http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/sports/olympics/83016887.html
 
Some living in cities and towns outside Vancouver skeptical of Olympic
benefits
 
By: James Keller, THE CANADIAN PRESS

PRINCE GEORGE, B.C. - Residents of this northern British Columbia
community, where the lives of so many people can be traced in the streaks
of grey steam rising from the city's pulp and wood mills, talk about next
month's Winter Games in equivocations.
 
While many say they're looking forward to cheering on Canadian athletes
competing in Vancouver and Whistler, their next sentences often begin the
same way:
 
But it costs too much.
 
But it's too expensive to go.
 
But it won't benefit us.
 
But we need the money for schools and hospitals.
 
"I love the Olympics, but it's too much money being spent," said Tom
Nilsson, a 35-year-old who works at the Prince George Sawmill north of
town.
 
"What impact are they going to have on Prince George? Nothing. In the
northern part of the province, we're not going to benefit here."
 
The provincial government's mantra has been that the Olympics belong to
all British Columbians, that the entire province will benefit from
billions of dollars in economic spinoffs.
 
The province has also tried to spread around the Olympic spirit, using
so-called legacy funds to pay for sports programs and facilities in
communities like Prince George. For example, the province's 2010 Legacies
Now program put $20 million into the $32-million Northern Sport Centre at
the University of Northern B.C.
 
However, some people living outside of the Vancouver area and Whistler, in
smaller cities and rural areas of the province away from the new sports
venues and highways and the bright lights of the opening ceremonies, are
skeptical their communities will be affected in any significant way.
 
And they look around their communities and imagine where all that Olympic
money could have gone.
 
A new Canadian Press Harris-Decima survey found opinion about the Games is
almost equally split in British Columbia, with 52 per cent seeing more
benefits than drawbacks and 47 per cent responding the opposite way.
 
It's only a slight improvement from October, when a majority - 52 per cent
- saw more drawbacks.
 
In the rest of the country, the cynicism isn't nearly as pronounced. Of
the 1,000 Canadians surveyed by Harris-Decima, only 20 per cent thought
the Games would have more drawbacks than benefits.
 
In Alberta and Quebec, the approval rating for the Games soared to 81 and
82 per cent respectively.
 
The survey was conducted by telephone between Jan. 14 and Jan. 17 and has
a margin of error of 3.1 per cent, 19 times out of 20.
 
But in Prince George, there have been widespread layoffs in recent years
as the local mills have shut down or reduced staff, one of many
communities in the province to suffer along with the ailing forestry
industry.
 
The regional health authority is looking for ways to save money, as are
others across the province.
 
And just this week, the local school board announced it's considering
closing as many as 14 schools in and around Prince George.
 
That prompted several dozen people to line the route of the Olympic torch
relay as it made its way around Prince George on Friday evening, holding
bright neon signs denouncing the cuts.
 
An organizer stressed the point of the demonstration was to voice concern
over school cuts and had nothing to do with the Olympics, although some of
the people holding placards on the side of the road didn't shy away from
linking the issue to the Games.
 
"The cuts that the government's making when they're spending all this
money on the Olympics," Carole Kaseweter said when asked why she joined
the protest.
 
"It's overspending in a time of economic crisis, is my take on it."
 
The relay finished the day at the local exhibition grounds, where
thousands of people, many wearing their red Olympic mittens on a cool
evening beneath a full moon, attended a community celebration.
 
Holly Douglas, a 30-year-old teacher who brought three children to Prince
George from their home in nearby Willow River, said "there's bad and
there's good" when it comes to the Olympics, although she doesn't think
the Games are related to education cuts.
 
"I don't think that should be combined - money for schools has always been
an issue, I don't think it's anything new," she said.
 
The Olympic torch relay leaves Prince George on Saturday and will stay in
northern British Columbia through the weekend.
 
On Monday, the flame will pass through the small community of Kitimat near
Prince Rupert, where residents will greet the torch relay a day after the
town's main employer permanently shuts down.
 
The closure of Kitimat's Eurocan pulp mill immediately throws 535 people
out of work, but mayor Joanne Monoghan says it could mean as many as 3,000
people in the region will lose their jobs.
 
That reality, she says, will cast a pall over a community celebration
planned for the relay.
 
"I think we're glad that it's here, especially for the kids," says Monoghan.
 
"As for the adults, who are worried about where their next paycheque is
coming from, I don't think they're worried too much about the flame."
 
Monoghan adds that for many in the community, especially for those
affected by the mill's closure, travelling to Vancouver to see Olympic
events simply wasn't an option.
 
"I haven't heard of any (locals heading to Vancouver for the Games)," she
said. "I wouldn't even think of going down there - it would cost me a
bundle."
 
Still, the Olympics have their many supporters, even beyond the sprawl of
Vancouver and its suburbs.
 
In Kamloops, there are residents that see the Olympics with ambivalence,
excited for the Games themselves but left wondering what it means for
them.
 
The city's marketing and investment agency, however, says Kamloops has
already been able to take advantage.
 
Anita Grover, the economic development manager at Venture Kamloops, notes
the city has hosted international teams who have trained in the area, and
some local businesses have received Olympic contracts. A playground at the
celebration plaza in Whistler, for example, is coming from a Kamloops
company.
 
"We're very positive about the Olympics. It has given B.C. a huge exposure
in the world market," Grover said. "There's definitely a trickle effect."
 
-With files from Tamsyn Burgmann in Kamloops

James Keller, THE CANADIAN PRESS