Secure Games? From a reader....

Hi David

Recommend reading local author Christopher Shaw's "Five Ring Circus" to get
a more realistic idea of what is required by VANOC et al to secure the 2010
Games and how badly officials have deliberately underestimated the security
costs of the GAMES.

Some of my thoughts...

The only port city to host the Winter Olympics...three major railway lines
pass by many of the Vancouver venues, both support venues and sporting
venues and major hotels...20% of the workers in the region work downtown...a
mountainous corridor stretching 120 kms...a nightmare...what will they do,
shut down rail operations, shut down the port? Will every container need to
be opened and investigated arriving at port? What will the cost be to the
economy if they have to shut the port or the railways?

Here's what CBC reported during the 2005 trucker's stike at the Vancouver
ports:

"B.C.'s business community is demanding that the federal government end a
paralysing and sometimes violent truckers' strike at Vancouver-area ports
that is costing an estimated $75 million a day."

Just how will the security measures for the 16 day 2010 Games impact the
normal economy of BC and Canada? February is a very busy month for grain
shipments at our ports, will these shipments be delayed by security
measures?
Getting to and from places of work will be impacted by road closures and
usual transit systems will be overloaded by visitors. But it may all even
itself out if we look at Salt Lake City's (SLC) example. At SLC airport,
more people left the state of Utah during the Games period than came in.
Sales tax revenues for the month of February in 2002 to the state seem to
show that revenues were flat in comparison to previous year revenues for the
same period in 2001. A modest .6% increase in sales tax revenue was felt in
SLC only.

Imagine thousands of security officers, armed forces and secret service
agents from over 20 countries floating around...the security cost in Salt
Lake City 2002 was over $350 million in US dollars, the CAN dollar traded at
62 cents during that time. SLC is not a port city and mountain events for
the 2002 Winter Games was only 15 km from the city core and SLC had no major
railroads adjacent to any of the Olympic venues.

Security costs are being hidden in local, provincial and federal budgets
much the same as Colin Hansen tried to hide the costs of the Olympic
Secretariat office in Victoria saying they shouldn't be included in the 2010
Olympic costs. The indirect costs to our economy need to factored in. The
government is all too quick to inform or disinform us of the 2010 Games
benefits but dead in the water when it comes to informing us of the full
costs of hosting the Games.