The British Columbia premier's office misrepresented a Conference Board of Canada report in a way that greatly exaggerated the economic benefits of hosting the 2010 Winter Olympic Games.
"The Conference Board of Canada forecast that the Games will bring an additional $770 million to B.C.'s economy in 2010 alone,” said the March 1 press release from premier Gordon Campbell's office.
That figure matches a recent Conference Board report, but then the premier's release added, “That doesn't include $2 billion in spending by delegations of sponsors, suppliers, networking businesses and athletic teams."
The Conference Board, however, when asked about the premier's office's expanded figure, said it already included those sources of spending in its report.
“We've checked our top line numbers and we did include spending by, among others, sponsors, suppliers, athletic teams, etc. in our calculations to obtain a net economic impact of $770 million in 2010,” a spokesperson for the Conference Board, Yvonne Squires, wrote in an e-mail message.
Last February finance minister Colin Hansen said the Games would add $10 billion to the provincial economy, but the government later downgraded the figure to $4 billion.
In a November report the accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers said the Games had added roughly $788 million to B.C.’s GDP between 2003 and 2008. Combined with the Conference Board's estimate for 2010, the Tyee recently reported, the total impact of the Games on B.C.'s economy would be $1.6 billion, not including any impacts in 2009 or after 2010.
PWC will continue studying the economic impacts of the Games through 2012, said Hansen in an interview last week. “I think what we'll find is it's exceeded expectations,” he said. “I think it depends how you look at it and what kind of multipliers you use and we'll trust Pricewaterhouse to do that work.”
The total cost to Canadian and British Columbian taxpayers to stage the Games is estimated between $6 and $7 billion.
Andrew MacLeod is The Tyee’s Legislative Bureau Chief in Victoria. Reach him here.
13
Login or register to post comments
freebear
1 year ago
Snake Oil!, Get your Snake Oil here!
Snake oil sales up; reports Conference Bored of Canada!
G West
1 year ago
This gets more and more embarrassing
But when, exactly, can we find the main stream media reporting on how these figures are being manipulated to deceive and perplex the citizens of the province?
It's kind of tiresome that the only place this stuff is presented and discussed is here at the Tyee.
Dan the socialist
1 year ago
But when, exactly, can we
But when, exactly, can we find the main stream media reporting on how these figures are being manipulated to deceive and perplex the citizens of the province?
============
Never. The BC Main stream media is a joke.
shepsil
1 year ago
Liberals can't count!
Well, I think it is just about official. The BC Liberals can't count. One would assume that counting would be a prerequisite for a business friendly gov't. Me thinks the BC business community has been duped by the "can't count BC Liberals".
zalm
1 year ago
charming, freebear
... still chuckling.... ;>)
Fiat lux
1 year ago
Whatever comes out of these
Whatever comes out of these great economic forecasting institutions, like the Conference Board, or the Fraser and CD Howe Inst, or the Economic Council and fellow neoclassical economists, professors etc. is nothing more than worthless, hot air.
Whether the Premier's office added, or taken off anything from these garbage figures makes absolutely no bloody difference.
What they're all counting on is that the public has a very short memory and won't remember a thing by tomorrow, let alone by the next elections in 3 years time.
And to remind the public wouldn't be "business friendly" at all, something no political party would dare to touch, as it would scare away our dear "wealth creating foreign investors", otherwise known as the "carpetbagger mafia" stealing the world blind.
Ed Deak.
Grania
1 year ago
Not surprized
The history of this government is one of manipulation, deceit and fiscal irresponsibility. The ego mania is quite astonishing. The recent photos of Gordon make me think he has truly lost his marbles and Hansen is not far behind. I hope everyone is working on recall petitions in every riding with an mla in this government.
crh
1 year ago
Who is listening?
The propaganda post-olympics is going full force.
Which dupe out there is listening?
freebear
1 year ago
Which dupe out there is listening?
The Liberal ones? LOL!
Carolyn
1 year ago
Tomorrow's fish wrapping?
Excellent article, Andrew. Alas, I fear that Fiat Lux/Ed is quite right: politicians are counting on the notoriously short memories of taxpayers. It's like childbirth - pretty soon, you can't remember the bad bits, just the cute little pink baby part.
And it ain't just the happy drunks partying in Vancouver/Whistler with short memories - I liked what 'BC Business' wrote last month on these Games:
“You can count on three things being true with these Winter Olympics: the initial cost estimates for staging the Games will be underestimated, the Games will almost certainly lose money, and organizers will claim they made a profit. Yet all this appears to be forgotten when a new city hosts the next Games.”
More at 'After the Party's Over: Five Myths About Hosting The Olympics' at: http://www.ethicalnag.org/2010/03/06/olympics-myths/
As we say in PR: "Today's news is tomorrow's fish wrapping!"
freebear
1 year ago
Gordo probably adds a few inches to his
dick size too when asked!
Stephanie T
1 year ago
freebear, are you sure he
freebear, are you sure he even has a dick? He seems like a dickless ass to me.
crankypants
1 year ago
Next on the agenda
Next week the BC Liberal party will publish a new book, "How to Pick Winning Lottery Tickets" with a picture of Gordon Campbell and Colin Hansen on the cover. The amazing thing will be that it will sell out in a matter of days as the faithful BC Liberal supporters will be standing in line to purchase it.
Alas, that is the problem any right thinking citizen of this once great province faces. The bigger the bull Campbell and Co. churn out, the more gullible the Liberal supporters become.
I still recall both Campbell and Hansen telling us in the fall of 2008 that the recession hitting North America would bypass BC because of their superior skill of handling our economy. Kreskin they are not as we have come to witness and anything they proffer going forward should be given the same respect as investment advicwe delivered by Bernie Madoff.