Olympic money better spent on other ways to promote B.C.
Kelowna Capital News
Jan 22 2010 
By: Jason Luciw

I have found the vaccine for Olympic fever if anyone wants a dose.

It's called paying the piper.

The fever itself I was never too worried about. I've survived it before….

The reality is, these games are a symbol of largesse that the B.C. and Canada governments believe we can all still afford.

Nothing like spending to make a person feel better until the bill comes in.

And our governments still spend foolishly, give themselves pats on backs and pay raises for doing so and then lack any intelligence or creativity to find any other source of income except taxing us to death afterwards.

They spend money frivolously on games, instead of freeing up surgery space for those waiting months and months in pain with knee or hip trouble.

They could have better spent money by creating tree-replanting jobs for laid- off mill workers or more daycare spaces for working parents.

Instead of spending money on Olympic tickets for politicians and bureaucrats to watch these games in the comfort of arenas, they could have opened up shelters for the homeless….

With us still paying for the Olympics after the games are gone, many of these social programs could have to wait years before appropriate levels of funding are restored.

So yeah, I may well check the stats to see how many gold medals Canada has won, and I may even watch a hockey game or two because I can't rightly hold the mistakes of the Province of British Columbia against the whole Olympic movement.

I'll even cheer if Canada wins hockey and curling gold.

Unfortunately, this time around, I'll still be a little sick to my stomach with the after-effects of fever after all is said and done.