The premier said he is committed to providing British Columbians with a complete economic report, agreement and budget “to the extent our agreement with FIFA allows.”
The NDP minister in charge of planning B.C.’s 26th FIFA World Cup is not ready to release estimated costs, saying officials were surprised that FIFA scheduled seven games at BC Place Stadium.
Staff for Minister of Tourism, Arts, Culture and Sports Lana Popham declined to arrange an interview, saying she was “unavailable”. Instead, the state sent a 245-word statement saying it is busy updating cost projections. The newspaper twice noted that BC played more than the expected five games when the schedule was announced on Feb. 4.
But the co-chairs of Seattle’s host committee said last summer that plans were already in the works to host up to eight games at Lumen Field.
Maya Mendoza Ekstrom, Chief Operating Officer of the Seattle Sounders. Speaking at the Seattle City Council meeting on August 3rd. Seattle was expected to play between three and eight games.
“But we are planning within the range of four to six people,” Mendoza Ekstrom said.
FIFA announced Seattle’s six games on February 4th.
When FIFA selected Vancouver as one of 16 host cities in June 2022, the NDP government initially estimated it would cost taxpayers between $240 million and $260 million.
In early 2023, the NDP government transferred responsibility for $230 million in costs to the City of Vancouver, as well as the authority to impose a 2.5% lodging tax until 2030. The province has not announced how much it will spend to renovate BC Place.
Last March, FIFA expanded the number of matches in the competition from 80 to 104. Instead of Vancouver and Toronto splitting 10 games in the previous format, FIFA gave Vancouver seven games and Toronto six.
A Feb. 26 report to Toronto City Council set a budget of $380 million, significantly higher than the $30 million to $45 million considered in 2018. But B.C. government officials are not taking a firm stand. “Plans and costs are still being developed and coordinated with partners,” the Feb. 22, B.C., budget said in a section regarding the three-year $10.6 billion contingency fund.
“To the extent permitted by our agreement with FIFA, and within the scope of any other restrictions that may be imposed by FIFA, we will provide British Columbians with full protection,” Premier David Eby told reporters in Victoria on Monday. “We are committed to delivering economic reports, agreements and budgets that meet the needs of the United States.” party. “
Before being elected Vancouver Point Gray MLA in 2013, Eby was an activist lawyer active with Pivot Law Society and the Civil Liberties Union of BC. He helped edit his 2007 report by the Olympic Community Impact Coalition, which included a section criticizing provinces and municipalities for keeping secret the spending of public funds on the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics. Ta. In October 2022, the month before he replaced John Horgan as premier, the NDP government rejected funding for the 2030 Winter Olympics bid.
BC Pavilion Corporation (PavCo), the Crown corporation that manages BC Place Stadium, and the City of Vancouver have both declined to release copies of the FIFA hosting proposal and contract. An adjudicator at the Information and Privacy Commission will decide whether the documents should be disclosed, but no investigation is planned.
In 2021, the OIPC ordered PavCo to terminate its 2015 Women’s World Cup contract with FIFA. Soccer Canada blocked his release for more than six months before dropping a court challenge.
Last August, the Seattle City Council announced a deal with FIFA. In January, the city of Santa Clara, California, home of Levi’s Stadium, released a censored version of the FIFA contract and the controversial Information Sharing and Event Cooperation Agreement. The latter document said it was intended to “exempt confidential information from public disclosure to the extent that non-disclosure is permitted” under California’s public records law.
Kobi Falconer, director of the City of Vancouver’s Freedom of Information Office, said on February 21 that the city has no such agreement with FIFA.
