Morgan:News:2010:Bronze Edition: September 2004

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Morgan:News:2010 |Moguls| #447
NO BIDS FROM NEW WEST, UBC FOR OVAL; MALASPINA LOOKING FOR C$1.25 MILLION...

Some moguls we've bumped into today...

New Westminster will not be providing a formal bid to build the troublesome Speed-Skating Oval. Instead, it has simply let the Vancouver Olympic Organizing Committee know that a site in its Queensboro district can be made available if a location is needed. UBC has also indicated it will simply make a backup site available too, if needed. That means the competition is expected to be between Simon Fraser University's location, VANOC's original choice, and Richmond's proposal, which will be large enough to accommodate four Olympic-size ice rinks and 8,000 spectators.
Malaspina University and College could receive $1.25 million for research into tourism in part connected with the 2010 Olympic Games. It won approval in principle from the Leading Edge Endowment Fund, a provincial government fund for research for the grant. But Malaspina has to come up with matching funds from the private sector before it gets the money. Liz Hammond-Kaarreemaa, the director of research at the college. indicates Malaspina would create a regional innovation chair for tourism research to expand tourism and sustainable development in rural communities. Olympic Games opportunities would be one of the focus topics. he endowment fund was established in 2002 to create permanent leadership chairs across B.C.
Sept. 13 is the tentative date that the Olympic 2010 Legacy committee in the B.C. interior town of Clearwater will be meeting for a presentation on Mike Wiegele's ski-team training proposal at the Skills Center. Wiegele runs a helicopter-skiing resort operation in nearby Blue River, and thinks the area could entice national teams to train in the area for the 2010 Winter Olympics.
August 3 is the City of Port Moody's go/no-go date for word from the provincila government for a $2 million infrastructure grant that would allow it to build a second ice-rink in the city, one that could allow 2010-bound Olympic athletes to train, should they be convinced to do so. If the money doesn't come through, they'll scale the size of the ice sheet down from Olympic size (200 feet by 100 feet) to standard (200 feet by 85 feet). The facility would be completed either way by the last quarter of 2005.

RESOURCES

Malaspina's website:
http://www.mala.ca

Wiegle's Heli-skiing site:
http://www.wiegele.com/winter/home.php

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on July 21, 2004

Morgan:News:2010 |Moguls| #446
C$57+ GS FOR GUAGES; CAMPBELL TO ATHENS FOR 2010; ATHENS TO PUMP 2010 ATHLETES; HUMMING THE GAMES

Some moguls we've bumped into today...

Add at least another C$57,000 to the cost of real-time weather equipment being purchased in anticipation of using it for the 2010 Winter Games. Canada's Meteorological Service says it intends to buy at least six heavy-duty Pluvio-model snow gauges -- and it may double the order -- from a Vancouver company in a single-source tender because it believes it to be the only gauge that works with MSC's data-collection system. It's giving potential competitors until July 22 to prove it wrong. The equipment is to be purchased for delivery in September from Hoskin Scientific Limited, 239 East 6th Avenue, V5T 1J7, 604.872.7894, (http://www.hoskin.ca . Hoskins also has offices in Burlington, Ontario, and Montreal, Quebec.
Among those travelling to Athens for the Summer Games next month is B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell, who will be involved in some of the behind-the-scenes observing that will also be occupying the Vancouver Olympic Organizing Committee's senior staff. He'll be there from August 12th to the 15th.
Marion Lay, President of 2010 LegaciesNow, which is helping to identify and train the province's international calibre athletes through the PacificSport Training Centres around B.C., says she expects strong performances from the British Columbia contingent at the Athens Olympics. "Every year, the level of competition is stronger right across the board, and that raises the bar for everyone," she says, "including our athletes right here in British Columbia." Lay, an Olympic Swimmer who won a bronze medal at the 1968 Games in Mexico City, adds that the Athens Games should help with athletic focus on 2010, as well as the Winter Games in Italy two years from now, and the Summer Games in Beijing four years away, "Winning the right to host the 2010 Games has certainly inspired youngsters across the province to look at their own potential for 2006, 2008 and 2010."
One of the directors of VANOC carried Canada's flag in an Olympics. Charmaine Crooks, who was an Olympic sprinter, carried the flag during the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia.
From the Things that Make You Go "Hmmmm..." Department: Budget for Athens Games: US$6.6 billion, including US$1.2 billion in security. Budget for 2008 Beijing Games: US$23 billion. Beijing sponsorship revenue budget: US$700 million. Venue spending budget of VANOC for the 2010 Winter Games: US$473 million. Athens ticket sales: 37% million of 5.3 million available; Sydney Olympics ticket sales at this point: more than 50%. Total budgeted ticket sales for Athens: 68% of available tickets. Net sales of Athens ad time by NBC: US$1 billion; amount of ad inventory sold: 90%. Number of hours of NBC programming: 1,210. Percentage more TV coverage than Sydney: 300. NBC promo budget: US$40 million. Number of NBC-related networks involved: 6 (NBC, MSNBC, CNBC, USA, Brava, Telemundo). Number of guests by IOC sponsor Coca-Cola: 1,200 in five groups. Ambush marketing examples at Athens: Mariott is the official hotel sponsor; Choice Hotels paid US$10 million to be exclusive hotel advertiser during NBC coverage. Mattell, not an Olympic sponsor since 1996, is now selling American girl dolls with gymnastic uniforms, and soccer players with gold-medal accessories.

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on July 20, 2004

Bronze Service is published regularly, but this feed is delayed for two months or more to protect our subscribers. For timely news that comes to you, please subscribe to our Gold or Silver service at Morgan:News:2010. Bronze is free for the use of news services and for non-commercial public use under conditions described at: Morgan:News:2010:Bronze (There is a nominal charge for certain commercial uses, as described there.) The blog posting date and blog archive dates refer to when stories were posted here. The date the story was originally published to subscribers is at the end of each article.

Morgan:News:2010 |Government| #445
OTTAWA UPGRADES 2010 MINISTRY, APPOINTS VETERAN CABINET MINISTER

Prime Minister Paul Martin has appointed an experienced British Columbian member of Parliament to take responsibility for the 2010 Winter Olympics in his new cabinet.

And Martin has identified the importance of the Canadian government's support of sport over the next few years by making it a full-fledged department. Until today, it was a junior segment of the Heritage department.

The new Minister of Sport, Stephen Owen, 55, has represented the riding of Vancouver-Quadra since he was elected more than three years ago, and knows well the people involved with the Vancouver Olympic Organizing Committee, and has worked on several aspects of the Games as the Bid was developed and as VANOC moved into its implementation phase. For instance, just over a year ago, he was involved in development of a federal-provincial governments cost sharing program that contributed C$2 million to the City of Prince George under the Canada/British Columbia Infrastructure Program for improvements to three ice rinks and other facilities at the Prince George Exhibition Park.

He's a pragmatic, hard-working and well-regarded politician, even though he's only been one for a short time. He knows his way through federal and provincial bureaucracies because of his experience before being elected. Owen will also be in charge of a second department that dovetails with quite a bit of Olympics-related work, Western Economic Diversification, another area that was elevated in importance by Martin.

The federal government has provided a wide range of guarantees to back the 2010 Games, ranging from tax and customs treatment of goods and services used by the Games and its sponsors, to the way team members, coaches and other support staff are treated as they move in and out of Canada. Other arrangements involve finance and government subsidies, help with paying for facilities such as the Athlete Villages, Olympic logo protections and security. The administration and development of policies involved in those aspects, and many others, will come under Owen's purview.

