It’s one of the very few TV ads that actually has a residual affect on me each time I see it: kids revealing how they can’t concentrate or focus in school when they arrive hungry, having had no food at home for breakfast.
In BC. In Canada. Kids without food. In 2023. Outrageous … inexcusable … and avoidable!
If this is indeed happening, and impacting thousands of kids DAILY across the country, clearly school boards, municipal, provincial and federal governments have their priorities wrong.
Almost every day, we hear/see politicians at all levels announcing programs/spending/giveaways for all kinds of projects that most taxpayers would NOT regard as essential or even desirable or defensible during these tough economic times.
Especially if kids are going to school hungry!
While there are HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS available for BC to host just five games for the 2026 FIFA World Cup????
In 2021, NDP Premier John Horgan … in what could turn out to be his greatest folly … committed up to $260 Million in BC spending to host five FIFA games in Vancouver. (Toronto and Seattle will also host matches.)
And BC wasn’t even part of the original bid in 2018: Horgan bought in (literally) after Montreal dropped out … because of rising cost estimates. Smart Montreal!
According to Business in Vancouver, spending here will include “$73 million for security and safety, $40 million for venues, $20 million for the FIFA Fan Festival, $15 million for a host city office, administration and volunteer service, $14 million for traffic and stadium zone management, $8 million for decoration and brand protection, and $8 million for insurance. The budget includes a $52 million contingency.”
You can read the full BIV article here: https://biv.com/article/2023/08/vancouver-has-refused-share-its-host-city-contract-fifa-seattle-just-released
To host only five FIFA games!
(By the way, given current Canada and world-wide economic conditions, Edmonton recently withdrew its bid to host the 2030 Commonwealth Games and Victoria, Australia canceled plans to host the 2026 Commonwealth Games. That was REAL leadership by REAL leaders … concerned more about REAL people’s issues … rather than politicians spending hundreds of MILLIONS on short-duration boondoggles.)
Does anyone really believe, with FIFA’s blank-cheque powers to order changes/improvements to host city plans and facilities, the $260 BILLION budget will come in on target?
Interesting that, as BIV reported, the city and province have refused to make public …as Seattle has … the FULL contract with FIFA governing the deal in Vancouver.
The NDP government is allowing the City to add an extra 2.5% Occupation Tax on Vancouver’s already outrageous hotel prices until 2030 to recoup FIFA costs.
First, there is NO guarantee that will cover total FIFA costs.
And, if the government feels an EXTRA tax (does it ever end?) is defensible, I for one would rather see the money raised go to housing the homeless, funding our failing health services, addressing lagging education spending … or, how about providing breakfasts for those hungry kids!
The FIFA games in Vancouver will do little or nothing to help BC’s struggling young people, families or seniors.
Tourism officials readily admit that only a minority of those attending the matches will actually be from anywhere in BC: in fact, more than half won’t even be from Canada or the US.
It’s a $260 MILLION mistake … that Premier David Eby should pull the plug on … and refocus government priorities on the needs of the people of BC, not welcoming soccer fans, drunks and rioters from overseas.
Harv Oberfeld
(Reminder: Follow @harveyoberfeld on X (Twitter) for FREE First Alerts to new postings on this BC-based Blog.)
Kids going to school hungry is nothing new in this province. Its been going on in more than acceptable numbers for at least 30 years. I recall teachers telling me about it. I remember some corporations taking on schools to provide the children with muffins and such for breakfast in the city of Vancouver. What is going on right now is no change from what has been going on for at least 3 decades. Actually it started about the 1970s when the first food bank was established on Vancouver Island.
We had the Olympics and kids were hungry and the money allocated for welfare wasn’t enough to house, let alone feed a family. So Horgan decided to take the FIFA thing. The B.C. Lieberals did their thing also. Don’t hold Eby to a higher standard than Campbell.
For 15 years in B.C., while the Socred/B.C. Lieberals and now B.C. Unkted were in office, had the highest child poverty rate in Canada for all 15 years except one. That year we tied with Manitobia. Child poverty has been a “”thing” in this country for most of my adult life and we have had ExPos, Olympics, spent money on all sorts of “shit”.
We currently have food programs in schools and programs for children to take back packs home on weekends so they have enough to eat. That isn’t Eby’s fault nor Horgans.
