Inside the Olympics: A Load of Rubbish

Amongst the triple Salkow’s, sub 3-minute skated miles, and bulls eyes scored from prone positions (Skiing and shooting? Who thought of that?), there are, of course, the mundane everyday chores that still have to be done. Think of rubbish clean up, carting and disposal. Not only are we being flooded by competitors, the Olympic family big-wigs, and tourists, we are getting in more food and beverage items, and the cups, plates, and cutlery required to sink them. The work entailed in clean up is testing at most times, but imagine what it will be like, when you can only do this under the cover of darkness, in mid-winter, under a strict security blanket.

The regular Joe’s that run companies like these are the ones that are taking on extra help during this special month, and to quote an old English phrase: “Where there’s Muck, there’s brass.”

For anyone that has ever travelled up here, you will remember that the city of Vancouver and the alpine venues at Whistler are about 2 hours away along the Sea to Sky Highway. About half way up this road is the town of Squamish, the home of the only landfill around these parts. That First Nation name, by the way, translates as “The Place of Big Winds” as if garbage collectors will feel a little too comfortable. The logistics of getting in and out of this place, along that road, in these conditions are a nightmare, of course, especially when you consider the numbers involved:

Regular Whistler population is under 10,00. The amount of warm bodies expected for February and March is 55,000. The amount of garbage expected is about 1,200 Tonnes. That’s going to be a mean feat for the capacity of garbage trucks – 28 tonnes when full. How would you like to be driving a full truck down an icy road in a whiteout, while being overtaken by drunken Lexus drivers, and tour busses full of rowdy Austrian ski fans?

The stated goals of VANOC concerning sustainability and legacy, together with a green a delivery of the spectacle as possible seem to be at odds with the reality of what is going on. Indeed the promises of Games-created jobs also appear to a little rosier that what will take place also. While companies contracted to perform such unseen housekeeping tasks as these are definitely there, they aren’t sustainable in any way. Many small companies will simply suck it up and work extra hard during the two weeks of the main Games calendar, to avoid taking on any short-term staff.

All in all, however, even though us residents were sold a bill of goods with this event resulting in higher taxes for many years to come and there is no promise of future tourism or corporate investment directly attributable to the Games, the fact that everything is ready to go well in advance, there has been infrastructure spending to ready ourselves for this, and we have appeared to dodge the financial meltdown bullet, it is no longer miraculous of the Games come off. VANOC have done a great job readying ourselves for the World, and we may well get some future visitors and new corporate residents because of the Games. Well done to them, as well as to the garbage collectors.

History’s longest Olympic torch run continues, with the only negative press coming from demonstrations in Toronto two weeks ago. News of this, however, was swamped by the appearance of an 81 year old Canadian athlete taking the flame into a full Parliament to a standing ovation from our elected representatives. The Tour has now been to the most Northern, Eastern, Western and Southern parts of the country, and is on its way back to the Pacific Coast. A fantastically inclusive event, it is a daily reminder of the scale of what’s to come. You can follow the last 48 days of it, here http://www.vancouver2010.com/more-2010-information/olympic-torch-relay/olympic-torch-relay-interactive-map/

 and we hope you join us for the Games in February and March 2010.

The Olympics from the inside: 100 days to go

At the time of this writing, we are only 100 days away from the Opening ceremonies, and here are a few headlines from the last few weeks to show how we are doing.

The Olympic Village debacle: The construction of venues required was finished very early in the process. Thank God! With the recession hitting us last year, we weren’t trapped in the situation of having to complete at the last minute the way that Athens appeared to. While we are using a lot of existing venues (Look for changes at the hockey tourneys.), there was a fair bit of building to complete and we apparently did all of this under budget and early. The only sore point was one of the two Olympic villages built in the downtown core (The second one is in Whistler itself). This was always going to be a large project – imagine a small town centre being built on downtown soil – but thanks to the collapse of world-wide economies, it got very nasty. The builder ran out of money, the debt sold to secure financing suddenly couldn’t be serviced, and the hedge fund looking after it went insolvent. Of course, the tax payer is going to have to pick up the built, because the payments outstanding on the site match the annual budget of the entire council, or something just as alarming.

As of today, it is unfinished, but work continues apace, and it is to handed to the Organising Committee today. The apartments were going to be sold to individuals after the games anyway, so at least the City will reap the benefits of that, but not as much as originally planned. Also planned was a plan to earmark a percentage of the apartments as low income housing. While it is a tough pill to swallow, I believe we shouldn’t be doing that, now. We should get as much money back as we can from this ‘investment’. Financially, we are still in good shape, and very high-end purchases, such as ticket packs, and travel plans, are picking up. I think the hundreds of residents that thought they could earn a vacation by renting out their homes for the games are going to be disappointed, though.

THE TORCH RELAY: The Olympic torch touched down last week, and has started on it’s cross country tour. WAY too much First Nation involvement for many people’s liking, especially as it was held back by native people’s protests (see last blog), the first evening it travelled, but definitely a sense of pride about the country, and a sudden alert that we are only a few weeks away from the puck drop to this thing.

SECURITY: It was announced today that 90% of Security personnel have been hired. Now the fears start that these were mostly recruited from Craigslist, and may be ‘the bottom of the barrel’ as far as employers go! It must be nice to feel you are respected as you work for almost nothing in the coldest time of the year, pissing people off, and NOT enjoying the once-in-a-lifetime experience that you are guarding!
Considering the U.S. has spent millions securing their border, and the overall security bill is $1 Billion, it’s a pity we couldn’t be more positive about the front line folks we hire.

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