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Cypress Mountain Competition site for Olympic freestyle skiing and Olympic snowboard. everything is in place to protect the taxpayer from any residual costs once the Olympics are over. Things began to evolve fast once the Games were © VANOC/COVAN awarded. Byrne says while the operating budget of $1.6 billion comes from the private sector — much of it through the IOC as part of broadcasting and inter- national sponsorship revenues — the capital budget comes from the federal and provincial governments. Some $580 million was earmarked for construction work, all of which is nearly complete. The responsibili- ties for the work are set out in the multi-party agree- ment signed Nov. 14, 2002. Charles Drouin, Department of Canadian Heritage, the Year. The award recognizes his "success in renew- ing [B.C.]'s infrastructure and meeting the challenges of growth and the demands created by the Olympics, in part, by embracing public-private partnerships." Helping to gain the Olympics and set out a blueprint for the delivery of the venues and agreements is the Vancouver organizing committee, known as VANOC. A bid book was developed through the work of a team including lawyers who had to have public- and pri- vate-sector agreements and commitments in place for the IOC to scrutinize and see if B.C. had the massive amount of co-operation needed to host the Games. At the forefront of the operation is VANOC chief legal officer Dorothy Byrne, who was also the general counsel for the bid corporation, and is now just one year away from seeing her and Vancouver's Olympic dream realized. "I have to pinch myself, to appreciate that I've been involved. I'm so lucky to be involved in such a wonderful opportunity. With each day, you're as interested as the next person to know what you're go- ing to be dealing with. It makes it very exciting to know you're working toward a certain date that's not mov- able. We are all committed to working on this project. It is something we all strongly believe will make a positive contribution to the country." Between the bid and the podium is the merging of thousands of agreements and the coming together of government and private sector. VANOC winces at the concept of the Games as a public-private partnership, but many observers, even some involved, say it may be the biggest P3 of them all. The CCPPP defines P3s as "a co-operative venture between the public and private sectors, built on the expertise of each partner, that best meets clearly defined public needs through the appro- priate allocation of resources, risks, and rewards." In a P3 there is straight contracting out as an alter- native to traditionally delivered public services, while at the other end, there are publicly administered ar- rangements within a framework that allow for private finance, design, building, operation, and possibly tem- porary ownership of an asset. At the end of the day, and in the case at hand, it's work that hopes to ensure 16 • FEBRUARY 2009 INHOUSE says the 2002 multi-party agreement as part of the bid phase was an Olympic first, one spearheaded by gov- ernment lawyers. "Among the best practices learned from the Australians and their experience with Sydney 2000 is that there are great advantages to signing foun- dational agreements in the international bid phase. This creates certainty and assists in the speed of moving through the transition phase after a successful Games award by the International Olympic Committee. There are also tactical advantages. Negotiations must be con- cluded in accordance with specific deadlines and agree- ment might be more easily reached during this period where hosting remains a hypothetical question." The IOC did not require such an agreement in the bid phase, but it has been subsequently convinced of the utility it provides to Games partners and organizers. Drouin adds that Canada's constitutional geography created some legal challenges for counsel working on the agreement. "The host city and the national Olympic committee of the host nation are obliged to sign with the International Olympic Committee the host city contract. There are certain challenges associated with this practice for a federation like Canada, from a juris- dictional perspective. There are commitments referred to in the host city contract falling under federal and provincial jurisdiction, but these levels of government are not signatories to the host city contract. "The Multi- Party Agreement addresses this issue, and includes the Government of Canada's commitment to assist the organizing committee for the Games in the planning, financing, and staging of the Games." Meaning a part- nership with other federal departments as well. The Department of Justice lawyer who advised the 2010 Federal Secretariat of the Department of Cana- dian Heritage during this period was a key member of the federal management team. "(They) performed valuable service in ensuring that the Multi-Party Agree- ment provided the required foundation for shared un- derstanding and collaborative efforts among the par- ties. It remains a useful source document to this day in guiding the organization of the Games." For Byrne, with such agreements in place, she contin- ued to build a legal team to ensure a seamless event with