there would be no final instalment of the staff bonuses. Happy new year!

One trust disappeared and another trust was broken.

That's how it ended. How did it begin?

VANOC planned to reward staff with bonuses, so as to prevent an exodus in the months before the 2010 Winter Olympics. The $44.576 million in the May 2007 business plan and budget for "additional compensation costs" was branded a "slush fund" by then-NDP Olympics critic Harry Bains.

The story had a second go-round in October 2009 when the $30 million Employee Completion and Performance Plan caused VANOC to go into damage-control mode while preparing for the Olympic torch relay.

"This helps us reassure our employees -- particularly in the face of a challenging economy -- that they can complete their commitments without the pressure of trying to find a new job or being recruited in the final months before the Games," said a prepared statement from deputy CEO Dave Cobb in October 2009.

Shortly after he arrived at Olympia, Greece's Amalia Hotel for the Oct. 22, 2009 torch-lighting, CEO John Furlong mentioned that he paid a visit to the publisher of The Vancouver Sun (a VANOC sponsor and no relation to Sun Media) to express his dismay at the paper's coverage of the issue. It was an insult to the hardworking men and women of Vancouver 2010, Furlong said.

It's no surprise that the bonuses went bust. We eventually found out a week before Christmas 2010 that VANOC got a $187.8 million bailout from taxpayers in order to show a balanced $1.884 billion operating budget. No taxpayers' money was supposed to be used for operations. But the recession happened and VANOC was not prepared. Dollars were being shifted from department to department and account to account. Because of one of my sources, we now also know that employee bonuses were a casualty.

Certainly there may be some ex-VANOC workers who qualified for a bonus who may be feeling jilted about the post-Christmas memo. But there are many more taxpayers wondering: Why didn't VANOC talk about this? It's evidence that the organizing committee made sacrifices like the rest of us.

Ken Dobell, the chair of the finance committee, did not want to comment. McLaughlin did not directly reply to my queries. Spokeswoman Renee Smith-Valade claimed to be conveying a message from McLaughlin that:

"Page 8 of the final financial report indicates that compensation costs totaled $308.3 million across the organization for the duration of the project and that these costs were embedded in the reported cost of each division. The funds paid out of the trust were included in this total as they were part of the compensation costs."

Not good enough. Show me.

This begs some simple, reasonable, key questions for VANOC.

1) What was the financial standing of the trust from Nov. 1, 2009 onward?

2) After diligently reporting the evolution of the trust since it was established, why was it omitted from the final report? (If you’re an eligible ex-VANOC employee, you are a beneficiary and have the right to ask for the statements of this trust.)

3) Was auditor Ernst and Young supplied sufficient information about the state of the trust after Oct. 31, 2009?

4) Finally, what else are you hiding from Vancouverites, British Columbians and Canadians?

As usual, I gladly accept answers at bob.mackin@sunmedia.ca and even plain, brown envelopes at 554 E. 15th Ave., Vancouver, B.C. V5T 2R5

Treasury Board presidents say the darndest things

Stockwell Day is an enigma wrapped in a riddle.

He was unfairly ridiculed for showing up at a news conference in 2000 riding a Jet Ski. Canadians need more politicians arriving for events aboard alternate means of transportation. I'm not a politician, but if I had a Jet Ski that's how I'd arrive for work.

He was leader of the Canadian Alliance, which was oh-so briefly called the Conservative Reform Alliance Party until someone realized it literally stood for CRAP. That's also what his supporters were saying after losing the 2000 election to the Jean Chretien Liberals. During that campaign, he was mocked for his creationist beliefs.

On Jan. 19, 2010, he was sworn-in as president of the Treasury Board. Here is his job description.

"The Treasury Board is responsible for accountability and ethics, financial, personnel and administrative management, comptrollership, approving regulations and most Orders-in-Council.

"The formal role of the President is to chair the Treasury Board. He carries out his responsibility for the management of the government by translating the policies and programs approved by Cabinet into operational reality and by providing departments with the resources and the administrative environment they need to do their work. The Treasury Board has an administrative arm, the Secretariat, which was part of the Department of Finance until it was proclaimed a department in 1966."

Day is also the senior cabinet minister for British Columbia.

So who better to ask than Day himself a simple question: how much did the federal government spend on the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics?

The City of Vancouver and Province of British Columbia issued post-Games reports disclosing their expenditures. The Government of Canada has not.

