Toronto budget committee met today and according to reports not one of the seven members had a good thing to say about bidding on the 2024 Olympics. Budget Chief Gary Crawford was subdued as he said he has stepped back from the idea of a $50 billion dollar dive into the Olympic black hole. Others were flatly opposed. The committee members are:
- Michelle Berardinetti
- John Campbell
- Shelley Carroll
- Gary Crawford (Chair)
- Justin J. Di Ciano
- Mike Layton
- James Pasternak
INCOMPATIBLE WITH DEMOCRACY?
The games may or may not be affordable but there is continuing evidence of just how unattractive they are the top. The San Diego Times-Union writes that the IOC itself has emerged as the main obstacle to hosting the games in open and democratic societies. It says: “The problem: the organization does not meet democratic norms of transparency. The 2022 Winter Games bidding process offers powerful proof of this. In Oslo, the capital of oil-rich Norway, citizens voted yes to the candidacy for the games during the city’s first-ever popular referendum, and the national government even offered a hefty guarantee to cover any deficits. But the IOC sabotaged the process with impossible, prima-donnish demands: cocktail parties with the Norwegian royal family (where the royals were expected to pick up the bill), open bars during the night, and official-only driving lanes in the city. The investment of billions of tax crowns in such an elite event was too difficult a sell. Oslo had to drop the bid.” The IOC seems to have lost touch with the real world.
