Vancouver city council voted unanimously Monday to ask the provincial government to allow it to borrow up to $458 million to complete the Olympic Village without asking voters.
The provincial legislature will be asked to reconvene for an emergency session to amend the Vancouver Charter, the civic constitution, because capital works normally require the "assent of electors." The Olympic Village project is expected to run out of money next month.
"We need to act quickly and decisively with our partners in the project to create a solution that allows the Olympic Village construction to continue with more stability," Robertson said.
The scheduled Feb. 10 resumption of the legislature would be just five days shy of the monthly deadline for construction payments.
"Vancouver has an obligation to complete the Olympic Village," Robertson said. "Our reputation internationally is at stake, we have to do everything we can to deliver."
Premier Gordon Campbell wouldn't commit to an emergency session until receiving the city's resolution.
"This is the City of Vancouver's responsibility," Campbell said. "I have every expectation the project will be delivered."
NDP leader Carole James said the official opposition is ready to consider the amendment.
"There are a lot of unanswered questions around Olympic spending, not just the Olympic Village, but the trade and convention centre overruns and the cost of security," she said. "When it comes to amendments to the Vancouver Charter I'll want to see the specifics."
Last Friday, Robertson dropped a bombshell when he disclosed that the $100 million loan to developer Millennium made by the previous council behind closed doors on Oct. 14 will run out Thursday. He said the that council's completion guarantee effectively made Vancouver the developer and allowed financier Fortress Credit Corporation to stop funding construction after $125 million of cost overruns and unspecified defaults.
The 1,100-unit, $1.075 billion condominium project must be handed over to VANOC on Nov. 1 for use as the 2010 Winter Olympics' athletes village. City taxpayers may be stuck with the entire cost if the financing cannot be restructured.
"This project, when completed, should leave us with significant value, assuming the real estate market rebounds," he said. "That will reduce the potentially dramatic losses to city finances."
This won't be the first time city council bypassed voters to borrow for a major housing development. The last of seven exceptions to section 242 of the Vancouver Charter was enacted to allow the city to borrow for the development of housing between the Burrard and Cambie bridges on False Creek South.
Ultimately, James said, an independent review of all Olympic costs is needed by the Office of the Auditor General, who didn't report in 2008 because the Liberal government didn't cooperate.
"You don't build support for the Olympic Games by hiding the truth," James said. "You don't build support for the Olympic Games by hiding the costs."
Though city hall is reaching out for provincial help, it won't be getting any from Ottawa.
"I will be crystal clear," Prime Minister Stephen Harper told reporters in Surrey. "We will not be funding cost overruns at the Olympic Village."
