Conservatives drag their feet on supporting Vancouver Games
OTTAWA – The Conservatives finally caved to pressure, announcing in a panic that they would provide last-ditch funding for Canada’s commitment to provide French services at the 2010 Winter Olympic Games, while in the same breath leaving British Columbia to build the BC-Canada pavilion on its own, Liberal MPs said today.
Pablo Rodriguez, Liberal Critic for Canadian Heritage and Official Languages, said the last-minute intervention shows the federal government isn’t serious about its responsibility to provide services in French, having decided to act only after the tabling of two very damaging reports by Official Languages Commissioner Graham Fraser and the Senate committee on Official Languages.
“I find this very disturbing and frankly irresponsible from the Minister of Canadian Heritage who, five months before the Olympic Games, had to be called to order by the Official Languages Commissioner and Members of the Senate Committee. This is not the first time that Commissioner Fraser has expressed his concern regarding bilingual services during the Winter Games. The minister had a lot of time to act but did nothing as usual, “said Mr. Rodriguez.
For his part, Keith Martin, Liberal Critic for the 2010 Olympics, asked why the Harper government doesn’t want to pay its share of the BC-Canada Pavilion, leaving British Columbia to fend for itself with a more modest Olympic pavilion than the prominent structures that the province and Ottawa put together for Turin’s 2006 and Beijing’s 2008 games. Even the former Conservative minister, David Emerson, says the government is missing a “unique marketing opportunity” by not adequately funding the Olympics.
“The pay-off in promoting British Columbia and Canada to the world is well worth the small investment needed,” said Mr. Martin. “After months of Conservative delays, the government’s refusal to partner with the host-province has left British Columbians scrambling to put their best foot forward.”
These two issues clearly show that the Conservative government is unable to get its priorities straight: it did not give adequate funding to the Organizing Committees of the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Vancouver and it has let down British Columbia in preparing the BC-Canada Pavilion. Two more reasons to show the government the door.
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For more information:
Office of MP Keith Martin
613-996-2625
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