Tuesday, October 7, 2008

More Olympic Village Thoughts


To the Editor - Re: Olympic Village way over budget - Province Oct 7/08

Imagine that.
Another Olympic mega-project with a fixed completion date, and assurances
from the government that it will be completed "on time, and on budget".

"We don't see that there is a risk with taxpayers". Millennium's Athlete's
Village.

"Risk will be transfered to the private partner". Canada Line (P3).

(The Trade and Convention Centre.....and so on)

Both projects are grossly over budget, with Canada Line by all accounts at a
BILLION dollars over the budget that was cheerfully and firmly stated as
"not a penny more" by TransLink.

The City owned land at 2nd and Cambie was not in the original RAV proposal,
but it was sold to Millenium at a price well over market value, and soon
became the site for the Athlete's Village/Shopping Mall.
Recently it was discovered that Canada Line, like Millennium, had also
invested it's surplus
operating funds in sub-prime backed paper - and lost it.

According to reporter Jeff Nagel, "ABCP investments were backed by U.S.
residential mortgages but suddenly stopped trading last summer when the U.S.
real estate market began
to melt down and heavy mortgage defaults began.

Individual Canadians, corporations and agencies (pension funds) have $33
billion tied up in ABCP that so far can't be redeemed."

Gordon Campbell, who once worked for Millennium, agreed to bail Canada Line
out with $56 million - just like that. Is this just the beginning?

Of course, it was Premier Gordon Campbell, after the failed 2nd round of
voting on the RAV/Canada Line project that said "the Province will assume
the overall responsibility for completing the RAV project".

Sounds a lot like the "doomsday plan" for the City to step in and fund the
Millennium
project as well. And just like TransLink, these decisions are being made
behind closed doors.

Peter Ladner wrings his hands, and calls this situation "distressing", as if
the writing was not on the wall on his watch.
Something else that is distressing is losing your personal life's work due
to the negligence of a government funded and driven project, as the small
businesses all along the Canada Line have. The precedent this abuse of power
is setting is an ugly one.

Where is the "doomsday plan" for the families along the Canada Line?

Gregor Robertson is calling for a "transparent process. The public has a
right to know".
Millennium could not - or is that, would not - be reached for comment.

I wonder how much taxpayer money, and pension funds Fortress Investment
Group has in sub-prime backed paper? I wonder how many other government
projects are tied up as well.

This Liberal government has failed the people of British Columbia.

Susan Heyes
3190 Cambie Street
604 687-0721
___________________________________________

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

And Gordon and his Howe Street Honchos laugh all the way to their offshore banks while sticking the cost overruns to local merchants and the general taxpayers. And Gordon made the local canwaste papers shovelling pennies off the back of a dump truck so he could shovel loonies twonies (and goodness knows which of the paper bills) to his buddies when HE became government.

Anonymous said...

Wait till Susan goes to court and exposes the whole TransLink/RAVCo./Intransit BC scam; it will make BC Rail Gate look like small potatoes.

Here is a question no one has answered. Jane Bird, with no transit experience at all with transit has been paid by RAVCo. and probably still is being paid by InTransit BC $1000.00 a day.

Why?

Ken Doebell is also up to his neck with RAV, how much was he paid? Was he lobbying for anyone? If so, who?

Will Campbell get his puppy dog, Wally Awful to kill Susan Hayes's lawsuit?

Stay tuned, it's going to get ugly.

David in North Burnaby BC said...

The whole Olympic scam is just another Green Shift, shifting a whole bunch of green from taxpayers to the bank accounts of Gordie Campbell, Little Arthur and all their real estate pals.

Anonymous said...

"Risk will be transfered to the private partner". Canada Line (P3). Well now David, that is an interesting statement. If the RISK will be TRANSFERRED to the private partner, it begs the question......... who holds the "risk" right now?

Cheers

Anonymous said...

This begs the question David, who is the private partner with RAV? SNC Lavalin? Well then who's money did they use to fund the projects? The international banks? No, they ran from the deal.

BC's Public Sector Pension Plan - yes, Gordo and his pals forced them to fund RAV, but wait the PSPP is insured by the provincial government, so if RAV fails, SNC Lavalin defaults, it is again the BC taxpayer who pays the bill. There was no P-3, never, it was a shell game, a high class scam.

In any other jurisdiction this would be called fraud, but no, not here, not in BC - it is just business as usual by the 'slick Willy's' running government.