First, a quick test: Where were the last FIFA games held? What did you learn about the CITY where the games were held? What did you learn about the REGION where the games were held? When the games were over, did you plan a visit or make investments in the city, region, country?
Some may remember FIFA 2022 was held in Doha, Qatar, but I doubt many Vancouverites, British Columbians or Canadians remembered much more than that … certainly not enough to invest or visit the place.
I recall, from TV coverage, how rich the place seemed, with luxurious sports venues, gold-star hotels and very high end indoor shopping malls … all quite fitting for one of the wealthiest per-capita nations on earth, built on massive exports of oil and gas revenues. (No pipeline blockades or coastal oil tanker ban there!!!)
But there were also many reports/stories/revelations about the use/abuse of hundreds of thousands of foreign migrant workers.
“Human rights organizations reported grueling working conditions in extreme heat, unpaid wages, and the confiscation of passports. Investigations highlighted thousands of unexplained migrant worker deaths, though Qatari authorities claimed only a small fraction were directly work-related,” the BBC reported.
Qatar, of course, is a dictatorship… a monarchy ruled by the Al Thani family. No political parties are legally allowed in the country, so there is no Opposition Leader, no Question Period, no free media and no cheeky bloggers!
Qatar was a FIFA paradise! And so was Russia, host for the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada are quite different … thankfully!
The Parliamentary Budget Officer has revealed the estimated PUBLIC cost (all levels of government) for hosting 13 FIFA games will top One Billion dollars … or $82 Million per game. (That’s the estimate: I predict the figure will be considerably higher once all the security bills… and all the “unanticipated overtime’ run up by the cops … piles up.)
Ka-ching! Ka-ching! Ka-ching!
Easy for Qatar and Russia to absorb, control and suppress: no public outcry there.
But here, we’re watching … and should be mortified at the politicians who got us into this mess, being held at the same time that the BC government put “on hold” plans to add 160 critically-needed more beds and a cancer center at Burnaby Hospital; postponed announced plans for seven long-term care homes in Abbotsford, Delta and Chilliwack; delayed the student housing expansion at the University of Victoria: and will “slow down” its plans for housing investments.
“Seniors are dying in hospital beds waiting for long-term care as B.C. waitlists span years,” read the headline in The Vancouver Sun just days ago.
“Statistics provided by (Health Minister Josie) Osborne during debate on the budget for her ministry show that 7,829 seniors are on waitlists for long-term care beds in B.C.”
“The wait time in the Island Health region averages 345 days, with some seniors waiting as long as 1,861 days. The situation is even worse for some in Vancouver Coastal Health with the maximum wait hitting 2,825 days. The average wait time in the health authority is 315 days. Northern Health has the highest average wait time at 376 days,” The Sun reported. (Read the full story: https://vancouversun.com/news/seniors-dying-hospital-beds-waiting-for-long-term-care-bc-waitlists-span-years.)
This, despite the BC NDP government still running up a deficit this year alone of $13 Billion!
How can the politicians (municipal, regional, provincial, federal) find more than a Billion dollars of taxpayers’ money for FIFA soccer games while so many of the people they’re pulling those dollars from can barely afford rents, groceries, other essential services or, worse, can’t get the essential health care they need … and deserve!
Harv Oberfeld
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