Maybe you saw a report on Dec. 23, 2010 called Canada's Games. Conveniently released the day before Christmas Eve. That document purportedly told the story of the federal government's involvement in the Olympics. Flip to the financial chapter and you'll find the government's estimate of $1.247 billion "invested". But look closely at the page 127 disclaimer. It says the following: "All dollar amounts in this report reflect budgets and not actual figures".

So here we are in 2011 and still wondering about the cost of the Games. Here's Day's answer to my simple question at a Jan. 21 news conference on scientific research grants at the University of B.C. Robson Square:

"Everything, every dollar, every dime that we've spent has been and is fully audited and all numbers are available.

"The overall report showed that the Olympics themselves wound up in a net surplus position. Fantastic what is left here as a legacy, not just in terms of training centres and all the magnificent infrastructure projects that we have now, but of course the legacy of accomplishment itself.

"The numbers are out there and if there's a particular element that you haven't got or haven't been able to get, by all means give me a call.

"The overall Olympics have been audited, we're very happy that it's turned out an overall surplus position.

"There's some cases because there's so many organizations and groups that you collaborate with and work with, we're actually still waiting for receipts."

Excuse me, Mr. Day?

A net surplus is defined as profits remaining after operating expenses, taxes, interest, insurance and dividends. The word "surplus" appears only once in the Canada's Games report in reference to surplus medical and dental supplies donated to earthquake-ravaged Haiti.

Again, I direct your attention to the disclaimer on page 127:"All dollar amounts in this report reflect budgets and not actual figures."

VANOC, which organized the Games, had no profit. On Dec. 17, 2010, it claimed it balanced a $1.884 billion operating budget, but only after an infusion of $187.8 million from taxpayers. In May 2007, CEO John Furlong said no money from taxpayers would be needed for operations.

So, will the Treasury Board president kindly give us a straight answer? How much did the federal government spend on the Vancouver Olympics?

(P.S.: In case you'd like to call Day yourself, his numbers are 613-957-2666, 613-995-1702 or 1-800-665-8711.)

WikiLeaks: Cuban boxers and their Pan Am defection bid

Whenever there is an international multisport event that includes athletes from a country where human rights or economic conditions are sub-par, then there is likely to be defections.

That's what happened at the 2007 Pan American Games in Rio de Janeiro where Cuban boxers decided they didn't want to go home to Castro-stan in the Caribbean.

Here is a United States embassy cable published by WikiLeaks on the topic. Find another one at this link.

Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
07BRASILIA1715 2007-09-11 15:03 2011-01-18 00:12 CONFIDENTIAL Embassy Brasilia

VZCZCXRO4272
RR RUEHRG
DE RUEHBR #1715 2541550
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 111550Z SEP 07
FM AMEMBASSY BRASILIA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 9915
INFO RUEHAC/AMEMBASSY ASUNCION 6271
RUEHBU/AMEMBASSY BUENOS AIRES 4986
RUEHMN/AMEMBASSY MONTEVIDEO 7004
RUEHSG/AMEMBASSY SANTIAGO 6408
RUEHRG/AMCONSUL RECIFE 7113
RUEHRI/AMCONSUL RIO DE JANEIRO 5070
RUEHSO/AMCONSUL SAO PAULO 0744
RUEHUB/USINT HAVANA 0047
C O N F I D E N T I A L BRASILIA 001715

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/10/2017
TAGS: PREL SCUL BR CU
SUBJECT: DEPUTIES PROPOSE TRIP TO CUBA TO INVESTIGATE BOXERS' RETURN

Classified By: Political Counselor Stephen Liston, reasons 1.4 B and D

¶1. (C) Summary. A delegation of Brazilian federal deputies could travel to Havana soon to learn more about the Cuban boxers who were returned to Cuba during the PanAm games after apparently trying to defect and then undergoing a change of heart. The deputies would try to see the boxers to determine whether they have suffered any retaliation from the Cuban government, but the president of the Brazilian Chamber of Deputies may not allow the trip for budgetary reasons. Although the opposition is keeping the incident alive in the press, its criticism of the GOB has not resonated much outside of congress. End summary.