The creation of a separate government department also reflects the focus the Winter Games has placed on large-scale noncommercial sports. As the International Olympic Committee franchise system has grown in sophistication in the last few years, its ability to raise funds that support an increasing number of international and national sports federations has given them increased organization and a stronger role to play in the development of sport in Canada, among other countries. As they have grown more organized and powerful, they are able to better command governmental resources, a portion of which are, in turn, directed, as in the case of the 2010 Winter Games sponsorships, to ultimately raise more funds for the IOC's use. As Minister of Sport, Owen takes over Sport Canada, a government branch with three divisions: Sport Programs, Sport Policy and Major Games & Hosting

Owen, a lawyer and former deputy attorney general and, later, ombudsman in British Columbia, previously served in Martin's cabinet as Minister of Public Works and Government Services and Receiver General for Canada. He was also a member of the Prime Minister's Task Force on Urban Issues.

BACKGROUND =

OWEN, Stephen

Liberal, first elected to the riding of Vancouver Quadra: November 27, 2000
Became Member of the Privy Council: January 15, 2002
Now responsible for two separate departments as of July 20, 2004:
- Minister of State (Sport)
- Minister of Western Economic Diversification

Cabinet portfolios held previously:
Minister of Public Works and Government Services from December 12, 2003 to July 19, 2004
Secretary of State from Jan 15, 2002 to Dec 11, 2003
- Responsible for Western Economic Diversification
- Responsible for Indian Affairs and Northern Development

RESOURCES

Stephen Owen's website
http://www.stephenowen.ca

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on July 20, 2004

Morgan:News:2010 |Moguls| #444
CANADIAN 2010 TV RIGHTS BATTLE TO BE 'TITANTIC'; GILL TO CARRY CANADA FLAG AT ATHENS; VANCOUVER FUNDS OLYMPIC YOUTH PLAN

Some moguls we've bumped into today...

The sports columnist for national Globe & Mail newspaper, William Houston in Toronto, says in a July 17 column, "The battle for [Canadian] television rights to the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics... is shaping up to be titanic. CTV covets the Games, but the CBC still looks to be the favourite." Houston says the CBC "does a terrific job of producing Olympic telecasts, and as an over-the-air network, it provides the International Olympic Committee with total consumer reach -- it is available to virtually everyone with a television set in Canada. But consider the enormous assets the BCE-CTV-Rogers Communications Olympic partnership will bring to the table: CTV's main network; TSN, the leading sports channel in Canada; Rogers Sportsnet, the four-feed regional channel; CTV's suite of specialty services, including CTV NewsNet and Outdoor Life Network; Sympatico and Rogers Internet services; Bell ExpressVu; Rogers Cable; Rogers and Bell wireless; and the Rogers radio network." Houston agrees that the CBC will counter with "its main network, CBC Newsworld, its radio network and perhaps a sports cable partner, such as The Score." The negotiations are expected to begin in the fall.
The Canadian Olympic Committee today named two-time Olympic medallist, Nicolas Gill, as Canada's flag bearer for the Athens 2004 Olympic Games. Gill, a Montreal native and sixth-degree black belt in judo-ka, is currently in Belgium, and is heading to his fourth Olympic Games. Gill's career includes 10 national championships, a bronze medal at the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona and a silver medal at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney. Gill will be leading Canada's team into the Olympic Stadium in Athens for the 2004 Olympic Games opening ceremony on August 13. Canada's team includes 266 athletes (134 women and 132 men) competing in 28 disciplines.
Vancouver City Council has approved up to C$400,000 over the next couple of years for the Olympic Youth Legacy Framework that was outlined last month in a staff report called "Olympic Youth Legacy for Physical Activity, Sport, Culture and the Arts", and it amended the the program to allow it to be used for people up to the age of 24. C$200,000 was approved to implement Phase One report's plan, and it approved another C$200,000 in 2005 for Phase Two of the Legacy Action Plan, subject to a report back on Phase One. The idea is to get things going until the City can add a referendum item to the November, 2005, civic ballot asking for voter permission to set up a C$10 million endowment fund to implement a long-term strategy of investing equally in sports and the arts. The first thing that Parks Board started to think about in connection with the Fund wasn't the 2010 Winter Olympics, or winter sports. It began thinking about building a rubber running track. RESOURCES: The staff report detailing the Olympic endowment plan is here:
http://www.city.vancouver.bc.ca/ctyclerk/cclerk/20040708/csb6.htm

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on July 19, 2004

Bronze Service is published regularly, but this feed is delayed for two months or more to protect our subscribers. For timely news that comes to you, please subscribe to our Gold or Silver service at Morgan:News:2010. Bronze is free for the use of news services and for non-commercial public use under conditions described at: Morgan:News:2010:Bronze (There is a nominal charge for certain commercial uses, as described there.) The blog posting date and blog archive dates refer to when stories were posted here. The date the story was originally published to subscribers is at the end of each article.

Morgan:News:2010 |Government| #443
VANCOUVER CITY COUNCIL TO WORK ON LANDS INCLUDING 2010 ATHLETE'S VILLAGE TOMORROW

The City of Vancouver's Director of Current Planning, Larry Beasley, will present a policy report to City Council tomorrow on strategic choices and further directions to staff for a 50-acre swath of old industrial land known as Southeast False Creek, which includes the Vancouver 2010 Athlete's Village.

Among a wide range of strategies and polices Beasley is asking Council to approve is a request that City staff work with the Vancouver Olympic Organizing Committee to develop a security policy for the Athlete's Village, "in regard to development, and review it with local stakeholders, for example, setbacks and development phasing." VANOC is responsible for developing the security plan, and the City of Vancouver has agreed to work on the plan, "within our regulatory authority and providing services only within our normal budget." In short, it will go through the city's usual policing approval processes, since the hard-core security is being handled by the RCMP and military.

He's also asking council to "approve the work program for development of the Southeast False Creek Official Development Plan and sub-area rezoning of the Olympic Athlete's Village, as well as staffing and budget, as set out in this report, at a total cost of $155,250." The money is to come from the City's Property Endowment Fund. According to the schedule, the rezoning process for the Village will start in November, with implementation decisions expected to begin being made by next April.

Both proposals are expected to be approved, probably without discussion.

Although most 2010 sporting venues will be finalized by 2007 or 2008, the plan is to build the Athlete's Village so it will be ready just before the games, so that the buildings aren't sitting empty, and its attendant commercial and athlete services, won't be without customers for any longer than necessary. But Beasley says, "Timing is a concern because decisions need to be made for the Olympics Athlete's Village by spring." The project timetable shows that he expects to be holding the required public hearings on the Athlete Village's portion, which is an area just east of the Cambie Street Bridge, by next spring.

The Vancouver Olympic Organizing Committee has been involved in on-going discussions with city planners and architects about the development of the Athlete's Village, and some of the development in the area is being driven by VANOC's timetable, but CEO John Furlong says he is not yet concerned about the delays, measured in a few months at the moment, involved in the development's progress.

The status report asks council to make some decisions on how some of the public amenities envisioned for the project, which is much bigger than the the Athlete's Village, be funded, although the official development permit, which is necessary for work to begin, won't be brought to council for decisions until September at the earliest.

One of the new policies Council is being asked to adopt, known as C2 in the Beasley report, deals with architectural excellence as being one of the area's requirements, and it offers oblique references to the LEED standard of environmentally sensitive construction, which is the standard required by the International Olympic Committee and promised in Vancouver's Bid Book, thus incorporating it into the Southeast False Creek planning.