During the current fire season we’ve heard various businesses carry on abou loss of income. The highway to Port Alberni was closed so businesses past that pointed wanted the provincial government to bail them out. Never saw those businesses ask for money to feed kids and seniors though. In the past couple of years the news has carried almost every business organizations reps asking for money to sustain them, be it from thieves stealing from their stores, drug addicts impedding their businesses, the list goes on and on and on. Not once did I hear any of those business association mouth pieces suggest food programs or more money for kids in this province. Its not unusual to hear them say the government needs to stop spending money, but its never for them, just the homeless, the addicted, the children.
I do recall when Christy Clark was premier, she clawed back nickel for nickel the child support money a child was awarded from their non custodial parent, if the custodial parent was on disabilty from the provincial coffers. Those kids were living at 50% below the poverty line and christy didn’t care. she said the province needed the money. How much did she and the B.C. Lieberal/B.C. United claw back: $14M a year. Ya like the province was going to go bankrupt if she didn’t get that $14M. During that time I do recall her breakfast bill for room service while in Hong kong was $700 on one morning.
Whether we have FIFA or not, not a nickel more will be spent on chidlren in this province.
So lets not set our hair on fire about FIFA. There will be plenty of people attending it. When the topic first came up, I do recall any number of people, organizations sayiung it would be a good thing.
About the only time we hear “concern” about children not having enough is at Christmas and that is it. As I’ve written over the years, if they paid the parents more money and increased funding for those on disability and welfare kids might not need all this Christmas “charity”. Most of the concern even then regarding “charity” is just another method of corporations using the occassion for advertising how wonderful they are.
Yes governments have their priorities wrong, but that has been the case for decades and just about everyone was O.K. with it. During the Harper and PP years in office it was official policy to spend less money on Indigenous kids health and education than the rest of society’s kids, hence the awards the government now has to be paid out.
If Governments spent as much money on Children, the disabled, and seniors as they do on corporate hand outs, the country would be in a much better place, Who knows some kids might feel a tad better about themselves and not start with the drug routine.
Now how much has the oil and gas industry had from the government coffers?
How many corporations were bailed out in this country by government?
How much were corporations able to write off or hide in foreign countries so they could have more money? But ensuring a child has a decent place to live and quality food to eat, have their teeth looked after, not on many people’s agendas
I found it funny, this evening watching T.V. ads, They’ve been there as long as we’ve had legalized government gambling and yet in a time of financial crisis, the BCLC is still encouraging people to get out there and gamble. What a fine thing to do.
Statistics reflect that currently 4.6% of B.C. residents are problem gamblers and yet they are running ads. Ever dollar spent in a casino for some families means one dollar less to buy food, clothing, pay the heat, etc.
Children don’t vote so politicians and a lot for the business world do not care about them We still don’t have a national prescription plan for children. If we do get one you can bet a lot of businesses will start complaining government is spending too much on kids Back when I was on the B. of D. of a Vancouver Community Centre i quickly saw that if you don’t treat children well and ensure they are looked after, you will have a problem. People frequently wondered why I advocating spending money on kids. Response: A senior never mugged me, but unhappy teenagers can do a lot of damage. You pay now or you pay later, but if you’re paying later you always pay more, unless you’re betting the kids are going to die first.
(Response: No amount of NDP spin can pin this boondoggle on the Liberals (BC United). This was John Horgan’s doing … 100 per cent! And although there will no doubt be jobs created in construction as the city/province prepare to welcome the FIFA elite, those same workers could be put to work building much needed schools (how many more portables an BC take???) or how many hospital emergency rooms and medical school educational seats could be funded with the funds raised through the “temporary” Special tax levy on hotel rooms!! It’s appalling that the BC NDP has so repeatedly abandoned the working class, middle income earners and seniors …but has HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS to host just five FIFA games! h.o)
Welcome back Harvey! Hope you had a good vacation!
I recall McIssac moved from Richmond to the Shuswap. Does anyone know how he is doing with all the fires up there.