¶2. (C) Deputies from the Chamber of Deputies Foreign Relations and National Defense Committee (CREDN) could visit Cuba in September to gather information about the circumstances of the return of two Cuban boxers who competed in the PanAm Games last July, then apparently tried to defect, but suddenly changed their minds. Last week, the CREDN approved a resolution on the Cuba trip, but an adviser to Arlindo Chinaglia, president of the Chamber of Deputies and a member of President Lula's Workers Party, told us that Chinaglia, as Chamber president, must approve all official foreign travel and might well disallow this trip for budgetary reasons. The adviser said politics would not be an issue in the decision and that the presidential palace was not likely to pressure Chinaglia to block the trip. However, the CREDN chairman has already traveled extensively, and the Chamber is facing growing budgetary constraints.

¶3. (SBU) When the boxers, Guillermo Rigondeaux and Erislandy Lara, asked to go home after having gone missing, Brazilian authorities quickly facilitated their request and sent them away on a Venezuelan aircraft reportedly chartered by the Cuban government. Intense congressional and media attention in the aftermath raised questions about the actions of Brazilian authorities and the circumstances leading up to the boxers' return. Press reports described a scenario in which the boxers may or may not have had a drunken night out on the town, decided not to return to Cuba, discussed contracts with a German promoter, applied for visas to Germany, then suddenly changed their minds and told Brazilian Federal Police (PF) they wanted to go back to Cuba. Local press reports said Rigondeaux and Lara had felt pressured after family members in Cuba told them by phone that the government had reduced their food rations and were threatening to expel them from their homes. The PF, which is under the Justice Ministry, arranged their immediate return. Both houses of congress have called GOB officials to testify on their actions; Justice Minister Tarso Genro defended the government,s actions as being totally within the law, and noted that other Cubans who sought asylum have been allowed to stay (note: Rafael D'Acosta Capote, a handball player, and Lazaro Lamelas, a coach). Foreign Minister Amorim is due to testify later this month. Members of congress continue to spar over whether the GOB did the right thing and whether Brazil complied with international norms of behavior.

¶4. (C) Comment. Although it remains unclear at what level decisions were made in the GOB, and what role the Cuban government played, it seems most likely that the Justice ministry did not look behind the boxers' sudden change of heart, and simply took the path of least resistance. The Ministry of External Relations's unusual public statement after the event, in which it denied any part in the decision, seems to support this view. By operating in its usual conflict-avoidance mode and trying to rid itself of a potential problem, the Brazilian government may have brought on itself unwelcome scrutiny from congressional oppositionists who might wish to show the government acting against freedom-loving Cubans. The proposed congressional trip is the latest gambit by congressional opposition to keep the Cuban boxers incident alive. So far, however, the effort does not seem to be resonating much outside the halls of congress.

Sobel

Exclusive: Canada Place worker death was preventable

This time last year, Canada Place was closed because it was the Main Press Centre for the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics. I was among the first few journalists to begin working in the vast hall when it opened to the media on Jan. 12, 2010. It remained my office away from the office until March 1, 2010, the day after the Games closed. I have covered Turin 2006, Rio de Janeiro 2007, Beijing 2008 and Delhi 2010 and none of those Games' main press centres matched Canada Place's quality work environment and convenience.

Before the Games, Heritage Minister James Moore announced a $21 million post-Games replacement of the fabric roof under the federal infrastructure stimulus program. Canada Place was built as the Canada Pavilion for Expo 86 and then converted into the Vancouver Convention Centre.

On Dec. 2, 2010, two construction workers suffered fatal injuries at sites in the same area of downtown Vancouver, within mere minutes of each other. One happened at Canada Place where a man fell 14 metres, but was on life support until his death two days later. Was the construction worker wearing fall-protection gear? That was my key question that went unanswered by construction manager Ledcor, employer Birdair and subcontractor RBG USA, who did eventually tell me the man who died was Diego Herrera.

Because WorkSafeBC released to me its inspection report, I have confirmed that Herrera was not using fall-protection gear. That would include a safety harness and lanyard. The investigation continues into an incident that should never have happened.

Read the inspection reports below.

WorkSafeBC on Canada Place construction worker's fatal fall

Exclusive: Bonus Cash Place Stadium

Bill Bennett's Bubble. Gordon Campbell's Convertible. Gordon Campbell's Crown.

For the purposes of this blog entry, Vancouver's 2010 Olympic Stadium is Bonus Cash Place.

