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STORY By Jeremy Hainsworth With public-private partnerships galore, the 2010 Games may be the best example of how to deliver the world's greatest sporting event on budget. V ancouver's GM Place held an expectant air on the morning of July 2, 2003. Canadian Olympic medal- lists including snowboarder Ross Rebagliati, downhill skier Nancy Greene, rower Silken Laumann, and wrestler Daniel Igali waited with thousands for the announcement granting the host city for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. They watched in anticipation as International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge, live via satellite from Prague, Czech Republic, opened an envelope. He said one word: Vancouver. An ear-splitting roar went up from the crowd, the Olympians grinned from ear to ear as Vancouver began its road to hosting the Games. Hosting an Olympics in Canada is not without its risks. Venues would need to be built, contracts signed, agreements put in place, and then there is the cost. Canada's first attempt at hosting the Games was the 1976 Summer Games in Montreal. The legacy of those Games goes beyond the stellar performance of Romanian gymnast and triple gold medallist Nadia Comaneci. The massive cost overruns to construct Olympic Stadium — the multi-use venue constructed for the Games — were paid by the taxpayer. The "Big O" was supposed to cost $134 million, the final construction bill was $770 million, and final cost to taxpayers was $1.47 billion. The final payment was not made until De- cember 2006, more than 30 years after the Games. Despite such a history in Canada, British Columbia Premier Gordon Campbell assured the province he's confident the Games will be deliv- ered on time and on budget. In B.C., building infrastructure on time and on budget means public-private partnerships — P3s. The prov- ince is so renowned for the agreements that the Canadian Council for Public-Private Partnerships recently named Campbell its Champion of erships INHOUSE FEBRUARY 2009 • 15 © VANOC/COVAN