NDP leader Carole James wants B.C. Auditor General John Doyle to investigate the Vancouver Olympic Village financing fiasco.
James wrote to Doyle Tuesday, seeking a probe of the project, which could cost taxpayers up to $1.075 billion. The province is ultimately liable for Olympic losses and James said Premier Gordon Campbell has not disclosed the true costs and risks of the 2010 Games.
"You don't build support for the Olympic Games by hiding the truth," James told 24 hours. "You don't build support for the Olympic Games by hiding the costs."
Michael Macdonell, spokesman for the Office of the Auditor General, said Doyle would probably respond within a week.
City council voted Monday to ask the province for an emergency amendment to allow it to borrow $458 million to finish the village without a referendum. It wouldn't be the first time: the province passed a similar amendment for borrowing to build False Creek South between the Burrard and Cambie bridges in the 1970s.
Malaspina University-College political science professor Allan Warnke said it's the only option because voters "would turn it down."
"Then you are not only operating from square one, but you're operating behind the eight-ball," said ex-Liberal MLA Warnke.
The government may be reluctant to sit before the legislature's scheduled Feb. 10 resumption, because it would signal a crisis and "governments are reluctant to advertise that," he said.
Whistler, meanwhile, is building its Olympic Village with a $100 million loan from the Municipal Finance Authority of British Columbia.
VANOC CEO John Furlong downplayed worries that Vancouver's financing troubles would delay the scheduled Nov. 1 handover.
"There's a lot to do and the schedule is obviously tight, but there is a determination and a belief that they'll get there," Furlong said.