Lots of far more worthy items for that money, way more wildfire fighters for the rural regions of BC. Flood proof all the slopes uphill from this year’s fires before the “atmospheric river” floods the highways like it did in 2021. Some urgency awareness training for Minister Farnworth & all the upper level bureaucrats, the Ministry of public safety failed yet again to properly move folks around & adequately warn North Shuswap residents of the dangers seen all around the Shuswap as 20,000 folks were in Salmon Arm at a concert while 15km away 10,000 folks were displaced.
2021 BC failed to close the backcountry, this directly resulted in the Brookmere fire (Coq) and look what occurred after that blaze? 2023 fire season, new govt. ministry, new face to lead it (Bowinn Ma) & exactly the same failures to protect, warn & move out folks from fire afflicted regions in a safe & effective manner. But hey apparently the BC Public Safety Ministry is now the Surrey police advisory board with zero time or resources left for anything else? The rural residents know we do not factor into the Eby govt. plans, we know the urbanites have larger numbers, we also know the the one NDP MLA close to the Shuswaps will likely be a one & done MLA. I guess the new urban ridings will get the election promises, we’ll just keep firesmarting our homes, buy more piss cans, protective gear, pumps & hoses, we now have seen the NDP’s playbook & realize it completely avoids most regions past Abbotsford.
Sadly we seem to have billions for vanity subway rails for the urban folks while the places which feed & offer construction materials burn up, almost yearly?
Welcome back Harvey, no doubt your collar is a tad less hot than your average Shuswap resident’s have been.
(Response: I have no doubt this boondoggle will end up costing Vancouver and BC taxpayers many more millions than it will bring in … just in policing costs alone. And it will definitely be a highly elitist event: tourist officials have already admitted that only a MINORITY of those who get in to the five games will be from BC, Canada or even North America! And with hotel rooms likely to go for $1,000 a night, there sure won’t be too many local BC sports fans turning up to just enjoy the atmosphere! Shows you how far the NDP has strayed from their roots to sponsor this kind of wasteful elitist adventure … while so many here are struggling just to pay rent … and also feed their kids! h.o)
I hear you on this. I do know that the NDP government were begged to put a open fire ban for the entire year, due to the drought conditions. Those who begged for this are afraid of retribution from the government if they go public.
Eby has a very vindictive (Trump like) mean streak.
The NDP are concentrating on Surrey/Langley and the Tri-Cities to win the election and everywhere else, they can “go fish”.
In 2021 I wrote Minister Farnworth a week before the Larson hill fire on the Coq, I received a response trying to lump me in with the “opposition”, zero addressing of my concerns and a politically motivated response from a concerned citizen’s plea’s to close the wilderness when record high temps and very dry conditions existed?
Waiting for atmospheric river 2.0 this fall with a few more highway closures etc., this is the Farnworth public safety model.
Welcome back Harvey.
I hope you had a smoke free summer.
If the previous few summers have been any indication….
FIFA many stand for “Fires Inland Fires Anywhere”
As for Canadian politicians.
Never underestimate their ability to grasp an opportunity to pose in front of the cameras.
Especially when it’s not their money.
Have we paid off the 2010 Olympic debt yet?
(Response: The real cost … beyond the MILLIONS taxpayers will shell out … will be paid by the citizens of Vancouver. Wait till they see/endure the restrictions/closures that will be imposed on practically all traffic into and around the downtown, that will be reserved for VIPs and the “fans” … the very vast majority from overseas. It will no doubt be great for Vancouver hotels and B&Bs that will charge hundreds a night or more for a bed, while locals pay the real price in disruptions and sky-high policing overtime. h.o)
Mechanics have to have a license, doctors have to have a licence too, as do nurses, and many more.
Those idiots spending taxpayers money Willy hilly do not have to have a licence..sad.
(Response: I really can’t get over how they can just keep adding taxes on top of taxes on top of taxes … even during tough economic times, as if taxpayers have bottomless pockets stuffed with cash. And when they do it to the tune of HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS OF DOLLARS for elitist programs/projects like hosting five FIFA games, they must be called out for it! h.o)
should have mentioned I’m not in favour of government spending taxpayer dollars on Olymics, FIFA, or any other very large competition which are actually a business rife with corruption, sexual explotation, etc. That sort of money would be better spent on children with in the country or economically deprived countries to enable them to play sports. Having the Seniors Games in B.C. is great as are other competitions, but these world wide competitions just make a lot of money for corporations, politicians, and member of the organizations board of directors. Awarding Russia, China the Os, what were they thinking. FIFA to Quatar-omg.
i’D SUGGEST the Os if they are going to continue, have 4 permanent sites in countries which have a history of sports, ethics, etc and can afford it. Up keep of the sites would come from the Os organization. It makes much more sense to hold winter Os. in Lilihammer or Japan/Korea. Once those sites are built, they can also be used for training. Summer Os. well Greece comes to mind and perhaps N.Z., Australia, U.S.A. or Canada. Then they would be over seen by elected officials on a rotating basis. Same for the Commonwealth Games.