A portion of the policy also says, "Hosting a design competition at the CD-1 stage of the Olympic Village sub-area is one idea that could result in innovation and architectural excellence." Another, known as C4, which deals with energy-management and conservation policies, notes, "The City is working on an emission-free neighbourhood energy system based on renewable resources. A variety of alternative energy supply options are being explored for SEFC, including ground-source heating for the Olympic Village area as a demonstration project."

BACKGROUND =

The Athlete Village's component of the project's work plan:

PHASE 2: CD-1 REZONING (Olympic Sub-Area)
Rezoning Application: November, December 2004
Public Consultation: January, 2005
Referral Report to Council: February, 2005
Public Hearing: March, 2005
Enactment Phase: April, 2005.
The Beasley report says the City is valuing the land, currently zoned industrial, at C$50 million, and that it would cost C$56 million to service it for its new role as residential housing and local commercial operations. The City has owned most of the land since before World War I, but spent about C$26 million since 1990 acquiring the remaining privately held properties.
The city has a Steering Committee for dealing with the complexities of the SouthEast False Creek project. It includes the City Manager and Councillor Raymond Louie as co-chairs as well as Councillor Peter Ladner, the Directors of Current Planning, Real Estate Services, the Housing Centre, and Finance, the General Managers of Engineering, Community Services, and the Park Board, and the Deputy City Manager.

RESOURCES

Beasley's full 32-page report is available in PDF format (652k) here:
http://www.city.vancouver.bc.ca/ctyclerk/cclerk/20040720/rr2.pdf

A site and ownership map of the area is here:
http://www.city.vancouver.bc.ca/commsvcs/southeast/documents/SEFCsitemap.pdf

The City of Vancouver has prepared a number of reports connected to the South East False Creek area, including environmental and transportation consultant studies. They are in PDF format and are available for free from this page:
http://www.city.vancouver.bc.ca/commsvcs/southeast/background.htm

A couple of artist's impressions of what the area could look like, along with some demographics of the potential populations in the new neighbourhood, is here:
http://www.city.vancouver.bc.ca/commsvcs/southeast/vision.htm

A specific e-mail address has been set up by the city for those interested in contact the Southeast False Creek area team: sefc@city.vancouver.bc.ca

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on July 19, 2004

Morgan:News:2010 |Government| #442
BC CHOOSES HIGHWAY SEGMENT OVER TUNNEL TO IMPROVE 2010 WINTER GAME ACCESS

The British Columbia government, in a controversial move, has decided that it will build a four-lane section of the Sea-to-Sky highway at its south end to improve the highway connecting Vancouver and Whistler for the 2010 Winter Games.

Transportation Minister Kevin Falcon said he was making the choice, partly for financial reasons because the highway segment would be less expensive than other options, partly for safety, saying that the projected fatality rate on the highway segment was half that of the options, and partly for longevity, saying the highway option would handle traffic growth far longer than the options.

At an estimated cost of C$130 million, he said, the overland route will cost C$40 million less than the tunnel option and C$6.5 million less to operate and maintain over 25 years. The overland route will accommodate traffic growth for 50 years compared to 25 years for the tunnel.

The City of West Vancouver had opposed the idea, preferring a tunnel in the area instead to protect a forested area in the path of the highway, and it is currently suing the federal government over the validity of the environmental assessment process that helped clear the way for the construction of the highway option.

West Vancouver mayor Ron Wood said the concept of hosting the 2010 Winter Games was based during the bid phase in part on them being the most environmentally sensitive ever held, "And here we are, right out of the box, making a decision that will destroy a pristine forest."

West Vancouver had offered the necessary land, which it owned, to the government for the tunnel for C$1, but the land required for the highway, he said, would be valued at C$10 million. And, he said, the British Properties owner of the privately held land that would be needed, owned since 1937, was valued at C$58 million, but that the owners said they would initiate legal action to fight expropriation as well.

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on July 16, 2004

Bronze Service is published regularly, but this feed is delayed for two months or more to protect our subscribers. For timely news that comes to you, please subscribe to our Gold or Silver service at Morgan:News:2010. Bronze is free for the use of news services and for non-commercial public use under conditions described at: Morgan:News:2010:Bronze (There is a nominal charge for certain commercial uses, as described there.) The blog posting date and blog archive dates refer to when stories were posted here. The date the story was originally published to subscribers is at the end of each article.

Morgan:News:2010 |Moguls| #441
VANOC REPORTS AUGUST 12; RICHMOND HAPPIER ABOUT OVAL THAN BROADCAST CENTRE; MERRITT TALKS 2010 HALL

Some moguls we've bumped into today...

The Vancouver 2010 Olympic Organizing Committee will be providing its next formal report to the full International Olympic Committee on the morning of Thursday, August 12. That's the last day of the IOC's four days in session spread over a week as its members gather for the opening of the Athens Summer Olympic Games. John Furlong will be in Athens, along with members of his senior executive team, to provide VANOC's second full briefing, and to observe the behind-the-scenes activities that are relevant to their positions. They won't be going over in a pack, though. They'll be flying over staying for varying amounts of time, and then straggling back. The IOC's session that day starts at 9am and is being held in the Divani Caravel Hotel's Olympic room. The meeting is due to adjourn about 6pm.
If Richmond municipality gets the nod from VANOC about building the speed-skating oval on city-owned property along the middle arm of the Fraser River, River Road will be realigned to jog around the complex, and give waterfront access to the public. The word is that both Richmond and Simon Fraser University, the original location of the oval, will have bids heard by July 30. Bids from New Westminster and Coquitlam are possible but unconfirmed; geographically though, they may be too far away from the Athletes Village in the south-east corner of False Creek. The Richmond and SFU bids are within a rough circle of the yet-to-be-built village, but New Westminster and Coquitlam locations are likely too far away for ease of travel. The International Olympic Committee prefers shorter, rather than longer travel times. Meanwhile, Richmond officials off the record are showing more enthusiasm for the oval project than for the International Broadcast Centre, where the proposed Richmond land is tied up over Musqueam Indian land claims issues in the courts, and noting the Oval would work better as a convention hall after the Games because it's much closer to the municipality's hotel district than the IBC, also touted to become a convention building after the Games.
Officials in Williams Lake, a town in British Columbia's Cariboo region, have been brought up short in their attempt to develop a Tourism Discovery Centre to help, in part, take advantage of increased tourism expected to occur as a result of the 2010 Games. They need to borrow about C$1 million of the C$3 million necessary to build the Centre, with the federal and provincial governments covering the rest, but a divided community, unsure of the project and worried about the size of the debt, blocked by 900 votes the a long-term borrowing proposal, about 150 more than needed to stop the plan. Mayor Rick Gibson is awaiting now a staff report that will offer options for raising the money, which will probably include a referendum on the project during October or November.
David Laird, the mayor of Merritt, a town northeast of Vancouver, and John Les, the provincial government's Small Business and Economic Development minister with responsibility for the Olympics, have been talking. The subject is the possibility of Merritt having an Olympic Live Site, a hall with a capacity of 300 to 400 people that could show the Olympic Games via broadcast links as they happen. The site would then become a mini-conference centre, and possibly a theatre for plays and other cultural events after the Games, as part of the government's Olympic Legacy projects. Plans are quite preliminary at this stage.

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on July 15, 2004

Morgan:News:2010 |VANOC| #440
AT LEAST FIVE SOPHISTICATED WEATHER STATIONS TO BE BOUGHT AND IN PLACE BY NOVEMBER

The program manager for Sport at the Vancouver Olympic Organizing Committee confirms VANOC intends to buy at least five sophisticated weather stations and have them in place in October or November to increase forecast reliability during the Winter Games.

