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Canada Line Rapid Transit Inc., an independently governed, wholly owned subsidiary of TransLink, is responsible for overseeing the procurement, design, construction, and imple- menting the line. Evans says TransLink considers the Canada Line a P3. Even the naming of a station, though, presents work for counsel. The use of 'Olympic Village' as a station name is subject to an acceptable license agreement being concluded between VANOC and TransLink, and is contingent on IOC approval. The P3 community, though, is recognizing the value of such work in projects such as the 2010 Games. Professor Tom Ross of the University of British Columbia's Sauder School of Business agrees there are a number of P3s that are part of the overall Olympic project. The Government of Canada, the Province of British Columbia, Greater Van- couver Transportation Authority (TransLink), the Vancouver Airport Authority, and the City of Vancouver are funding the Canada Line. Yet the Games themselves are not a P3 — in the traditional sense. "What it looks like is a load of private sector contracts to create a project. The government is driving the ship, but there's a lot of private sector fuel being spent." Colin McIver, partner at Fraser Milner Casgrain LLP in Vancouver, has done work for VANOC negotiating agree- ments for venues on government-owned land. These venues include the Whistler Sliding and Nordic centres, the Cypress Mountain venues for snowboarding and freestyle skiing, and the Richmond speedskating oval. In developing the agree- Get Our Environmental Law Specialists*on Your Team! Our team of environmental lawyers includes 5 Environmental Law Specialists* We find practical business solutions to environmental problems. Call us. ments, McIver says all of the participants' best interests must be kept in mind. Venues have to be ready in time, they have to be of international stature to host the Games, and they have to be on budget to have a benefit to the community long after the Games are finished. "Part of the challenge of these things is to try to balance the various competing interests while still trying to complete the agreements in the spirit of partnership and co-operation looking to the long-term success. So you want to make sure the agreements and the objectives and constraints under which all the entities operate are fair, equitable, and ul- timately going to achieve the success of the project." For McIver, the Olympics are like a bunch of P3s creating one big partnership. "The Olympics may be the ultimate P3. But I think when you start to take a look at the different el- ements and start ripping them down, each one of those are almost P3s . . . they all have different interests." He says it would be hard to host an Olympics without mas- sive co-operation between the public and private sectors. "It would be almost impossible for private enterprise to put on something like the Olympics. These sorts of venues just be- come so expensive there's no reasonable way they could ever make money long term." He points to the Richmond oval as an example. VANOC provided some capital layout, the City of Richmond built the oval and made land around it available to developers. That, McIver says, will allow the city long-term benefits from the upfront costs. IH www.willmsshier.com * Certified by the Law Society of Upper Canada Juli Abouchar 416 862 4836 Doug Petrie 416 862 4835 John Willms 416 862 4821 Donna Shier 416 862 4822 Marc McAree 416 862 4820 ENVIRONMENT, ENERGY & RESOURCES LAW 18 • FEBRUARY 2009 Untitled-2 1 INHOUSE 12/19/08 10:08:47 AM