EDITORIAL – Here’s what the Olympics and the PAC have in common

An editorial by Mel Rothenburger.

THE PARIS OLYMPICS concluded Sunday with a spectacular closing ceremony that included a light show, plenty of music and Tom Cruise doing one of his patented stunts. But it was the obvious joy on the part of the athletes that stood out — including Canada’s swimming sensation Summer McIntosh and hammer thrower Ethan Katzberg, well known to Kamloops since he trains here at the Tournament Capital Centre.

By all accounts, despite a few hiccups, the 2024 Paris version of the Olympics was an outstanding success, providing two weeks of entertainment, cultural experiences and amazing athletic performances.

Canadian athletes did especially well (despite the soccer scandal), bringing home a record 27 medals.

Nevertheless, questions will be raised about whether it was worth the $8.2-billion cost. It was ever thus. Social media warriors and media commentators alike will say the money would have been better spent on healthcare, water systems and housing for the homeless.

The first answer to that is that the Olympics, for all their cost over-runs, scandals and irritants, present a solid business case. Common wisdom is that, for every dollar spent, three dollars are generated for local and international economies.

But it’s much more than that. The old saying, “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy” (or, perhaps, “makes Jack and Jacqueline boring people”), is very much at play here. Certainly, we have problems that take up massive amounts of money and always will. No matter how much we spend on social issues, it can never be enough to solve them.

In the meantime, we have to keep ourselves healthy mentally and physically. Imagine what kind of a world it would be without music, theatre, the movies, television, dancing or “the Big Game.” We must laugh and we must cheer, or life wouldn’t be worth living.

This applies to the local level as much as it does to global events: as much to the drive for a new performing arts centre and more ice sheets as it does to what we just had the enjoyment of watching in France.

We must be able to take time from our work, our social problems, our personal stresses, to allow ourselves to be entertained.

A good business case is essential for the new PAC, of course, and there are many economic spinoffs for tourism and the hospitality sector, as well as the arts community. But the really important benefit is what these facilities bring to us as citizens.

Build Kamloops represents an investment in lifestyle and community well-being. What a dull place Kamloops would be without feel-good bricks and mortar.

Mel Rothenburger is a former regular contributor to CFJC-TV and CBC radio, publishes the ArmchairMayor.ca opinion website, and is a recipient of the Jack Webster Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award, and a Webster Foundation Commentator of the Year finalist. He has served as mayor of Kamloops, school board chair and TNRD director, and is a retired daily newspaper editor.  He can be reached at mrothenburger@armchairmayor.ca.