Municipalities and urban development

(Vancouver) Hosting the 2010 Winter Olympics cannot be justified on economic grounds alone. That is one of the key findings of Olympic Costs and Benefits: A Cost-Benefit Analysis of the Proposed Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games, released today by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.

(Vancouver) The Vancouver 2010 Olympic Bid Corporation's claims that hosting the Winter Games will generate an employment boom are wildly exaggerated and not born out by the experience of previous host cities.

(Vancouver) The author of a CCPA report released today on the proposed P3 (public-private partnership) for the RAV (Richmond-Airport/Vancouver rapid transit line) is calling for the development of an independent 'public sector comparator' by BC's Auditor General. Blair Redlin says such a comparison of public and private sector costs and risks is needed before TransLink and the GVRD make a decision about the RAV, and before a Request for Proposals (RPF) is issued.

(Halifax) A report released by the CCPA today finds that Canadian ports need to take a sober and realistic look at their expectations of the cruise industry. The study finds that, in their rush to embrace the cruise industry, Canadian ports have paid insufficient attention to the costs of development and tended to overestimate income. "Charting a Course: The Cruise Industry, the Government of Canada and Purposeful Development" is the first study to lay out all of the issues that a port city needs to consider in developing cruise ship tourism.