Monday, January 26, 2009
Friday, January 23, 2009
Residents of Climax, Sask., or Come-by-Chance, N.L., probably don’t know that their provincial governments ponied up $1.5 million for the big sports extravaganza in Vancouver next winter.
Folks in Quebec and Ontario must be wondering what they’re getting for the $5 million that their politicians tossed into the pot, if they even know that’s been done.
Then there’s their portion of what Ottawa is spending on the Games. Its spending is more transparent than British Columbia’s; its website shows a total of $654.65 million in Olympic “investments”.
But that doesn’t include the full cost of security, which may be close to $800 million more than the budgeted $175 million. Another nearly $23 million has been paid by “official sponsors” Canada Post, the Royal Canadian Mint and the Vancouver Port Corp. That doesn’t include any travel expenses for politicians and staff, who went to the Olympics in 2006 and 2008 as fact-finders and glad-handers.
Add it up and — ka-ching! — it’s more than $1.55 billion.
But why should other Canadians know? At Ground Zero, none of us has any real idea. B.C.’s auditor-general, John Doyle, can’t dig out the province’s costs and he has all but thrown in the towel.
In December, he reported that B.C. has not fully disclosed the risks associated with the cost and revenue projections and still refuses to include what he and two previous auditors believed should be counted as Olympic-related costs — the billion-dollar Sea-to-Sky Highway improvements, the near-billion-dollar trade and convention centre and the $2-billion Canada Line.
That’s close to $4 billion, plus the $600 million the government admits to. And even that’s not the full story.
There are million-dollar odds and sods strewn throughout different budgets.
The auditor-general has pegged the total of some of those bits at $170 million — $47 million for the 2010 Winter Games Secretariat, $21 million for the pavilions in Turin and Beijing, $15 million from BC Hydro, $15 million from B.C. Lottery Corp. and $6 million from ICBC.
Hydro, ICBC and the Lottery Corp. are all “official sponsors.”
Still, there are other items that might have slipped under the auditor-general’s radar.
One of the big-ticket ones was the $300-million “Olympic bonus” that unionized government employees got for signing a four-year contract that ends after the Games (and after the election).
The province will also be paying employees to “volunteer” at the Games. The government says it won’t cost a thing. Hard to believe.
And, how much did it cost for BC Ferries to wrap its three new fast-ferries in Olympic promotional material for the maiden voyages from Germany? That’s not included in Olympic costs.
There’s also no accounting for the cost of the Education Ministry developing an “Olympic curriculum.” But there’s no accounting for that.
Then, there’s Vancouver and the other municipalities, which are paying about $250 million to get to the party, as my colleague Bruce Constantineau outlines in his story. There’s probably more, but it’s almost impossible to obtain full copies of contracts they signed with Vanoc.
Surrey Mayor Dianne Watts didn’t think it would be a problem when I asked for Surrey’s agreement in early December, nor did deputy city manager Dan Bottrill. But Vanoc had to sign off on releasing it. I’m still waiting.
This is taxpayers’ money, our money. We don’t know exactly how much is being spent.
But by our incomplete tally and with another year to go until the Games, it’s more than $6,000,000,000.
All this money, and only Vancouver residents had a choice about the Olympics. No other Canadians did.
Maybe a majority would have said: “Yes, let’s have a big winterlude” and “Yes, we’d rather spend $6 billion on the Olympics than on homelessness or literacy or a million other worthy projects”.
We’ll never know.
Seven billion dollars is a lot of money. But that’s not the Games’ highest cost.
The biggest price is another bit of democracy lost.
Folks in Quebec and Ontario must be wondering what they’re getting for the $5 million that their politicians tossed into the pot, if they even know that’s been done.
Then there’s their portion of what Ottawa is spending on the Games. Its spending is more transparent than British Columbia’s; its website shows a total of $654.65 million in Olympic “investments”.
But that doesn’t include the full cost of security, which may be close to $800 million more than the budgeted $175 million. Another nearly $23 million has been paid by “official sponsors” Canada Post, the Royal Canadian Mint and the Vancouver Port Corp. That doesn’t include any travel expenses for politicians and staff, who went to the Olympics in 2006 and 2008 as fact-finders and glad-handers.
Add it up and — ka-ching! — it’s more than $1.55 billion.
But why should other Canadians know? At Ground Zero, none of us has any real idea. B.C.’s auditor-general, John Doyle, can’t dig out the province’s costs and he has all but thrown in the towel.
In December, he reported that B.C. has not fully disclosed the risks associated with the cost and revenue projections and still refuses to include what he and two previous auditors believed should be counted as Olympic-related costs — the billion-dollar Sea-to-Sky Highway improvements, the near-billion-dollar trade and convention centre and the $2-billion Canada Line.