Tim Gayda says the discussions are still in the early stage with the federal government department of Environment Canada and its Meteorological Service of Canada (MSC) about the details of the stations, which VANOC will buy. "We have some specific weather requirements for the sport aspects," Gayda says.

Each station is estimated to cost about C$16,700, for a total purchase of about C$84,000. Although they'll belong to VANOC, Gayda says they'll be getting the specifications for them from Environment Canada, which in turn is buying them from Campbell Scientific of Edmonton, apparently the only company in Canada which makes the equipment to MSC's specifications.

Gayda says one of the stations will be placed at the base of Whistler Mountain at the level of the Olympic stadium, and one near the top, at the level of where the men's and women's downhill events will begin, so that MSC can get detailed, instantaneous and constantly updated information about wind speed, snow depth and condition, temperature and other data.

Another will at the base of Blackcomb Mountain, for conditions affecting the giant slalom, one will go near the Nordic Centre in the Callaghan Valley near Whistler, where the Nordic events and the sliding sports events, such as bobsled, luge and skeleton will be held. The fifth one will be placed atop Cypress Mountain, where the freestyle moguls and aerials, snowboard halfpipe and snowboard parallel giant slalom will be held.

"We've already got three years of data from some rudimentary stations in a couple of those places, but [the new stations] will take that to a whole new level. We'll be tying the new stations into the MSC's network," says Gayda, so its big weather-forcasting computers can begin incorporating the information.

Gayda says the rationale for the purchases is simple. "If you have 15,000 people who are going to be attending an event, and the forecast predicts the winds will be too high to stage the event, you'll be able to tell them so they can make other plans." Alpine events are always staged depending on the weather, and the Meteorological Service of Canada will be providing detailed services to VANOC during the Games on a variety of conditions that could affect how the Games are run.

Gayda says at this stage it's undecided whether VANOC would sell the weather stations to Environment Canada after the Games are concluded. "That's really up in the air right now, because the venues might want to keep them in place for their own uses afterward." The Nordic and Sliding Centres, for instance, will be used for commercial purposes after the 2010 Games are over.

MSC has ordered six stations, with an option to buy another three, but Gayda says he expects Environment Canada to install stations along the coast to the west of the Olympic venues to get better advance warning of incoming weather conditions.

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on July 15, 2004

Morgan:News:2010 |Moguls| #438
PRIESTNER ALLINGER REPORT FINISHED; BEIJING'S 2008 PARALYMPIC LOGO UNVEILED

Some moguls we've bumped into today...

Cathy Priestner Allinger, Vancouver Olympic Organizing Committee senior vice-president of Sports, has finalized a review of Canada's winter sports organizations for the country's "Own the Podium" program, whose goal is to make Canada the top winter Olympic sport nation by 2010. Priestner Allingerm who won a silver medal in speedskating at the 1976 Winter Olympics, was working on the report when she accepted the VANOC job. The project began in Calgary last February when winter national sport organizations met with the Olympic and Paralympic sport funding partners. They include VANOC, the Canadian Olympic Committee, the Calgary Olympic Development Association, the Canadian Paralympic Committee and the B.C. government's 2010 LegaciesNow. The meeting was held to assess the potential success of Canadian athletes at both the 2006 and 2010 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games, and to plan for the support and funding required. To be successful, though the group felt that "a sustainable sport framework" would have to be developed and funded. For Canada to be the number one Winter Olympic sport nation in the world in 2010, Canada would have to win about 35 Olympic medals. That's double what Canada won at the 2002 Winter Olympics, where it received 17 medals, and nearly triple that of the 2002 Paralympics. Priestner Allinger's report, not yet released, is expected to flesh out the framework.
The Beijing 2008 Organizing Committee has unveiled its Paralympic logo on the third anniversary of Beijing winning the right to host the Olympic and Paralympic Games. The Vancouver Olympic Organizing Committee has yet to do anything about a Paralympic logo for the 2010 Games. The 2008 emblem - you can see it and others in the links below - presents an athlete in action. The three colours translate the message of harmony into visual language: red represents the sun, blue the sky and green the earth. There's a bit of old Chinese calligraphy in the shape of the athlete, which is the Chinese character "zhi." "Zhi," most frequently used in ancient written Chinese language, means birth, life, arrival and achievement. International Paralympic Committee president Phil Craven, in what can only be described as a moment of zen, said: "This is an excellent mix, with the target of making Beijing the centre of the universe in 2008." RESOURCES: Photo of Paralympic logo ceremony in Beijing earlier today: ; Paralympic logos for other Games: http://en.beijing-2008.org/92/19/article211621992.shtml.

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on July 14, 2004

Bronze Service is published regularly, but this feed is delayed for two months or more to protect our subscribers. For timely news that comes to you, please subscribe to our Gold or Silver service at Morgan:News:2010. Bronze is free for the use of news services and for non-commercial public use under conditions described at: Morgan:News:2010:Bronze (There is a nominal charge for certain commercial uses, as described there.) The blog posting date and blog archive dates refer to when stories were posted here. The date the story was originally published to subscribers is at the end of each article.

Morgan:News:2010 |Business| #437
QUESTAIR TO PURIFY FUEL-CELL FUEL FOR 2010 HYDROGEN HIGHWAY PROJECT

QuestAir Technologies of the Vancouver suburb of Burnaby says its involvement in the BC Hydrogen Highway, a 2010-related project, involves supplying hydrogen-purification equipment to a vehicle fueling and power generation project in North Vancouver.

Targeted for full implementation by the 2010 Olympic Games, the BC Hydrogen Highway is intended to be a showcase for visitors about sustainable transportation, creating a hydrogen highway that will allow visitors to travel in hydrogen-powered vehicles between Victoria, Vancouver and Whistler.

Jonathan Wilkinson, president and CEO of QuestAir, said a QuestAir H-3200 system will convert hydrogen from a North Vancouver sodium-chlorate plant so the gas can be used in fuel-cell vehicles.

QuestAir is one of six companies in a consortium developing the project. Once contracts are signed, the federal government's Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC) is expected to cover C$5.8-million dollars towards the estimated C$18-million cost of the project, which will be operational in 2005. The project will become one of seven fueling and demonstration depots on BC's so-called Hydrogen Highway, announced by Prime Minister Paul Martin in April.

"By-product hydrogen from existing industrial processes, such as sodium chlorate plants, has the potential to provide an important supply of low-cost hydrogen to support the commercialization of fuel cell vehicles," Wilkinson says.

The project consortium is led by Sacre-Davey Engineering of North Vancouver, and also includes BC Hydro subsidiary Powertech Labs, Dynetek Industries, Clean Energy, Westport Innovations.

Chris Sacre, President of Sacre-Davey Engineering, says that the recovery process from the plant poses significant challenges, since the raw hydrogen contains a number of impurities including oxygen, chlorine and water.

The North Vancouver project will involve the development and demonstration of a hydrogen fuel purification, storage, distribution and infrastructure program. It will show off fuel cells in power generation, heavy and light-duty hydrogen burning vehicles, and vehicle refueling technologies.

QuestAir is a private company whose shareholders and strategic partners include Shell Hydrogen, Ballard Power Systems and The BOC Group.

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on July 14, 2004

Morgan:News:2010 |Government| #436
WEATHER OFFICE BUYING C$100,000 WORTH OF STATIONS TO IMPROVE 2010 ALPINE VENUE FORECASTING

The Meteorological Service of Canada (MSC) is in the process of purchasing at least C$100,000 worth of automated weather-stations from an Alberta company to help the Vancouver Olympic Organizing Committee get better forecasts for its alpine venues.

