VICTORIA - "The total economic impact, once the games are done, has been projected by independent sources to be as much as $10 billion."
Remember that line?
Finance Minister Colin Hansen sure does, he said it while presenting the budget speech on February 17, and it came back to bite him today.
Hansen pegged the benefits of the games at $10 billion dollars BC; an Olympic sized promise around the Olympic sized benefits of hosting the 2010 games.
But only days before he said it, his own staff was quietly backing away from that massive amount taking it all the way down to just $4 billion.
The revelation had the NDP asking some tough questions about the real costs and benefits of the games this afternoon during question period.
It gets worse, turns out that same report the $10 billion dollar figure was based, on also says that if the economy goes down the tubes, and tourist visits trail off, the payoff could dwindle to just $2 billion, making the Olympics a money loser.
Today Hansen couldn't say how much money the games will actually bring British Columbians, predicting earnings of "billions and billions".
Thursday, audit firm PricewaterhouseCoopers will issue a long-awaited report on the economic and social benefits of the games.