That’s close to $4 billion, plus the $600 million the government admits to. And even that’s not the full story.
There are million-dollar odds and sods strewn throughout different budgets.
The auditor-general has pegged the total of some of those bits at $170 million — $47 million for the 2010 Winter Games Secretariat, $21 million for the pavilions in Turin and Beijing, $15 million from BC Hydro, $15 million from B.C. Lottery Corp. and $6 million from ICBC.
Hydro, ICBC and the Lottery Corp. are all “official sponsors.”
Still, there are other items that might have slipped under the auditor-general’s radar.
One of the big-ticket ones was the $300-million “Olympic bonus” that unionized government employees got for signing a four-year contract that ends after the Games (and after the election).
The province will also be paying employees to “volunteer” at the Games. The government says it won’t cost a thing. Hard to believe.
And, how much did it cost for BC Ferries to wrap its three new fast-ferries in Olympic promotional material for the maiden voyages from Germany? That’s not included in Olympic costs.
There’s also no accounting for the cost of the Education Ministry developing an “Olympic curriculum.” But there’s no accounting for that.
Then, there’s Vancouver and the other municipalities, which are paying about $250 million to get to the party, as my colleague Bruce Constantineau outlines in his story. There’s probably more, but it’s almost impossible to obtain full copies of contracts they signed with Vanoc.
Surrey Mayor Dianne Watts didn’t think it would be a problem when I asked for Surrey’s agreement in early December, nor did deputy city manager Dan Bottrill. But Vanoc had to sign off on releasing it. I’m still waiting.
This is taxpayers’ money, our money. We don’t know exactly how much is being spent.
But by our incomplete tally and with another year to go until the Games, it’s more than $6,000,000,000.
All this money, and only Vancouver residents had a choice about the Olympics. No other Canadians did.
Maybe a majority would have said: “Yes, let’s have a big winterlude” and “Yes, we’d rather spend $6 billion on the Olympics than on homelessness or literacy or a million other worthy projects”.
We’ll never know.
Seven billion dollars is a lot of money. But that’s not the Games’ highest cost.
The biggest price is another bit of democracy lost.
From his villa high atop a mountainside overlooking the Valley of Mexico, Darrell Zimmerman responds to wild allegations: I am concerned about rumors swirling in the wake of an article by some "journalist". First of all I will neither confirm nor deny the transfer of a 'bag of cash' from Larry Campbell, I will say that if such thing occurred that is was totally legit and the money is being used wisely. Also there is no connection between myself and any casino gambling operation of which 'Senator Campbell' is on the board of directors. Larry pushed the slot machine issue when he was mayor and I have no involvement in that. I will admit to receiving a jar filled with cash from then Campbell executive assistant Geoff Meggs (now city councilor Meggs) when I requested they 'fix' a ticket I received from Vancouver City Police for playing music in public (!!!!).As for my relationship with Larry's successor as mayor of Vancouver, Sam Sullivan; my only association with Sam was when I was a volunteer with Sam's non-profit organization Vancouver Adapted Music Society (VAMS), when I was doing music therapy for people with disabilities. I want the record to show that at NO time did I ever accompany Sam when he purchased crack cocaine in the downtown eastside of Vancouver. As for my music projects- I am very happy with the reception that my band 'Darrell Zimmerman's Amazing Vancouver Jazz Forum Featuring Jamal Jefferson and Evil E' has received in Latin America and I've been in the studio over the past few months working on the new album which is slated for an early spring release with the buzz of a Grammy nomination in the air.
Rogue trader Zimmerman surfaces in Mexico City
By Peggy Zahniser
Former Vancouver mayoral candidate Darrell Zimmerman, 37, appeared at a press conference in Mexico City Monday morning and denied all knowledge of the 100-million dollar Vancouver Olympic Games deficit. Zimmerman, who was convicted for attempting to rig the Chicago Board of Trade to the tune of 12 billion dollars in 1992 called rumors that he had siphoned off 55 million dollars from the Olympic budget “absurd.”
“The idea that my band Darrell Zimmerman’s Amazing Vancouver Jazz Forum is a front for some kind of elaborate swindle is completely ridiculous,” said Zimmermann. “My lawyers will be out after anyone who perpetuates this outrageous libel.”
Rumors were detonated after Zimmerman met a Canadian male, reputedly former mayor Larry Campbell, several times in the course of the summer. Campbell, a colorful drug legalization campaigner, first opposed the 2010 Vancouver winter games before becoming a vocal supporter. Completing the triad of Vancouver public servants in Mexico this summer was Sam Sullivan, Campbell’s successor in the mayor’s office who according to sources close to City Hall went to Acapulco for a long weekend at the end of August. Neither Campbell nor Sullivan could be reached for comment.