And it may spend quite a bit more. MSC is providing itself a legal option to purchasing 50% more for additional stations if they're needed.

The six new weather stations, which are about to be purchased from Campbell Scientific Canada of Edmonton, will be integrated into Environment Canada's grid of weather stations operated by MSC, and they will be placed in strategic locations in the the atmosphere's weather flow as it comes off the Pacific Ocean and heads for the Callaghan Valley, Whistler/Blackcomb and Cypress Bowl.

Although agreements with VANOC about covering the cost of their operation and use have yet to be finalized, the concept is to have the equipment installed by this winter. That's so base-line data can be collected as senior alpine events are scheduled for the venues between now and 2010. At the moment, the equipment is being stockpiled - an unusual move for the agency - pending the outcome of negotiations with VANOC.

Dave Watson, MSC's manager of Atmospheric Monitoring for Environment Canada's Pacific Region, says the area that will be covered, from Ocean Falls to Vancouver, is "terribly difficult" to forecast because of the tumbling effect that occurs as the onshore winds hit the Sunshine Coast mountains. The new equipment, once it's installed, will provide weather forecasters with real-time data transmitted directly to Environment Canada's regional network, significantly improving MSC's ability to forecast conditions for the 2010 Games.

At the moment, VANOC is renting by the month a few rudimentary weather stations in the area from a private contractor -- there is a station at Cypress Bowl, for instance -- and maintenance personnel have to regularly go to the stations to change tapes, and then later analyze the data collected. Watson says the data collected from them is sparse compared with what will be provided once the new equipment is in place. "They [VANOC] is only getting it on a monthly basis... but the need for real-time forecasting data for those areas is great. We'd like to get it in place before the snow flies this year."

The weather station components will be purchased without tender because Environment Canada is moving toward automated, real-time weather stations and Campbell Scientific is the only company that provides the equipment and software that integrates the data logged into MSC's networks. Thus, the purchase is being made "for reasons of data consistency, maintenance, archive [sic], etc.," according to federal purchasing documents. The closing date for the advance award notification window is July 19.

The documents also say the "purpose of this core or primary Olympic Autostation Network at this time is not to monitor winter sporting events, but rather to obtain data from this previously sparse area for climatological studies, develop MSC forecasting techniques and the development of computer forecast modeling to a specific grid."

That's not all the equipment will be used for. The purchasing documents indicate that the VANOC equipment will be integrated into a major reference network laid out in a grid pattern across Canada to provide information "for determination of global warming and general world climatological change."

And, according to the documents, "Some or all of these six primary sites may continue to be fully operational and supported by MSC after the 2010 Winter Olympics."

BACKGROUND =

The equipment being purchased:

12 RM Young Aerovane Wind Sensors, plus

Six each of the following:

HMP45C-L temperature and humidity sensors and gill shields
SB270, Pressure Sensor,
SR50-45-L, Snow Depth Sensor
TB4, Tipping Bucket Rain Gauge
YSI 44212EC, Temperature Probe

--
RESOURCES

Campbell Scientific's website:
http://www.campbellsci.ca/CampbellScientific/Index.html

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on July 14, 2004

Bronze Service is published regularly, but this feed is delayed for two months or more to protect our subscribers. For timely news that comes to you, please subscribe to our Gold or Silver service at Morgan:News:2010. Bronze is free for the use of news services and for non-commercial public use under conditions described at: Morgan:News:2010:Bronze (There is a nominal charge for certain commercial uses, as described there.) The blog posting date and blog archive dates refer to when stories were posted here. The date the story was originally published to subscribers is at the end of each article.

Morgan:News:2010 |VANOC| #435
LAW FIRM, PET FOOD MANUFACTUER FIRST FIRMS TARGETED FOR TRADEMARK CHALLENGES

The Vancouver Olympic Organizing Committee has begun filing challenges to the trademark plans of at least two B.C. companies apparently because the trademarks they want to use contain the number "2010."

VANOC is using the law firm of Borden Ladner Gervais as the agent of record to challenge the Whistler Law Corporation of Whistler and Taplow Ventures, a pet food manufacturer headquartered in the Vancouver suburb of North Vancouver.

The managing partner of Whistler Law, Nicholas Davies, who was elected to Whistler's municipal council seven years ago, says he understands what VANOC is trying to do, so he's "not taking any umbrage" because it wants him to stop the process of registering the slogan "Your 2010 Whistler Law Offices."

"The core issue," says Davies, "is that the Vancouver Olympic Organizing Committee needs to protect its intellectual property so that it can sell t-shirts and sponsorships to help pay for the Games. The major pitch that it makes, though, is that the Games are an economic benefit to communities, and some of those benefits are with companies that want to take advantage of those benefits in ways that have nothing to do with putting the Olympic rings on things." Davies says it's a question of where the line is drawn between the idea of VANOC's protection of intellectual property, and the idea of economic benefits of others.

Davies says he intends to use the slogan to position his law firm so that people will understand that the firm is involved with Whistler and has expertise about what is going on in the resort municipality.

Davies says he has spoken to VANOC's legal services department about its opposition, pointing out that he has a legal opinion that VANOC doesn't have the ability to possess intellectual property rights to a number, except for its expression in a particular typeface and colour. He said he asked if VANOC had a legal opinion that they could claim such rights and, he said, "they told me they didn't because they didn't have their tackle in order, and that was because there are only three people in the [legal services] office."

Davies notes that a number can't be protected any more than the word "ski" or "downhill", adding, VANOC would be able to trademark '2010 Olympic Downhill Ski Race' because it's descriptive, but only in such a combination. "I think [VANOC] is probably objecting to the word combination '2010 Whistler' in my slogan, rather than the number itself, but I think a judge would dismiss their challenge, saying that I'm not holding myself out to be the legal representative of the Vancouver Olympic Organizing Committee in Whistler."

Davies says that he that he will probably follow the formal disputes process that the federal trademarks department has for resolving such concerns. It would require Davies to file further documentation, and wait for a hearing on the matter to be scheduled. "I haven't made up my mind yet, to tell you the truth," he says.

Meanwhile, VANOC has also filed an objection to Taplow Ventures's use of the phrase "FirstMate 2010," which the North Vancouver-based company intends to use as a trademark for its pet food.

The company does business under the names Taplow Feeds and FirstMate Pet Foods. FirstMate Pet Foods owns and operates a manufacturing operation in Chilliwack, a city east of Vancouver, and a feed mill in Armstrong, a town located in B.C.'s Okanagan region. It also has an aquaculture division that it uses in part to provide fish components for the dog, cat and fish food it makes, and it has operations in the Czech Republic, where it distributes pet foods and n Venezuela, where it sells Rottweiler dogs. These two divisions also operate under the name FirstMate.

Neither Taplow Ventures President Michael Florien, nor his trademark lawyer, John Uren of West Vancouver, have yet returned calls.

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on July 14, 2004

Morgan:News:2010 |Government| #434
VANOC NEEDS RICHMOND LAND-CLAIMS ISSUES TO BE BYPASSED WITHIN MONTHS

The Vancouver Olympic Organizing Committee venue is urging the federal government and a Vancouver-area aboriginal band to figure out a way by this fall to bypass a land-claims dispute threatening to prevent VANOC's C$15-million International Broadcast Centre from being built in Richmond.

