On the
provincial government's website at gov.bc.ca
you'll find a news release and "backgrounder"
about the "SportsFunder" lottery in celebration
of the 2010 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games, but you
won't find a word about the $110
million overrun that was announced 24 hours later. The
news backgrounder is a little misleading when it claims
that the new lottery "is the first cause-specific lottery
in the BC Lottery Corporation's history". As part of
its ongoing effort to expand gambling in BC the Campbell
government, and its agent the BC Lottery Corporation (BCLC),
announced a similar
scheme in October 2003 with respect to the Canucks
scratch and win tickets. The 2010 announcement is worth
about 5 times more to the Vancouver Organizing Committee
for allowing BCLC to use its official logo; the estimated
$10 million is a drop in the bucket relative to the budget
problems facing the games.
Of course
no one should think that the cost overrun for the games
will be "just" $110 million. That's today's estimate
but the games are four years away and a full accounting
may be an eternity from now. VANOC's John Furlong appeared
to be trying out for the Olympic event of "back-patting"
as he spun the cost overrun as an example of openness and
transparency demonstrated by the unaccountable directors
of his committee. Colin Hansen, Minister responsible for
the games, did Furlong one better by emphasizing that the
overrun easily fits in the contingency fund that is part
of the $600 million budgeted by the Campbell government
for the games.
If the
Campbell government was truly sporting, it would introduce
a really new expanded betting scheme based on accepting
bets with respect to the total cost overrun at the conclusion
of the games; a spin-off could be side bets on the overrun
that will be announced just before the games begin. Punters
could place their bets and the members of VANOC held personally
responsible for paying the winner an amount equal to the
overrun, or maybe that could be cost shared with the BC
cabinet. Since BCLC appears to hate competition, as witnessed
by the crackdown on pools in sports bars for the Super Bowl,
it is unlikely that we'll see a government-sponsored betting
scheme based on the eventual overrun, but our tax dollars
are already on the line and we'll be paying for the enthusiasm
shown when Campbell signed a blank cheque for the games.
Unfortunately, there is no way for us to win on that game,
but that's not far different from many of BCLC's schemes.
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