Vancouver View -- Olympic Village Financing Secured; Co-Chefs Named

Developers will need to work quickly to complete the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Village before VANOC's Oct. 31 deadline. (ATR)Officials can focus on getting the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Village ready for the Games now that financing for the project is assured.

On Wednesday, the City of Vancouver took control of the project with a $254 million buyout of the original financier, bankrupt Fortress Credit Corporation.

Developers are working overtime to get the nearly-complete village ready on schedule. It is slated to be completed Oct. 31.

“We have commitments to VANOC to deliver so they can do the work they need to do and we will deliver it to VANOC," City Manager Penny Ballem said.

VANOC will begin working Nov. 1 to prepare the living quarters for 2,800 athletes and team officials. Ballem said the construction workforce would be increased to meet this goal.

The City of Vancouver, which owns the Olympic Village site, has been searching for alternate financing for the project since late last year when Fortress Credit became insolvent.

Earlier in the week, the city obtained a $317 million line of credit from the Bank of Montreal which will be available for use by the developer, Millenium Development.

After the Olympics, the apartments will be sold to recoup the city's Silver medalist Joe Juneau will serve as co-assistant chef de mission with Steve Podborski for Team Canada. (Getty Images)investment.

Co-Chefs Named for Team Canada

The first North American to win a men’s downhill skiing medal and the leading scorer of the Albertville 1992 hockey tournament were named co-assistant chefs de mission for Team Canada on Feb. 17.

Lake Placid 1980 bronze medalist Steve Podborski, one of the “Crazy Canucks” of the 1970s and 1980s, and 1992 silver medalist Joe Juneau will assist Canadian Olympic Committee chef de mission Nathalie Lambert.

Canada is expecting 220 athletes and at least 125 team officials and support personnel at the 2010 Games.

The goal of its Own the Podium high performance program is to finish first overall in medal standings.

“I think we can do it,” Podborski said. “It won’t be easy, it may not even be very elegant, but I think it will be done with that great Canadian spirit.”

Security Budget Remains a Mystery

On Feb. 17, another version of the B.C. government budget was issued without the provincial share of the 2010 Games security budget.

The 2010 Games security budget is expected to be revealed by the end of March. (ATR)ends March 31. Originally pegged at $138.8 million, the final bill could be as high as $797 million.

The budget, delivered by finance and Olympics minister Colin Hansen, included a note that B.C. is “assumed to reach an agreement with the federal government over the funding of Olympic security, part of which will require a one-time payment to the federal government before the end of 2008-09.”

The 2008-09 fiscal year

Canada's Crime Capital

Federal Public Safety Minister Peter Van Loan declared Tuesday that the Olympic city is Canada’s organized crime capital. Six people have been shot to death over two weeks in an apparent turf war between the United Nations and Red Scorpions drug gangs.

"Vancouver and British Columbia are unfortunately the focus of the largest number of organized crime gang groups in Canada," Van Loan told a news conference. "But it's not just the largest number; it's also the largest number of very sophisticated organized crime groups."

Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson called for the establishment of a metropolitan police force to replace the patchwork of municipal forces and RCMP detachments in the Lower Mainland.

Briefs…

…The British Olympic Association is returning to Calgary next year. The host city for the 1988 Games will be the Team GB training base before Vancouver 2010 just like it was before the 2002 Salt Lake Games.

With reporting from Bob Mackin in Vancouver.

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