YOU’RE WRONG. Have you taken out your calculator to add up all the financial data that the tournament will bring in??
(Response: The “financial benefits” will go to: FIFA, hotel corporations for outrageously-priced hotel rooms during the event, over-priced restaurants, TV broadcasters and police overtime. Yes, there will be construction jobs …but those would also occur if the money was spent on building much needed school buildings, health and hospital needs. Virtually none of the $280 MILLION cost of hosting FIFA will benefit local residents or justify that kind of spending when so many British Columbians are struggling to pay rents, mortgages or even buy clothing and food for their kids. h.o)
beeniez, YOU’RE WRONG.
The tournament will bring all the same financial rewards that came with Expo 86 and the 2010 Olympics. Look around and see what those two boondoggles brought us.
(Response: They said Expo 86 would put us on the map …and it did. Thousands upon thousands loved Vancouver … moved here .. and now fewer and fewer locals can afford to buy homes or even pay the inflated rents! But the rich have gotten richer…and with FIFA, while the few games/events be restricted to comparatively few, the costs/disruptions will be borne by the majority. Eby/NDP should show the leadership of Montreal, Edmonton and Australia …and pull out of this $280 million boondoggle. Let Toronto have/pay forthem! h.o)
So much to say on so many issues you present.
Eby, the unelected premier of BC is now married to the polls and I think he has waited too long. he has gone about this province for almost a year spending money like drunken sailor, vote buying, but for real issues he has done little.
The ongoing disastrous forest fire season was all but ignored by Eby, early on and the public, I think, have woken up to the fact Eby and the NDP do not care.
My wife is part of a small group of people who salvage food from (I cannot say due to the delicate nature of what is happening) and distributes it to those in need. One of the ladies who is involved had 4 deep freezers storing salvage food and makes stews and pastas 3 times a week to distribute to forgotten elderly who cannot afford to buy food because the monies are going to spiraling rents.
It is secret because Boundary Health and the provincial government would shut them down. I can easily say it is easier to procure and sell drugs than to salvage food. In Eby’s NDP province the government wants you to starve but do drugs to take away the pain.
Boondoggles abound in BC, Site c (it is being built on very unstable ground); the $11 billion Broadway subway and the Langley extensions (which are being built on routes with nowhere the ridership to justify the investment); the forest fire fiasco; BC Ferries; our health care fiasco and on and on I can go.
Where’s Eby, buying votes and that is about it.
The FiFa world Cup is nothing but eye Candy for the booster class of this province so our drab politicos can hob-nob with the world elites, pretending to be someones and not international nobodies.
$280 million is chump change for the NDP, which would buy you 1 km of SkyTrain in Langley and less than a 1/2 km of subway in Vancouver.
Premier Eby: What me worry!
(Response: The worst part of the $280 Million price tag for the elitist FIFA boondoggle is that, after it’s over, there will be very little left over as a legacy … whereas if they spent that “Special Hotel Tax” money on critically shortfalls in school construction, hospitals and other infrastructure, they could at least justify it. But for a big party … where very, very few locals will be admitted … inexcusable. h.o.)
The only legacy from this will be higher taxes, inflated property values and increased homelessness.
To start. I have no care either way if Vancouver hosts a single FIFA soccer game.
I just want to know facts and then I can decide whether I want to be as outraged as most of you seem . Let’s start here. Beeniez, you may be right about the economic benefits of the games being played in Vancouver, but it is not up to Harvey or any of us to grab a calculator and add them up. That is actually up to you – the government really – to make the case.
