With all the recent revelations regarding the development company Millennium and their financing problems with regards to the Vancouver Olympic Athletes Village, I feel there must be not only a audit of the Vancouver deal, but close scrutiny has to be given to all of this companies dealings.
They have several projects in Southwestern BC that warrant further investigation. Both their project in West Vancouver behind the Park Royal Shopping Centre and their Nanaimo Hotel project must be studied. I predict that the results of any such investigation will show several things.
I believe that both the West Van and Nanaimo projects were used by Millennium to finance the Olympic Village Project. In the case of Nanaimo, Millennium received land valued in the millions of dollars from the City for the paltry sum of $10 bucks. Furthermore the ponzi game was supported by the City of Nanaimo by paying management fees to Millennium for non-existent work. Sure the Nanaimo politicians claim that they have the right to get back any monies advanced if the deal does not go forward. But one must ask, “...do they actually have any money of their own?” Chances are no!
I think the old adage that if the price seems too good it probably is not a prudent investment applies here. There has to be an end to the continued corporate schemes where all the profits are private and all the risk is public. We have to demand complete transparency in all projects where the taxpayer is used as collateral. If these types of deals cannot be made transparent, I think the obvious is clear. The deal is crooked from inception and the public pays the price. A price that results in the further erosion of the social safety net, as monies for much needed programmes are diverted to cover bad financial decisions, as well as the continued loss of public confidence in the entire political process. A process that smells more rotten with each passing day.
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