A portion of the claim by the Musqueam Indian Band to the 55 hectares -- known in Richmond as the Garden City lands and located adjacent to Garden City Way, No. 4 Road, Westminster Highway and Alderbridge Way -- is due to be heard in B.C. Supreme Court this fall. The Band is attempting to prevent the federal government from selling the land to Canada Lands in order to make way for trade-and-convention centre proposed by Tourism Richmond. The Broadcast Centre, which would be used by international television and interactive companies covering the 2010 Games, would be converted to a convention hall after 2010.

Light was thrown on the land-use issue during discussions about Richmond's proposal to build the 2010 Speed Skating Oval, tabled yesterday. The land proposed for the speed-skating oval in Richmond is also covered by the Musqueam land claim.

There is a back-up plan for the Broadcast Centre if the Richmond deal falls through or isn't resolved in time. They include a considerable expansion of the area required by VANOC at the main media centre for non-broadcast journalists slated for the new Vancouver Trade & Convention Centre, which is now at the point where contracts for site preparation are now being let and much of the design and planning for it has already been done. All three parties involved -- the federal and Richmond governments, and the Musqueam band -- all claim they are supportive of the Olympic Games.

BACKGROUND =

Musqueam is pronounced: Muhs-KWEE-uhm

RESOURCES

The Musqueam are in stage 3 of a six-stage process in resolving a land claims, a process involving the band, the federal government and the provincial government that has been underway for about a decade, and is nowhere near completion. The process is supervised by the British Columbia Treaty Commission. Here's the commission's outline of what happens in stage 3:

The following link is to a small PDF file that shows officially the land claimed by the Musequeam in their negotiations with various governments:
http://srmwww.gov.bc.ca/dss/initiatives/treaty/Images/IndSOI2003/indsois/musqueam.pdf

Background of Canada Lands:
http://www.clcl.ca/en/home.htm

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on July 14, 2004

Bronze Service is published regularly, but this feed is delayed for two months or more to protect our subscribers. For timely news that comes to you, please subscribe to our Gold or Silver service at Morgan:News:2010. Bronze is free for the use of news services and for non-commercial public use under conditions described at: Morgan:News:2010:Bronze (There is a nominal charge for certain commercial uses, as described there.) The blog posting date and blog archive dates refer to when stories were posted here. The date the story was originally published to subscribers is at the end of each article.

Morgan:News:2010 |Government| #433
(FEATURE) POLITICAL POSTURING GREETS DEBUT OF RICHMOND BID FOR OVAL VENUE

The decision by the Vancouver suburban municipality of Richmond to be the first of three bidders off the mark with a formal bid to build the 2010 Olympic speed-skating oval has prompted a flurry of political positioning.

The other bidders are expected to include New Westminster and Simon Fraser University, but both are still working on their proposals, and in this report, we provide more details of the Richmond bid.

Since it's Richmond's proposal, it gets the honour of first spin, telling its taxpayers, "The rare privilege of becoming part of the Olympic movement and history offers many exciting opportunities for Richmond. Richmond’s proposal is to develop a showcase multi-purpose facility on a prestigious site that will include an Olympic speed skating oval and international short-track rink. Post Games, the multi-use facility will provide an active venue that brings together a wide variety of summer and winter sports, recreation, culture and business, harmoniously in one pristine location. The Oval will be the premier competition venue of the Games and provide a significant legacy."

The complex, if it is chosen by VANOC, will be constructed on property along the north side of the middle arm of the Fraser River, between the Dinsmore and Number #2 Road bridges, on property "adjacent to our town centre." It will be part of a C$68-million project.

Burnaby mayor Derek Corrigan, whose municipality contains Simon Fraser University and is where the C$60-million speed-skating oval was originally contemplated by VANOC during the Olympic Bid phrase, was decidedly unhappy with the competition, though he had known the Richmond bid was in the works. As he put it, "I'm surprised and shocked that Richmond would submit their bid when VANOC is still negotiating with Simon Fraser University about the Oval." Corrigan added that he felt it was "totally inappropriate for municipalities to compete against universities for projects", and that it was "selfish and petty." He added, "the cost between building the Oval in Richmond or at Simon Fraser is essentially the same, the only question is how much Richmond is putting up of their citizen's money for the facility."

Richmond mayor Malcolm Brodie countered immediately with "the idea that it's something inappropriate is laughable."

Richmond confirms that it will submit the proposal to the Vancouver Organizing Committee later this month. Only if the proposal is approved, it says, will Richmond begin "a public consultation process" within Richmond. It expects this to begin in September, assuming the bid is accepted by VANOC by the end of August. The process, it says will allows groups to provide "input on and participate in developing uses and programming of the venue."

In addition, Richmond will set up a "building committee of community representatives... to guide the design and construction."

Richmond hired the firm of Grant Thorton Consultants to work out the economic impact of building the oval in the municipality. During the construction phrase from 2005 to 2007, it suggests, will be a "regional impact" of between C$148 million and C$169 million, gross domestic product of $C63 million and C$75 million and employment ranging from 1,256 and 1,458 person years. During the Olympic and post-Olympic phases (2008-2011), benefits from tourism, training-team visits -- which implies that Richmond would be seriously in the market to encourage such visits -- Olympic events and those following, Grant Thorton predicts 1.78 million overnight visitors in 2010 alone, GDP of C$142 million and almost 4,000 person-years of employment.

Richmond's George Duncan, its chief administrative officer, and Lani Schultz, Richmond's director of Corporate & Intergovernmental Relations, also say the oval "provides an opportunity to develop an Olympic Plaza and precinct that can be marketed and attract international sporting and exhibition events."

VANOC communications director Jane Burnes welcomed the bid, saying, "it looks like their proposal is very exiting," added that one of the things her organization will focus on is, "we want to be sure the legacies they put forward are real and lasting legacies."

That's hard to assess. Richmond is in a competitive process, and so it is playing its plans for post-Games uses close to the chest but it expects it would be able to be more open if their proposal is accepted. "Staff are recommending a multi-use concept... which envisions a balance of high-performance sport, community wellness and exhibition/special-event uses.... options include all or combinations of aquatic, ice and indoor-sport facilities, along with exhibition and special event uses." Richmond councillor Rob Howard, however, added during a separate interview that track & field and football could be involved as well.

Richmond also intends to set up an Olympic Venue Project Office within the City's organization "to effectively manage all of the activities related to the Olympics." The office, which Richmond intended to set up further down the line when the International Broadcast Centre was built, will essentially occur sooner, rather than later, if VANOC accepts its proposal. It would be set up within days of the proposal being accepted, and will report to the Chief Administrative Office, work in parallel to the Richmond 2010 Community Opportunities Task Force, and deal with the logistics and project management of the building design and construction processes of the Oval, including the public-discussion aspects, and deal with community relations aspects, including public relations, communications and -- here comes the spin -- "the creation of community energy and excitement around the Oval."

The new office would also deal with spin-off economic-development programs, sponsorships, partnerships and related land-development programs. Richmond intends to deal with the costs that aren't going to be covered by the C$60 million in Olympics venue-construction grants by negotiating with sponsors, offering branding rights such as names and the like. It would also deal with VANOC, do specific event co-ordination for the Oval, and do the necessary master planning and related implementation work of the River Road-area locations.

