Is this the kind of offering we are going to be hosting our high level guests with?
When you invite someone over to your house, and happen to have a financial setback in between the invitation and the arrival, one might cancel the dinner until things become a little more stable.
In the case of the 2010 Winter Olympics, Vancouver doesn’t have that option.
So, in light of the fact that Vancouver has joined with other municipalities to attract business interest in the region during the Olympics, aside from the fact that the City will be hosting many official delegations – whether political, diplomatic, sports-related or corporate – this criticism makes absolutely no sense to me.
The fact is that there are responsibilities associated with welcoming the world into your backyard, particularly when it comes to all three levels of government.
Wooing dignitaries, business leaders or key contacts is simply a part of the game.
So the first question we as taxpayers have to ask ourselves is this: does the purchase of tickets negate the fact that we are in a deep budget shortfall for the coming year?
The answer is no. The cuts that are coming down are necessary, and long overdue.
That being said, does our financial situation negate our official responsibilities as hosts? The answer again is absolutely not.
Secondly, we have to ask whether the City of Vancouver should forgo tickets to give away so that the children’s farmyard at Stanley Park and the Bloedel Conservatory at Queen Elizabeth Park can be maintained for the coming year.
The answer to that is also a resounding no. To maintain both for a sustained period of time, money coming into the City of Vancouver coffers needs to recover, and recover dramatically in light of the fact that 50 per cent of the development revenue stream has disappeared.
If $300,000 worth of tickets are cashed in, that only provides a one-year solution to a longer term problem. No commitments could be made to either the farmyard or the conservatory beyond the coming fiscal year if this sell-back were to occur.
It is small, parochial thinking to criticize such a purchase, as Vancouver’s shot at hosting the world is only going to come around once in a generation.
These tickets are the basic necessity that Vancouver needs to curry favour, and open up relationships, or simply make a good impression on international visitors with stature, influence and the potential of long-term benefits for the city.
How the city, the province and the country respond to the role of hosts to the world could be the determining factor in huge variables that will have a massive impact on our collective future.
It is time we pull our heads out of the sand, and understand that now that we are within two and a half months from the Olympics, we need to make the most of the experience, regardless of whether you support them or not.