And honestly I just don’t see it unless I am missing something obvious. Shift for a second. If Taylor Swift ever decides to come to Vancouver we hear how much economic benefits her concert(s) would provide Vancouver. I am no genius on this topic, but Taylor’s team rents BC Place at the standard fee. Maybe there are negotiations over added security etc. Then her crew does all the set up etc to prepare for the show. Tickets and merchandise are sold. Taylor’s team walks away with a bundle of cash. BC Place makes money. Hotels and restaurants in Vancouver make some extra bucks accommodating all the out of towners coming to the show. Everybody is a winner.
Why can’t somebody lay out a similar cost benefit for these FIFA games. We are left with some vague number like “it will generate one billion in economic activity” whatever that means. It will “encourage future tourists for Vancouver.” Maybe?
Some of the costs are for training facilities, infrastructure that will last longer than the games but that seems like a minor part of the whole cost. The government should do a better job of explaining the whole cost benefit.
Speaking of government. Harvey you are directing most of your criticism at the NDP but according to a follow up article to the one you linked
“In January, the province shifted responsibility to City of Vancouver for $230 million in costs and gave it temporary authority to charge a 2.5-per-cent accommodation tax through 2030.”
https://biv.com/article/2023/08/seattle-reveals-its-fifa-stadium-contract-2026-world-cup
This sounds like this is all on Vancouver now. What does Ken Sim have to say? Here you go.
https://biv.com/article/2023/08/vancouver-mayor-defends-local-fifa-secrecy
And one last thing about economic spinoff whether from FIFA or a Taylor Swift concert.
When I mentioned the Taylor Swift economic wins I left out the rest of the province. There is only so much disposable cash to go around. If I shell out a few thousand bucks for tickets, hotel, restaurants and transportation to see Taylor (or FIFA) all that benefits Vancouver. Now I don’t have that few thousand disposable dollars to spend on activities in my small northern town. There is a trade off. And my town loses. At least with FIFA, we will be getting thousands of international visitors spending their money.
(Response: The Taylor Swift (or any other entertainer etc.) is a good analogy. Let FIFA PAY for any spaces they need, PAY the costs of staging their events and recoup the costs out of any profits generated. Perfect. But No, FIFA demands …and gets …public taxpayers to spend hundreds of millions of dollars to accommodate their golden requirements, plus foot the bills for security/police and restrict access to areas anywhere close to their partying. And for Eby/NDP government to bow and scrape and offer up those monies …even to the extent of imposing yet another tax …while so many British Columbians are struggling or even suffering, is appalling. h.o)
This post is absolutely correct. The premier should cancel the World Cup games, but I doubt he will. BC does not need to host five games for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. The costs simply cannot be justified. If FIFA wants to pay for the security and the rent of the stadiums, then it can go ahead. If taxpayers are expected to pay for an event that many of them can’t afford to attend and perhaps don’t even want to, then that’s a big problem.
The World Cup can take place elsewhere. It makes no sense to host it in a province with lots of homeless people, high inflation, excessive taxation, inadequate health care, inadequate housing, hungry children, more drug addiction, more crime and high debt.
There is not enough housing for Canadians, and many will never own their own homes. Unfortunately, Canadian politicians think the answer is to increase immigration. The result will be that wages won’t increase while inflation rises, the health care system will worsen and homes will become more expensive. Most politicians don’t care because they’re home owners and the value of their homes will increase considerably.
It would be nice if Canada had politicians who cared about ordinary Canadians and not just about themselves, their family, their friends and their wealthy donors. Hosting the FIFA World Cup shows how out of touch they are. It will simply be another event for the rich that will bring more traffic and overpriced hotel rooms.
(Response: Not Sure raised a very good point about how entertainers rent the facilities and THEY pay for setup costs etc. Just think of how many BILLIONS FIFA will cash in just on TV broadcast rights for all the games! Surely they could/should pay for any special accommodations they require …including extra security. The BC government has been played at patsies by FIFA … even imposing yet another tax just to accommodate them! h.o )
Well the Olympic records for 2010 open up in 2025
We waited in emerg room other day for hours
Couple walking down street in Vancouver one said they didn’t want to see another drug addict
Banning nat gas now so we rub 2 sticks together if super drought with no dam power?