BACKGROUND =

Key Richmond administrative contacts:

Chief Administrative Officer: George Duncan
Phone: 604-276-4336
Fax: 604-276-4222
Email (to Exec. Assistant):
administratorsoffice@city.richmond.bc.ca

Executive Assistant to the CAO: Aida Sayson
Phone: 604-276-4205
Email: aida.sayson@city.richmond.bc.ca

Director, Corporate Planning & Intergovernmental Relations: Lani Schultz
Phone: 604-276-4286
Fax: 604-276-4222
Email: lani.schultz@city.richmond.bc.ca

Manager, Economic Development: Marcia Freeman
Phone: 604-276-4133
Fax: 604-276-4222
Email: Marcia.Freeman@city.richmond.bc.ca

Manager, Policy Development & Corporate Programs: Shawn Issel
Phone: 604-276-4184
Fax: 604-276-4222
Email: Shawn.Issel@city.richmond.bc.ca

Manager, Corporate Communications & Public Affairs: Ted Townsend
Phone: 604-276-4399
Fax: 604-276-4222
Email: Ted.Townsend@city.richmond.bc.ca

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on July 13, 2004

Bronze Service is published regularly, but this feed is delayed for two months or more to protect our subscribers. For timely news that comes to you, please subscribe to our Gold or Silver service at Morgan:News:2010. Bronze is free for the use of news services and for non-commercial public use under conditions described at: Morgan:News:2010:Bronze (There is a nominal charge for certain commercial uses, as described there.) The blog posting date and blog archive dates refer to when stories were posted here. The date the story was originally published to subscribers is at the end of each article.

Morgan:News:2010 |Sports, Business| #432
(FEATURE) CROSS-COUNTRY CANADA SHORT MONEY, TIME FOR 2010 ATHLETE DEVELOPMENT

The president of the national Cross Country Canada skiing federation, Leopold Nadeau, says in a wide-ranging interview that "it is almost too late" for financial commitments to organizations such as his for the proper development of Canadian athletes for the 2010 Winter Games.

He says training has to take place year-round, and while the 2010 Games may seem like they are years away, for training Olympic alpine athletes, who take years to develop, it's not that far way.

He points out that Becky Scott, who was recently awarded a gold medal for cross-country skiing during the Salt Lake City Games in 2002, started to train when she was just a girl, and achieved her first national championships in 1988. "It took all that time to grow that champion."

Cross-Country Canada has about 42,000 members in every province of Canada, including 25,000 members of cross-country clubs in British Columbia, and it is the biggest sports federation in the country.

Nadeau says his organization is "an order of magnitude" under the necessary funding when compared with European teams, such as those of Germany, Italy and the Scandinavian countries. "Compared to the Americans, we may not be in such bad shape, but compared to the people who win medals in our discipline, we are well below."

Nadeau says that his organization has an immediate need "for something on the order of C$250,000" in additional funding. "I could show you the detailed lists for using it," he adds, "and that's just for this year. It would be the same for the next year and the next year." But he doesn't feel governments should do more. "The federal government is committed, and the provincial government is committed, but the corporations and true philanthropists, should be doing more. The people on the street should realize that if they want to feel pride in 2010, they cannot wait until 2008 to make their commitment. The commitment has to be done now."

Sponsors of CCC currently include Heywood Securities, AuClair, Nanowax, the federal government and Brooks.

He says that Canada can't afford to train a large pool of athletes and "cherry pick" it's team once the Olympics nears. He said he could name only 20 or 25 skiers who have the potential for being in the 2010 Olympics. "I would say that if we started now to develop the systems and the training necessary, we might be able to see results in 2014 and 2018... in alpine sports, it takes a long time to develop athletes."

For example, he says, it's now winter in the southern hemisphere. "We will have a few athletes going to train in New Zealand, but we don't have the money to send the whole team. It would be extremely desirable to have the whole team there."

He says simple logistics favour the Europeans when they train or compete on their home mountains, because it's a short plane trip or a train ride back home to rest. "We have to fly people on trips that take hours, and they have to stay in hotels for months, because we can't afford to bring them home. Our costs are much higher, and our flexibility is much lower."

Nadeau says the Europeans also have an advantage because their sports support system has a long tradition "and our system could be in much better shape."

Nadeau says that the reason why Canada had some success in cross-country skiing at the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics was because Canada had a small team. "We did not have the money to field a big team." Nadeau said that additional people wanted to be part of the team, but the federation was forced to oppose their participation because of a lack of resources.

Even last winter, he notes, Canada only sent four people to the World Cup competition, instead of a full team, which is 10. "We need to send a full team this winter to gain experience [for the 2010 Games], but if we do that, we need to double the budget."

Nadeau says he's quite satisfied with the level of planning that's gone into the cross-country venue in the Callaghan Valley's Nordic Centre near Whistler, and that his organization, Cross-Country British Columbia, and other experts are being consulted on its development.

"It's going to be a world-class site, and its going to be a world-class designation for people to come after the Games," he says, of the cross-country facilities and the involvement of Cross-Country British Columbia. "We are perfectly confident of the capacity of these people on the [Organizing] Committee to deliver. We are totally comfortable on that side. The development of the facility is in good hands. But you need to have more than good will. It's extremely difficult for the Organizing Committee to sort out who has good will, who has ability and who has expertise. The focus is going to have to be on keeping it cheap and simple."

Nadeau adds, though, that "If we are able to continue building the sport support system, then we are going to have a chance to make a major change in sports culture, not only with that Centre, but with the opportunity given by the 2010 Olympics. We can make it as important as ice hockey to Canadian sport, if we want."

Nadeau also says that once the Whistler Nordic Centre is completed in 2006, that leaves only three winter seasons -- those of 2007, 2008 and 2009 -- to bid and win World Cup and Junior World Cup championships at the facility to provide local training for Canadian skiers before the 2010 Games. The 2005 World Cup cross-country will be held in Vernon, B.C. "The clock is running."

Nadeau, an engineer and geologist by training, says that VANOC, when it begins the Games, will be running what he calls "a prototype." And, as an engineer, he says, he knows that prototypes never quite work right. There's no way around that." VANOC, he says, doesn't have the leisure to make a second prototype, "and the only way around that is to be very open and communicative, and not being stubborn about correcting the mistakes as soon as you realize there is a problem."

He notes that a winter Olympics is not likely to be held in Canada for years to come after the Vancouver-Whistler Games, so, he says, "I'm 55, so I think of it as the most important opportunity for developing the sport that I'll have in my lifetime."

RESOURCES

Background of the development of the national cross-country ski team:
http://canada.x-c.com/main.asp?cmd=cat&ID=163&lan=0

Background to CCC's "Countdown to 2010" calendar fund-raising program, launched today:
http://canada.x-c.com/main.asp?cmd=doc&ID=2339&lan=0

Dan Roycroft, a member of the senior 2010 ski team, has prepared a report, sponsored by B.C.'s Heywood Securities, about a trip he made to inspire athletes. The report was issued last week:
http://canada.x-c.com/main.asp?cmd=doc&ID=2337&lan=0

CCC's 2004/2005 business plan:
http://canada.x-c.com/main.asp?cmd=doc&ID=2298&lan=0

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on July 12, 2004

Morgan:News:2010 |Government| #431
WHISTLER CHOOSES LOWER CHEAKAMUS AS LOCATION FOR 2010 ATHLETE'S VILLAGE

Whistler Resort Municipal council has unanimously decided on the Lower Cheakamus property just south of Whistler as the place to locate the second 2010 Olympics athlete's village. It was the location preferred by the Vancouver Olympic Organizing Committee and municipal staff.

The choice was between the Lower Cheakamus site at the south end of town and the Rainbow lands in the north. The property is just east of the municipal landfill opposite Function Junction and it was the backup site for the Olympic village in the Bid Book's planning. The first choice, outlined in the Olympic Bid Book, was in the Callaghan Valley, but the community rejected that several Callaghan Valley locations in the winter during a consultation process.

The Valley is also the location of the Whistler Nordic Centre and the Sliding Centre, so it would have put the athletes close to their competition areas. But Whistler, in the long view, felt it could not properly service or control development what would become, in essence, a separate community after the Games.

