The B.C. Liberals say the Olympic games were about more than making money, while the opposition maintains that the government failed to take full advantage of the opportunity.

The Olympic's economic impact may not be fully felt for more than a decade according to a new report released by PriceWaterhouseCoopers, one of the largest auditing firms in the world.

The governments of Canada and British Columbia both made commitments to the success of the 2010 Olympic games.
PriceWaterhouseCoopers has been commissioned to create a comprehensive study of the games economic and cultural effects starting in 2008 and continuing through to 2013.

“The Olympics benefits may not be seen for many years,” says Kamloops-North Thompson MLA Terry Lake.
“Because of Expo 86 the Coquihalla was built,” says Lake.

“The Okanagan and Interior really saw a huge level of increased activity because of Expo 86.”

“I think the Olympics will be very similar.”

The commissioned study will take into account over 200 other studies, articles, and books that address the various impacts of the Olympic games.

Some notable reports that will be considered are post- games studies of both the 2000 Sydney Summer Olympics and the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics and a pre Olympics assessment of the upcoming London 2012 Games.

The report will study eight interrelated areas covering, sport development, tourism, environmental sustainability, social development, arts and culture, economic development, employment and business development.

“A recently released report shows the B.C. Liberals failed to maximize tourism opportunities leading up to the 2010 games,” New Democrat economic development critic Jenny Kwan said.

Kwan was responding to a recently released PriceWaterhouseCoopers report that found tourism revenues leading up to the Olympics had fallen $495 million short of original estimates.

“This new report shows that the B.C. Liberals have failed to implement an effective marketing strategy to attract visitors and maximize the benefits of the games,” said Kwan.

“To make matters worse, this report was supposed to ensure that any opportunities associated with the Games were identified early, but the B.C. Liberals sat on it until a mere 99 days before the Olympics. Now opportunities have been lost and British Columbians will pay the price.”

Lake says his government took every opportunity to maximize the benefits of the games and that people will see benefits in five to seven years.

“Already we know that real-estate in Vancouver went up shortly after the Olympics from people that had visited the area,” says Lake.

Lake also cites the construction projects like the Vancouver Convention Centre, the Sea to Sky Highway, and the Canada Line all of which created employment and will be a lasting legacy for the province.

“We have a $1.7 billion deficit,” says Lake.

“Without the kind of economic activity we have had, we would be hard pressed to limit the deficit to what it is.”

“If the Liberals are cloaking themselves in that business acumen, where are the managerial skills they should be bringing to the table, says Vicki Huntington, independent MLA for Delta South.

The businesses that benefited most were the hotels and restaurants, in and around the Games venues, according to Cailey Murphy, communication coordinator with the B.C. Hotel Association.

“I think the government did a pretty good job,” says Murphy.

“It was a nice little blip for an industry trying to recover from an economic downturn.”

In a 2002 report from consulting firm InterVISTAS, the estimated economic impact on tourism leading up to the games was said to be up to $500 million.

“For our industry and tourism, the Olympics were great,” says Murphy.

“They were watched by 3.5 billion people worldwide.”

“So that sort of international acclaim is new to our city and the lasting economic benefits are going to be felt for decades to come.”

With the new report, the impact of tourism leading up to the games is said to be in the $1-5 million range, about 1 per cent of the original estimates.

“British Columbians want the Olympics to be a success, but for that to happen the government needs to be open and accountable about the impacts of the Games,” said Kwan.

“So much was hidden within the structure of government that we will never know what was actually spent on the Olympics,” says Huntington.

The cost of security alone was estimated at $1 billion for the two-week-long games.

“CSIS wrote a report early on saying they did not see any external threats to the games,” says Huntington.

“So we spent a billion dollars protecting ourselves from ourselves.”

For Lake, the value of the games cannot simply be estimated in terms of how much money was spent but on the impression and legacy it has contributed to the country as a whole.

“Kids that are 10 years old today that saw that winning hockey goal or Joannie Rochette losing her mom and still competing, these things will make a positive impact on their lives and you can't put a price tag on that, says Lake.