(Response: Just think of all the GOOD the government could do with that Special Tax instead of spending $260 Million on just five FIFA games!! Shows how out of touch the NDP government has become with the real “people” of BC. h.o.)
The NDP have been out of touch since 2001, when Gordo trounced them at the polls and today they are extremely out of touch.
The NDP have now become a true labour party and their support comes from mostly government unions, like the teachers federation and the BCGEU and these two unions lay the foundation that the NDP goose-step too.
Of course there are still old time socialists still support the team that that is dying out as the left have rebranded themselves as progressives, a very dangerous moniker, as the left is neither progressive or democratic for that manner.
I am an old lefty but today’s NDP leaves me as cold as a corpse because they have been succumbed by the politcal active pressure groups who have lost any vision of the province/country to the wider ills.
Eby’s lack of provincial vision is just not a handicap it is a full scale disaster and to hide it, he must offer baubles to the public, such as “world cup” soccer games; or vague politcal promises to address what catastrophe has been dealt with us.
For Eby, $280 million buys a lot of photo-ops and lots of 10 second sound bytes fro the evening news (mind you that is diminishing fast) with the goal of winning the next election and that is failing as time goes by. My guess is that taxes will be the big election issue and Eby has failed utterly to listen to the public as he only listens to the same crowd that brought us Vision Vancouver and we all know how that ended.
Not Sure: Like your comparison between a Taylor Swift concert and FIFA games. Perhaps some one in the Legislature could bring a bill forward which stipulates the province not pay for things like the Os and FIFA games from taxpayers’ money.
That is a lot of money and it could be better used, to provide larger pensions for B.C. seniors who no longer can afford food. $260M is a lot to watch a bunch of people,, millionaires, running up and down a field kicking a ball. Given all our forest fires and the loss of homes, the money could be better used to fund some of the individuals and towns who will need money to rebuild. Taxes are paid to ensure the province and those that live there are provided with infrastructure, health care, housing, food. When governments started taxing citizens in Canada/B.C. no where was it written government provide financial assistance for foreign or domestic entities which engage in sports. The atheletes are mostly millionaires, they’ll make do withot the games here, but seniors who don’t have adequate resources to pay for food, they need the $250M
It might be best at this point to have Premier Eby phone or write the organizers of FIFA and explain the province can not sponsor the games. The citizens of the province need the money for more pressing “events”.
(Response: Had I still been working, I no doubt would have asked: “Why can’t FIFA pay for any needed setup/operational costs out of the hundreds of millions (billions?) that FIFA will pull in from worldwide TV rights alone?” I wish someone in the “working” media would ask that of Premier David Eby, Mayor Ken Sim and other municipal and provincial officials. The public deserve answers .. and BC should cancel the hosting such an extravagant waste of public funding at a time when so many taxpayers are struggling! h.o)
Mr. O, the media asking hard questions, not today in today’s politically correct, slow-pitch Canada as the day’s of tough questions and stiletto analysis dies with the likes of Rafe Mair and Jack Webster.
The big event booster crowd and NDP acolytes have joined forces to promote this sort of $260 million photo-op event.
The same sort of grift was pedaled in the early 80’s with Expo 86 and why I opened up a tourist oriented business in downtown Vancouver in 1984.
Well 1986 came and went and all Expo did was enriching the hotels, the restaurants and hookers, with the rest being left in a fiscal daze of rack rent sales.
The big Indy/CART events was more of the same, little or no business during the event.
As Vancouver slowly sinks into decrepit morass of homeless, the addicted, and tent cities, the Fifa World Cup, would compel the very same, homeless, addicted and tent cities, relocated to Richmond, Burnaby, the Tricities and Surrey.
As for Vancouver itself, more and more people tell me that the city has become a “no-go” area of filth, decay and crime.
And for the NDP acolytes, stop blaming Gordo, Christie, and the Lieberals as the NDP have been in power since 2018 and things have got worse and Eby our unnelected Premier seems afraid to go to the polls because the NDP’s record is somewhat less than stellar and the former Premier acquired a plum job on the board of a coal company making profit from shipping thermal coal to China and 40% of our global CO2 emissions is from thermal coal.