The stadium undergoing a $563 million renovation, including a pioneering retrofit of a retractable roof, doled out nearly $95,000 in bonuses to executives and others who worked there before and during the 2010 Winter Olympics and Paralympics. That's in addition to the $482,000 for bonuses given to 85 people at taxpayer-owned B.C. Pavilion Corporation during the fiscal year that ended March 31, 2010.

See the payout register below and let me know what you think: bob.mackin@sunmedia.ca

B.C. Pavilion Corporation 2009-2010 staff bonuses

On spirit, freedom and legacy

Remember 2003 when the United States invaded Iraq? The French said "non, non" and did not join the "coalition of the willing". Americans retaliated by pouring French wine down sewers and renaming French fries as "Freedom fries".

The silliness even came north. I had a plate of Freedom fries on a trip to Calgary. I remarked to the waitress that the price wasn't very free. She didn't laugh.

In British Columbia, the official hackneyed word is Spirit. There is a Spirit Trail in North and West Vancouver. Vancouver's westside has Pacific Spirit Regional Park. Several ferries are part of the Spirit class, like the Spirit of British Columbia. There are Spirit of B.C. committees in 95 communities, meant to boost the Olympic torch relay and the Olympics, which came and went last February.

There is no money left over from the Olympics (VANOC needed $187.8 million from taxpayers to avoid registering a deficit), but the provincial government is spending $60 million through 2013 on a 2010 Sports and Arts Legacy fund. Community Spirit Festivals will peak every February to commemorate the anniversary of the 2010 Winter Olympics.

The next provincial election just so happens to be May 14, 2013.

That may be the real reason why the government refused to give me any documents about the budgeting and planning of the costly project. Click here for the Jan. 4, 2011 response to my Freedom of Information request. Through other sources, I was able to get some communications drafts, but not what I wanted. Perhaps the government is embarrassed after I found out its Olympic ad campaign was intended to prop-up the sagging popularity of Premier Gordon Campbell. The domestic target audience of its $36.7 million marketing was "voting age" British Columbians.

NDP critic Spencer Chandra Herbert says that the Liberal government's 2010 Sports and Arts Legacy is creating the illusion of an Olympic legacy while returning money cut before the Olympics to community arts and amateur sports organizations. The Liberals' goal is to win the next election. First, the Liberals will replace Campbell on Feb. 26 -- two days shy of the first anniversary of the closing ceremony.

Think of it. Yet another pool of dough that can be drawn upon for grip and grin spending announcements in communities large and small for the next three years. By 2013, the media will be analyzing where the money went and don't be surprised if more went to Liberal ridings than those held by NDPers. Every government since the 1980s Social Credit has used community grant programs in this fashion.

It's really just vote-buying.

But this time, it has five-rings and red mittens attached.

Let the Olympic TV sweepstakes begin

The International Olympic Committee's executive board meets Jan. 12 and 13 at the five-ring headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland, so it's no surprise that talk about future TV contracts has heated up.

The most important source of TV revenue is the United States market. NBC bought a $2.2 billion package for Vancouver 2010 and London 2012. Negotiations for renewal were delayed for a year because of the Great Recession. ESPN and Fox are kicking tires. CBS and Turner may also join the mix. The broadcasters are interested, however, in buying "bulk" four-Games packages. That would include the 2018 Winter Games, which will happen in South Korea or Europe, and the 2010 Summer Games, even though bidding has yet to begin.

A key sticking point is whether National Hockey League players will be released from their clubs for the 2014 Games in Sochi, Russia. Broadcasters are preparing two sets of bids, one with a pro hockey tournament, the other without. One source told me that NBC Olympics boss Dick Ebersol is already bearish on Sochi -- regardless of the hockey tournament's composition and despite the fact there are peacocks there. Asked in a meeting what he thought Sochi was worth to NBC, Ebersol picked up a pen and scribbled on a pad of paper. He then held it up to reveal a big "0".

NBC lost $233 million on the Vancouver Games because of the recessionary advertising slump. The outcome of CTV-Rogers' sales in Canada remains a closely guarded secret. Spokeswoman Andrea Goldstein said it wouldn't be known until after London 2012. (Andrea's department is one of the most prolific press release producers anywhere in Canada and I know that if the numbers were favorable, she would have issued a news release far and wide by now.)

