Tuesday, August 02, 2005

Big Owe Part Deux?

Montreal Mayor Gerard Tremblay must have channelled the soul of his late predecessor Jean Drapeau on a Ouija board, because there is no other rational explanation for his announcement about a possible 2016 Olympic Games bid.

The 1976 Games were a textbook example of how not to run an Olympics. The $300 million budgeted cost ran up to $1.5 billion, leading to a $2.5 billion debt with interest that won't be retired until next year.

Olympic Stadium itself is practically vacant and crumbling, a testament to incompetence of architect Roger Taillabert, the corruption of the Montreal construction industry, and the mismanagement of its current owners.

Why does Tremblay want to subject Montreal to this nonsense all over again? To prove that Montreal is a world-class city? Toronto has left it far behind since 1976, and even it's been turned down twice for the Olympics.

No, M. le maire, if it's a legacy you seek, find it elsewhere.

Source: Montreal Gazette

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