2010 Winter Olympics: the Positives and Negatives in Social/Labor Issues

2010 Winter Olympics: The Positives and Negatives in Social/Labor Issues An incredible history follows the Olympic Games to Vancouver, British Columbia for the 2010 winter Olympics. The modern games began in 1896 with 241 athletes from 14 nations and have grown to 10,500 participants representing 204 countries during the 2008 summer Olympics in Beijing, China (www.olympic.org). The event has brought nations together through athletes who have inspired the world through their achievements, vigor and humility. The winter games tend to be smaller in scale than its summer counterpart, with an expected 5,500 Olympic and 1,350 Paralympics athletes from 80 or more countries (tourismvancouver.com), but this size still presents extreme challenges to the host city during the time leading up to the games. The expected cost of $ 1.3 billion for hosting this global event has been a major focus of the British Columbia government since Vancouver 's winning bid on July, 2 2003. With this enormous price tag, the 2010 Olympics will have both immediate and long term impacts on citizens of Vancouver and of all British Columbia; from a social justice standpoint, there are several factors that will influence whether the upcoming games can be called successful. There are many positive opportunities from which the Greater Vancouver regional district and the province of British Columbia should benefit by hosting such a large scale event. First the beautiful region will be on a platter for the world to see, which should promote tourism and investment. Secondly, millions of dollars will be spent on infrastructure that will have lasting benefits for years to come. An example of this is the city of Calgary, who hosted the 1988 winter games, and it continues to reap great benefits from Olympic infrastructure, generating revenue and providing a sense of pride for the city. Canada takes a lot of pride in its athletes and 2010 will provide an opportunity for Canadians to experience

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