In February 2005, the Canadian consortium offered the IOC $90 million for Vancouver 2010 and $63 million for London 2012. Runner-up CBC paid $73 million for Turin 2006 and Beijing 2008 combined. CTV Olympics president Keith Pelley, now the boss of Rogers Media, said before the Vancouver Games that the goal was to break-even.

Rene Fasel, the president of the International Ice Hockey Federation and perhaps the most powerful IOC member on the winter sports side, met in Buffalo on Jan. 4 at the World Junior Hockey Championship with Donald Fehr, the former Major League Baseball Players Union boss who now runs the NHL Players Association.

Pros have participated since Nagano 1998 and Fasel wants to keep it that way. Fasel told media in Buffalo that he is against an under-20 tournament at the Olympics. Olympic soccer tournaments are an under-23 format with a quota of over-age players to add star power.

* * * * *
The 2010 Winter Olympics were one of the most-covered topics on U.S. nightly newscasts in 2010, mainly because of NBC.

The Tyndall Report Year in Review 2010 said the Vancouver Winter Olympics got 119 minutes on nightly newscasts for the big three networks, ABC, CBS and NBC. That made it the 13th biggest story of the year.

It got more minutes than Christmas holiday season (114), tax cuts from Bush era extended (108), Times Square car bomb (104) and illegal immigration crackdown (100). NYSE-NASDAQ market action got just one more minute of play, while the 2010 House races (127) and Chile copper mine rescue (142) were next up the list.

The big reason was NBC's 84 minutes devoted to Vancouver, making it the Peacock network's fifth most covered story. It got three minutes more than Healthcare reform legislation and 25 minutes more than unemployment stuck near 10%.

"For the first time since 2001, the Islamic World was not the focus of foreign coverage. Instead, attention turned to the Americas--the Port-au-Prince earthquake, the Chile mine rescue, NBC’s usual shameless shilling for the Olympics in Vancouver," said the Tyndall Report. "The narco-violence in Mexico should have made hemisphere coverage even heavier but ABC (8 min v NBC 33, CBS 21) fell down on the job."

Interesting how NBC reporter Dawna Friesen is now back in Canada anchoring Global News. Brian Williams is the NBC anchor, not to be confused with Brian Williams the CTV Olympics anchor. But of course, many will remember ex-NBC anchor Tom Brokaw's video essay on Canada.

Where were you when the dome went down?

Where were you on Jan. 5, 2007?

It was a cold day with occasional drizzle, even wet snow. I was watching the World Junior Hockey Championship final broadcast when a friend frantically called and told me to turn on CKNW, because the B.C. Place Stadium roof collapsed. (This is how it all went down.)

I did, then hastily called a source who might know what really happened. What an embarrassment for the 2010 Olympic stadium! I was told the roof had numerous patches and that management cut back on use of the snow melting system. For the next week, B.C. Place management denied snow was a factor, despite the evidence I was supplied.

Reporters allowed into the east airlock of the dome were speechless at the downed roof, damaged equipment, puddles of water and piles of snow. Here is my report from Jan. 5, 2007.

A year later, a Geiger Engineers report (dated Oct. 12, 2007) was issued that confirmed it was preventable. Snow had accumulated and five snow alarms ignored. Finally the air pressure was frantically increased, the snow avalanched and ripped the roof. PavCo called it a controlled deflation but my sources told me that chaos reigned while the big top came down. There is even more in this report by the B.C. Place joint health and safety committee.

On Jan. 19, 2007, the patched roof was reinflated. A major renovation, including the new roof, was announced by Premier Gordon Campbell on May 18, 2008. A heavy-duty roof heating system by Genivar was installed before the 2010 Winter Olympics. If you went to B.C. Lions' games in 2009, you may have spotted those big, white bent finger pipes in each of the corners. The roof barely made it through the Olympics. The weight of lights and speakers caused it to flatten. Crews were stationed atop the roof around the clock to prevent big puddles that could have ripped the roof. That almost happened on Jan. 14, 2010.

The roof was finally deflated for good on May 4, 2010. 24 Hours' videographer Mark Yuen shot the definitive time-lapse video of the historic morning. Some of the material was shipped to Celista, a community near Kamloops, where it is now a liner for an outdoor hockey rink. The rest went to Minnesota for repurposing. Some of the material was kept for a B.C. Sports Hall of Fame fundraiser.