The C$63 million village, during the Olympics and Paralympics, is to provide living quarters for about 2,200 athletes and coaches. It will also have an athletes’ centre including a gymnasium and other fitness facilities which could become a recreation centre after the Games. Afterwards, it would provide about 600 units of residential housing. About C$25 million is to be provided by government grants.

The decision also means the municipality will now have to close the municipality's only garbage land fill, and tackle that issue, since it is unlikely that it will get permission from provincial authorities to establish a new one in the area, for various environmental reasons, and that garbage may need to be trucked to the Cache Creek landfill, where the a number of municipalities now dump their garbage, or to landfill sites in Washington State.

A number of factors favoured the southern site: it's closer to the Olympic venues that the alternative and it was preferred by the International Olympic Committee’s Co-ordination Commission when it toured the area last March because it was concerned about the distance of the Rainbow lands to the venues, which it felt could result in some athletes choosing private accommodation over the athletes' village. The Lower Cheakamus property is owned by the B.C. government, which means Whistler can use all or part of its 120 hectares (300 acres) land-bank legacy, negotiated during the Olympic bid phase. The B.C. Government promised to provide Whistler with the land prior to the Games, to be used for resident-restricted housing.

The Rainbow site would require some private land to be purchased to be joined with some government land. However, an administrative report to council said, "The owners have indicated that they would be willing to sell at a price that is well in excess of the assessed value."

Whistler Municipal councilor, Nicholas Davies, says he thinks the initial layout of the village will likely change as planning gets underway. "It's OK," he says, "but we think we can do better."

Councillors, however, praised VANOC for working with staff throughout the decision process to provide the community with plenty of information to help them make the choices.

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on July 12, 2004

Bronze Service is published regularly, but this feed is delayed for two months or more to protect our subscribers. For timely news that comes to you, please subscribe to our Gold or Silver service at Morgan:News:2010. Bronze is free for the use of news services and for non-commercial public use under conditions described at: Morgan:News:2010:Bronze (There is a nominal charge for certain commercial uses, as described there.) The blog posting date and blog archive dates refer to when stories were posted here. The date the story was originally published to subscribers is at the end of each article.

Morgan:News:2010 |Government| #430
RICHMOND TO HEAR SPEED-SKATING OVAL CONSTRUCTION BID TONIGHT

The City Council of the Vancouver suburb of Richmond is expected to hear tonight at 7pm about its bid to build the C$60-million speed-skating oval, which was originally proposed to be located adjacent to Simon Fraser University in Burnaby.

If the proposal is approved by council, it will be sent to the Vancouver Olympic Organizing Committee by the end of this month, and backers hope to have a decision from VANOC by the end of August.

A detailed geophysical examination by consultants to the Vancouver Olympic Organizing Committee of the land on which the oval was to be built has raised some complex issues last spring that has VANOC looking at the possibility the venue may have to be built elsewhere, but no decision has yet been made on whether to move the facility.

The Richmond Review newspaper, which is also following the story, said it received an unsigned letter, questioning a trip that senior administrators took to Europe recently. It says that Richmond's chief administrative officer George Duncan, "explained that the trip allowed senior city staff to study first hand how other similar major sports facilities were designed, built and operated in other cities. The trip allowed city staff to meet with Olympic Games officials in Europe."

The newspaper reports that Duncan told it the "venue would be unlike any other in North America and would cater to the entire community, from recreational user to elite athlete. "There's no facility in North America that meets the scope of what we're trying to do," Duncan was quoted as saying.

Richmond, which includes the Vancouver International Airport and will be part of the new Richmond-Airport-Vancouver rapid transit line that is to be constructed by 2010, is also to be the home of the International Broadcast Centre inside the city's proposed convention centre. Planning is underway for it to be built on lands currently owned by the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans, east of Garden City Road and north of Westminster Highway.

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on July 12, 2004

Morgan:News:2010 |Moguls| #429
WIKIPEDIA 2010; THE MAGNIFICENT 11 HOPING TO BE FILMED

Some moguls we've bumped into today...

The Internet's Wikipedia, and the Internet's Free Encyclopedia are both now offering entries on the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics. The offerings are fairly eclectic, providing information on everything from what the Games are about, to why the Canadian dollar isn't a Spanish franc. A Wikipedia is composed of wikis, which means that anyone can edit the articles. The Free Encyclopedia is a production of Farlex Inc., of Huntington Valley, Pennsylvania.
On Wikpedia, the article is located at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_Olympic_Winter_Games
At the Free Encyclopedia, the material from Wikipedia is generally duplicated, but that's acknowledged.
http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/2010%20Olympic%20Winter%20Games
Eleven winter Canadian athletes recently had plaques with their names and faces mounted around what's called the "Carving Turns" podium in what is currently called the World Cup Plaza in Whistler. It's destined to become the location of the 2010 podium for awarding Olympic medals when the Games are on, and images of 2010 athletes receiving medals will be broadcast to hundreds of millions of people. The athletes -- including skiers Steve Podborski and Nancy Green Raine, along with snowboarder Ross Rebagliati, among others -- were chosen for their outstanding careers and dedication to skiing and snowboarding, and others will be added in coming years. The best line of the presentation speeches came from Olympic medal winner John Smart, who is also a Canadian Ski Hall of Fame member. He said, "It is a great honour because we are going to have our names in 2010 Olympic pictures without having to compete."

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on July 12, 2004

Morgan:News:2010 |Labour| #428
NON-UNION CONSTRUCTION LOBBY GROUP OK WITH VANOC CHOICE FOR VENUE V-P

The 2010 Construction Leaders Taskforce is comfortable with the choice of Steve Matheson as senior vice-president of Venue Development for the 2010 Vancouver Organizing Committee.

Philip Hochstein, the chair of the 2010 Construction Leaders Taskforce, says "They couldn’t have picked a better candidate. Steve is homegrown and has a distinguished track record in the BC construction industry."

The 2010 Construction Leaders Taskforce involves executives from 20 of BC’s non-union construction companies. It's a subset of the Independent Contractors and Businesses Association, which claims a membership of about 500 companies.

Hochstein says the construction of the games facilities "begins to bring an Olympics to life," and with more than C$600 million in facilities construction and upgrading scheduled, "the success of the 2010 Games will depend to a great degree on getting the construction done on schedule and within a tight budget."

"One of Steve’s biggest challenges will be striking the right balance between the practical requirements of the facilities and designs that will enhance the community," adds Hochstein. "But we have every confidence that Steve’s experience in both the development and construction side of the business will stand VANOC in good stead."

Hochstein, on the other hand, is also determined to ensure that VANOC doesn't do any bulk deals with the B.C. Building Trades Council or other union representatives that would tend to shut non-union construction companies from being involved in the venue-construction process.

Vancouver Sun newspaper reporter, Jeff Lee, suggested in a story earlier this month that VANOC CEO John Furlong was "signalling" his interest in discussing agreement concepts with construction unions when Furlong said, "We have spoken to some people at the Building Trades Council -- they're preliminary discussions only -- and we have reason to believe they will support the staging of the Games, and they will support us..." Furlong later said that he and his senior staff - including Matheson, senior planning v-p Terry Wright and senior Human Resources v-p Jeff Chan - would hold further talks "before the year is out." And, he added, "We will see what might end up in an agreement... it may be possible to have something unique here; we'll see."

Hochstein was prompted to send a letter to the Sun's editors, published today, urging VANOC not to take such a route.

Originally published to Morgan:News:2010:Gold subscribers on July 12, 2004

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