Zimmermann, after whom the so-called “Zimmerman rule” on the Chicago Board of Trade was named, has been living the last three years in Mexico City with actress Gabriela Reynosa. He has been playing regularly for small crowds with his band the Amazing Vancouver Jazz Forum featuring Jamal Jefferson and Evil E in the legendary Jazzorca club, owned by German Bringas, a prominent Mexico City musician.
Members of Evil E’s entourage have commented that Zimmerman has bought a large villa in Acapulco’s Punto Diamante district, valued over 45 million dollars with pool, tennis court and outdoor jacuzzi.
“He invites us up to this big old place in Punto Diamante, it’s like party paradise, chicks, drugs, music, I couldn’t even begin to tell you what goes on there,” said a Mexico City free jazz musician who requested anonymity.
But not everybody is Mexico City’s free jazz scene is happy with Zimmerman’s larger-than-life lifestyle.
“There is no way anybody could make that kind of money playing free jazz in Mexico,” commented Jazzorca regular, drummer Gabriel Lauber. “Free jazz is a spiritual thing, it’s about unleashing energies, drugs and sex are just a corollary, with Darrell they are becoming the whole story. He’s selling his soul, if he ever had one.”
Meanwhile in Vancouver the preparations for the 2010 Winter Games drag on in an atmosphere of increasing financial insecurity and complete lack of transparency. Cost overruns are hitting the roof and nobody seems to know where all the money went. Did Zimmerman pull off the heist of lifetime? We will probably never know. He is certainly not telling.
“Don’t look at me, I was against these stupid games from the beginning,” said Zimmerman, as he checked his Rolex. “Now if you will excuse me I have a flight to catch.”
By Peggy Zahniser
Former Vancouver mayoral candidate Darrell Zimmerman, 37, appeared at a press conference in Mexico City Monday morning and denied all knowledge of the 100-million dollar Vancouver Olympic Games deficit. Zimmerman, who was convicted for attempting to rig the Chicago Board of Trade to the tune of 12 billion dollars in 1992 called rumors that he had siphoned off 55 million dollars from the Olympic budget “absurd.”
“The idea that my band Darrell Zimmerman’s Amazing Vancouver Jazz Forum is a front for some kind of elaborate swindle is completely ridiculous,” said Zimmermann. “My lawyers will be out after anyone who perpetuates this outrageous libel.”
Rumors were detonated after Zimmerman met a Canadian male, reputedly former mayor Larry Campbell, several times in the course of the summer. Campbell, a colorful drug legalization campaigner, first opposed the 2010 Vancouver winter games before becoming a vocal supporter. Completing the triad of Vancouver public servants in Mexico this summer was Sam Sullivan, Campbell’s successor in the mayor’s office who according to sources close to City Hall went to Acapulco for a long weekend at the end of August. Neither Campbell nor Sullivan could be reached for comment.
Zimmermann, after whom the so-called “Zimmerman rule” on the Chicago Board of Trade was named, has been living the last three years in Mexico City with actress Gabriela Reynosa. He has been playing regularly for small crowds with his band the Amazing Vancouver Jazz Forum featuring Jamal Jefferson and Evil E in the legendary Jazzorca club, owned by German Bringas, a prominent Mexico City musician.
Members of Evil E’s entourage have commented that Zimmerman has bought a large villa in Acapulco’s Punto Diamante district, valued over 45 million dollars with pool, tennis court and outdoor jacuzzi.
“He invites us up to this big old place in Punto Diamante, it’s like party paradise, chicks, drugs, music, I couldn’t even begin to tell you what goes on there,” said a Mexico City free jazz musician who requested anonymity.
But not everybody is Mexico City’s free jazz scene is happy with Zimmerman’s larger-than-life lifestyle.
“There is no way anybody could make that kind of money playing free jazz in Mexico,” commented Jazzorca regular, drummer Gabriel Lauber. “Free jazz is a spiritual thing, it’s about unleashing energies, drugs and sex are just a corollary, with Darrell they are becoming the whole story. He’s selling his soul, if he ever had one.”
Meanwhile in Vancouver the preparations for the 2010 Winter Games drag on in an atmosphere of increasing financial insecurity and complete lack of transparency. Cost overruns are hitting the roof and nobody seems to know where all the money went. Did Zimmerman pull off the heist of lifetime? We will probably never know. He is certainly not telling.
“Don’t look at me, I was against these stupid games from the beginning,” said Zimmerman, as he checked his Rolex. “Now if you will excuse me I have a flight to catch.”
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