A German-engineered retractable system is being installed. Fall and winter winds have not been kind to the construction schedule. All 36 cable-support towers were supposed to be installed by the end of 2010, but the last three may not be done until Jan. 9. B.C. Pavilion Corporation is sticking to its "early fall" completion and subsequent opening. Chairman David Podmore said in November he'd have a better idea in March. An Aug. 20 construction committee document, however, says Nov. 1, 2011 is the estimate for "substantial completion." The Vanier Cup (Nov. 25) and Grey Cup (Nov. 27) are the only confirmed events.

The B.C. Lions and Vancouver Whitecaps are at the mercy of PavCo, which is ultimately at the mercy of construction-safe weather conditions. The Caps and Leos will both start their seasons at Empire Field but are selling tickets based on moving into B.C. Place in September.

Watch this space for updates. There will be many in the months to come.

WikiLeak shows Chinese pride and sticker shock over 2008 Games

Chinese were proud of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, but shocked and embarrassed by the $40 billion cost. Of course, there was little they could do about the cost. Even talking about it was a risky proposition.

The United States' embassy in Beijing was listening and issued this confidential cable on Sept. 2, 2008, just over two weeks after the dazzling closing ceremony at the Bird's Nest. The cable was published by WikiLeaks on Dec. 28, 2010 and explores how the Chinese Communist Party used the Games to increase its profile. The cable concludes: "It was clear to everyone that Hu Jintao was the real host of the Olympics."

British Columbia Premier Gordon Campbell was in Beijing and watching closely. You could say he tried to be the host of the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver.

VZCZCXRO3005
OO RUEHCN RUEHGH RUEHVC
DE RUEHBJ #3385/01 2461030
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 021030Z SEP 08
FM AMEMBASSY BEIJING
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 9664
INFO RUEHOO/CHINA POSTS COLLECTIVE
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BEIJING 003385

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/02/2033
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREL KOLY CH
SUBJECT: PARTY ENJOYS BOOST THANKS TO OLYMPICS, BUT SOME
ANGER OVER COSTS

Classified By: Political Minister Counselor Aubrey Carlson
for reasons 1.4 (B/D).

Summary
-------

¶1. (C) China's top leadership and a sizeable majority
of the Chinese public view the recent Beijing-hosted
Olympic Games as a great success, according to Embassy
contacts. Most academics and journalists we spoke
with in the week following the August 24 closing
ceremony told us the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is
enjoying an increase in legitimacy as a result.
However, several of the contacts warned that these
gains are tempered by widespread resentment of the
"excessive" costs of hosting the Games. Some
interlocutors believe Politburo Standing Committee
members Xi Jinping, who was in charge of overall
Olympic preparations, and Zhou Yongkang, responsible
for internal security, have benefited politically from
pulling off an Olympics free of serious disruption.
Others feel President Hu Jintao is the biggest winner
from the Games. End summary.

Boost to Party Legitimacy...
----------------------------

¶2. (C) The central leadership views the recent
Beijing-hosted Olympics as a great success that has
given the regime a boost in legitimacy, according to
numerous contacts we spoke with in the days following
the August 24 closing ceremony. Dong Lisheng
(protect), a political scientist at the Chinese
Academy of Social Sciences, told PolOff the Games "far
exceeded" the expectations of top-level Party leaders,
who welcomed the public's nationalistic response as a
boost for Party legitimacy. Freelance journalist Chen
Jieren (protect), who is the nephew of Politburo
Standing Committee member He Guoqiang, said "70
percent" of the public supported the Games. For most
Chinese, Chen said, the Olympics were about "standing
up" and winning the world's respect and were thus
successful. Chen Hao (protect), Executive Editor-in-
Chief of the International Herald Leader, a newspaper
run by the Xinhua News Agency, said the Olympics
represent a clear "political achievement" (zheng ji)
for the Party that will make it easier for the central
leadership to implement its policies in the coming
months. Professor Su Hao (protect), of China Foreign
Affairs University (CFAU), offered a similar
assessment, saying that the success of the Games
resulted in a "large boost in legitimacy" for the
government and a surge of national pride.

