Politicians are under attack for using their position to step to the front of the line for tickets to the Winter Olympics' hottest events and then, in many cases, paying the tab with taxpayers' money.
However, an increasing number of municipal politicians are turning down tickets and speaking out against those who accept them.
Ellen Woodsworth broke ranks with others on Vancouver's city council yesterday to slam the decision to hand out Olympic tickets to every city councillor, city parks board members and all their spouses or partners. Ms. Woodsworth said she was "appalled" that city hall was spending around $377,000 on tickets with funds that could have paid for the four full-time positions eliminated this winter in order to reduce spending.
Other cities and institutions linked to the Olympics seem to have been wary of bringing the wrath of taxpayers down on their heads. Whistler is paying for its share of the Olympics, including the cost of the tickets, with revenue from a hotel tax, not from its property-tax revenues.
Richmond, which hosts the speed-skating oval, bought $200,000 worth of tickets and resold half of its tickets to community and business groups. Only $21,000 worth were reserved for Richmond councillors and official visitors whom they'll be accompanying.
West Vancouver and Surrey are not buying any tickets at all for their politicians. Meanwhile, Manitoba received $104,000 in tickets, but gave half back.
Ontario is offering its tickets to athletes from the province who will be competing at the Games and their families.
Even local colleges and universities, which received access to tickets as partners of the Olympics organizing committee, have been wary of giving tickets to their senior administrators.
At both the B.C. Institute of Technology and Simon Fraser University, all tickets obtained through the VANOC partnership were raffled off to students, staff and faculty.
B.C. NDP critic Kathy Corrigan criticized the B.C. government yesterday for refusing to reveal how it will distribute about 3,200 tickets, costing almost $1-million.
"It is not just a chance for the MLAs and other government officials to get to the front of the line and get a freebie Olympic ticket when people are spending their hard-earned money to go to these Games," Ms. Corrigan said in an interview.
The VANOC provides tickets to federal, B.C. and municipal governments as members of the so-called Olympic family - those directly involved in the staging and financing of the Winter Games. VANOC sells the tickets to Olympic family members for the same price that the public pays. However some governments decided to pass on the tickets to politicians for free.
Some see the Olympic Games as an opportunity to host business clients. Nova Scotia's premier is expected to attend, accompanied by two officials from Nova Scotia Business Inc. and two staff members. The bulk of their tickets are to be used for guests. "It's the biggest gathering of international business leaders certainly in recent Canadian history. It's an opportunity to highlight Nova Scotia," said Sarah Levy, of the business development agency.
However Ms. Woodsworth questioned whether the government needed to provide tickets to woo prospective business contacts. "They [the business people] are coming to the number one city of world," she said. The business people will have booked their own travel and accommodations, although they may be anticipating the city may host them at some events, she said.
"I don't think they assume we will provide them with free Olympic tickets. We are a municipality. We are facing many of the same shortfalls that many municipalities across Canada are facing," she added.
Surrey's deputy city manager, Dan Bottrill, said staff and politicians discussed the idea of buying tickets.
"At the end of the day, we decided we weren't going to go down that road," said Mr. Bottrill. It was a combination of the sour taste it might leave in taxpayers' mouths, the current economic climate, and the desire to show off Surrey that all played a part, he said.
West Vancouver's 2010 managing director Charlene Warrington said staff or members of council who wants a reserved seat at an Olympic event must purchase their tickets through vancouver2010.com. Council members and volunteers get "domestic dignitary status" but no guarantee of seating. West Vancouver Mayor Pamela Goldsmith-Jones and the city manager have access to all venues and seating.
Richmond councillors accompanying people to the Games will get some tickets. "But in some cases, we're making our guests pay for their tickets," said Richmond spokesman Ted Townsend.
The decision on how tickets should be allocated was discussed extensively during a series of reports to council because everyone knew the public would be sensitive about the spending.
"I think everybody is concerned about how taxpayer dollars are being allocated," Mr. Townsend said.