(Response: I doubt the Liberals would do any different, but agreeing to spend $260 Million to host five FIFA games, when so many people are homeless, or can’t pay rent or have to go to foodbanks (record numbers now1!!) shows how much the BC NDP government is out of touch with the needs of ordinary taxpayers. Shameful …and they’re lucky that they have such a compliant, complacent “political” press gallery acting more as their messengers than holding their feet to the fire! h.o)
I just want to repeat something I said in my last post. I may be wrong so please correct me, but as far as I can tell it is not up to Eby/the provincial government to cancel. This is a Vancouver bid. The province as owner of BC Place has some involvement obviously but right now it is all on Vancouver. To help with the cost, the provincial government is allowing the city to add a temporary 2.5% tax to hotel accommodation until 2030. The only way I and any other British Columbian is affected by that tax is if I decide to stay in a Vancouver hotel in the next seven years. If I am well enough off to spend a couple of hundred dollars on a room, I am not likely to notice or worry too much about an extra five bucks. This tax is supposed to generate the $230M that is needed to host the games.
According to this article by Daphne Bramham, Toronto is on the hook for $300M and the tax payer federation is encouraging Olivia Chow not Doug Ford to cancel. It was Montreal that withdrew their bid not Quebec. Maybe more attention should be directed at Ken Sim/Vancouver city council.
https://vancouversun.com/opinion/columnists/daphne-bramham-2026-world-cup-host-costs-are-rising-but-by-how-much
Having said all that, I am still amazed that FIFA is allowed to have all this power. And I am purposely using allowed. Without cities falling over themselves trying to get the games to come to their area, FIFA has zero power. You want to play in Vancouver, we have a stadium to rent. You want it to be a fanfest, then use some of the profits from ticket sales to help us make it so.
I would really like to see a balance sheet. This is how much Vancouver needs to pay for the games. This is how much income Vancouver will generate from those games. Here is the value of the infrastructure that is still here after the games are over. Balance it. It can’t be that hard.
(Response: Well, you’re right …and wrong. Although a city officially submits the bid, it cannot really do that on its own, without senior government financing. It would be like a child saying he wants to invite all his classmates to his home for a huge birthday party, but on an allowance of $5 a week, he/she realistically could not do it without parental approval/financing. 🙂 Here’s an article where Horgan weighed in: https://bc.ctvnews.ca/b-c-premier-explains-about-face-on-vancouver-s-potential-fifa-world-cup-bid-1.5773927. I would draw your particular attention to the last line; “But Horgan cautioned FIFA would have to be clear about how much it would cost, before he would give his approval.” Not just support .. but approval. At a cost of $260 MILLION for just five games, especially during such tough times, he should have said NO … and it’s not too late for Eby to say No …Let Toronto host all of Canada’s games. h.o)
When the BC Election comes round, I’m hoping the NDP go the way of the dodo bird. They’ve shown complete disrespect for the hard working families and people of this province, their tax money, Healthcare, seniors public safety, and well being and welfare of the province as a whole. Their priorities are horribly misplaced. They are so irresponsible and incompetent as a governing body. The only thing they seem to know is how to run a province into the ground. They always mess up things in short order when elected. Always. Does a messed up ideology play a huge part along with their arrogance. Maybe, but what ever it is, they don’t seem to care and need to go for good. Enough of them.
(Response: It’s as if they have forgotten their proud history of standing up for WORKING people, low and middle income taxpayers, labourers and seniors and providing first class health care, schools and post-secondary education. Today, they give, give, give to support people who don’t work, won’t work, druggies, shoplifters, thieves, vagrants, homeless (from all over Canada) agitators, activists and other shakedown experts … and even the FIFA billionaire club. And they seem to see middle class, working people as just bottomless pockets to drain, drain, drain with neve-ending increasing taxes, charges and fees … while letting services decline. h.o)
One would think this present so called BC government of the people would do for hungry children and families and children in poverty what the previous Liberal government didn’t do for them. This government is just as bad. Maybe even worse, because they watched and witnessed and acted in opposition to it and could have learned but they didn’t and now they are throwing away 260,000,000 to wine and dine and show themselves off and be good grandstanding ribbon cutting political hosts all dressed up to the nines at their self pleasing best. They’ll be in their own little hall of fame that will want it shown for the record in grandiose arrogance that they were a part of something great and glamorous and to make a name for themselves using the peoples money for their own great ambitions and illusions whilst the children suffer from the pain of hunger sadness. Eby, Horgan and the other leaders are by far the worst for not learning and not climbing to the high moral ground.