...but Resentment over Costs
----------------------------

¶3. (C) While contacts generally agreed the Olympics
will boost public support for the Communist Party,
many of our interlocutors cautioned that any
legitimacy gains are diluted by wide-spread criticism
over the excessive expense of hosting (which was
announced as over USD 40 billion, including
infrastructure investment). Wu Yin (protect), Vice
President of the public opinion polling firm Horizon,
told PolOff August 28 that many Beijingers believe
hosting the Olympics has accelerated the rise in fuel
and food prices. Strict security, Wu continued,
dampened public enthusiasm during the Games and there
is lingering disappointment that the much-anticipated
economic benefits to Beijing's service industry failed
to materialize. In the end, Wu argued, gains in
public support for the Party will be minimal, at best.
Guan Renfeng (protect), a graduate student at Xinjiang
University who visited Beijing during the final
weekend of the Games, told PolOff August 25 that he is
proud of his country's Olympics effort but he gives
the government an "A minus" rather than an A "because
they spent too much money." Guangming Ribao editor
Dong Yuyu (protect) commented that while the majority
of Chinese "reflexively" support the Olympics and feel
proud, the public feels uneasy about excessive
government spending. Dong said many Chinese, had they
been given a choice, would have supported spending
these resources on education and health care rather
than hosting the Olympics. Niu Xinchun (protect), a
scholar at the Ministry of State Security-affiliated
Chinese Institutes of Contemporary International
Relations (CICIR), told PolOff August 25 that a
"significant portion" of the Chinese public resents

BEIJING 00003385 002 OF 002


the enormous costs of hosting the Games. CFAU's Su,
however, felt such concerns over spending are
overblown, noting that the cost of the Olympics was
just a small percentage of China's total GDP.

Central Dissatisfaction with BOCOG
-----------------------------------

¶4. (C) Ding Kuisong (protect), Vice Chairman of the
CCP Party School-affiliated think tank China Reform
Forum, said Politburo Standing Committee (PBSC) Member
and Vice President Xi Jinping was placed in charge of
the overall Olympics effort due, in part, to high-
level dissatisfaction with missteps by the Beijing
Organizing Committee for the Games of the 29th
Olympiad (BOCOG). BOCOG's alleged mistakes included
agreeing "without sufficient coordination" to global
torch relay routes that were "inappropriate." Ding
said Xi, and even CCP General Secretary Hu Jintao,
personally made many Olympics-related decisions,
including logistical arrangements for President Bush's
attendance at the opening ceremony. Dissident scholar
Liu Junning (protect), told PolOff September 2 that
he, too, had heard of tension between BOCOG and the
central leadership over the torch relay fiasco, but
Liu said it was always the plan to have the Central
Government take the lead role in the final weeks.

Olympic Victory for Xi Jinping, Zhou Yongkang
---------------------------------------------

¶5. (C) Chen Jieren told PolOff that both Xi Jinping
and fellow PBSC member Zhou Yongkang, who is in charge
of China's security apparatus, benefited politically
from the Games. Overseeing the Olympics was the first
major assignment for Xi since being promoted to the
PBSC in October 2007. While Chen said that some of
Xi's rivals at the top may have secretly hoped that Xi
would stumble, the success of the Games has, in fact,
burnished Xi's image. Zhou Yongkang, meanwhile, is
now "exceptionally powerful," Chen said. Zhou had
already received a great deal of praise following the
Sichuan earthquake due to the quick response of
security forces, Chen explained, and the lack of a
major security incident at the Olympics further
strengthened Zhou's standing. Dong Lisheng, of CASS,
largely echoed Chen's comments, saying Xi passed his
first major test as a top-level leader.

Hu Jintao and Collective Leadership the Real Winners
--------------------------------------------- -------

¶6. (C) Guangming Ribao editor Dong Yuyu concurred that
Zhou is very powerful and his stock is rising because
of his performance over the last year and during the
Olympics. However, Dong did not agree that Xi
Jinping's political stature had risen as a result of
his Olympics assignment. According to Dong, the
Party's Central Secretariat assumed overall management
of the Games and it was "natural" for Xi, as head of
the Secretariat, to take the leading role. Moreover,
Xi still coordinated all Olympic decisions with the
rest of the Politburo Standing Committee. If
anything, Dong argued, the Olympics was a "collective"
triumph for the entire Party leadership, not just Xi.
Liu Junning agreed, saying Hu Jintao, not Xi Jinping,
is the main beneficiary of the Olympics given Hu's
prominence during the Games. (Note: In addition to
hosting world leaders and presiding over the opening
ceremony, Hu made high-profile appearances at several
events.) "It was clear to everyone that Hu Jintao was
the real host of the Olympics," Liu said.
RANDT