But no matter, they lost their moral bearings on that broken political compass when they took advantage of the pandemic to selfishly serve themselves with an early election just as Trudeau did. And the kids went without because the government fed themselves first with the money that could have helped so many in need. It was a bad bad thing. Real bad.
Well Harvey, I guess we are both right and wrong. Whatever that means.
https://thebreaker.news/news/city-hall-fifa-foi/
“B.C. taxpayers could expect a bill of $240 million to $260 million to subsidize FIFA. But, in January, the province said the city is now responsible for $230 million and gave it special authority to recoup the costs by charging a 2.5% tax on accommodations until 2030.”
Look, I am not arguing with you. I am trying to ascertain facts. It is easy to say that the NDP suck and they have lost touch blah blah blah which judging by the comments here is what this piece has become.
According to the quote from the Bob Malkin article, BC taxpayers on are the hook for somewhere between 10 and $30M. (yeh that might go up) probably for fixing up BC Place, but the rest of the money – $230M (and yeh that may g0 up) – is all on Vancouver. To help defray those costs the province is allowing the city to add a 2.5% tax on hotel accommodations.
Take the maximum amount for BC – $30M – and ask yourself is that worth it for thousands of tourists to come to Vancouver and hopefully tour some of BC before and after the matches.
Now take the other amount $230M and ask yourself if it is worth it for Vancouver. If somebody thinks the event is too expensive, isn’t it more on Vancouver to pull out of the deal rather than BC.
But wait. The province is allowing the city of Vancouver to defray those costs by adding a 2.5% tax to hotel accommodations. And who is hurt by those taxes. Not the hardworking British Columbians who are struggling. Tourists. And most of those tourists are going to be from out of province. But what about people from up north coming to Vancouver? Let’s say my wife and I decide to spend a weekend in Vancouver. Take in a hockey game and maybe a concert. Costs of two flights. Cost of tickets. Costs of hotels. + now $2.50 on each $100 spent on accommodation. If we spend $300 a night for each of 3 nights ($900) that just $22.50. We can save that $22.50 by not having wine with one meal.
But to be clear, I am not arguing for or against the World Cup being held in Vancouver. I think some of the demands made by FIFA are outrageous. And I think Vancouver (and to a lesser extent the province) is not being transparent enough on the balance being costs and benefits.
But if those figures from the Malkin article are accurate and if Vancouver thinks the hotel tax will be sufficient to pay the games, then I am not as outraged by the whole event as I at first thought. Now if somebody has actual facts and figures to change my mind, go for it.
(Response: The trouble with that “extra” 2.5% “temporary” (wanna bet???) tax is that’s it’s on top of all kinds of other taxes and increase on top of increase on top of increase we are all paying … at home, when travelling, and, now, just sleeping! I recently purchased a domestic air ticket … and just on that was charged: Air Travellers Security charge; GST; Provincial Sales Tax; Airport Improvement Tax … $48 in all. And that’s apart from any hotel, car rental taxes. Governments are hurting and even killing middle income “family” travel and vacations …once more, hitting ordinary people and families more than any of it impacts the rich. And if they feel they can still justify that extra $230 million in generated tax income ..they should at least spend it on better priorities than having five FIFA games for the rich elite to go wild and get drunk. h.o)
We need the likes of Rafe Mail and Jack Webster to stir the pot. Where are the journalists of today following in their footsteps.
Right now we only have Harvey…thank gawk for him…but we need politicians to read all this and the media
Enuf said.
(Response: I’m retired! 🙂 Have to admit, at 78, sometimes I think of giving up the Blog (researching, writing, monitoring and responding to both public and private comments takes time) and instead just enjoy totally free time: but who would stand up for the “ordinary” working, taxpaying individuals, couples and seniors? Today, in the media and politics the tail is too often wagging the dog: poverty pimps, druggie advocates, shoplifters and thievery apologists, environmental extremists, First Nations shakedown artists and all kinds of other activists and agitators have the politicians and media totally hoodwinked and/or intimidated. Except on here! But maybe there IS hope … don’t miss my next Blog topic! ho)