VANCOUVER - As the Olympic torch began its journey in Greece, sparks were flying in the B.C. Legislature as opposition critics accused the Liberal government of lavish spending on tickets for the Games.

Olympics Minister Mary McNeil defended the purchases, saying no tickets would go to MLAs and that the Olympics would provide an incomparable platform to show off the province.

"The Olympic and Paralympic Games are an absolute unique opportunity for this province to host the world," Ms. McNeil said in the legislature.

"Every jurisdiction that has hosted these Olympic Games, in the history of the Games, has hosted guests from around the world to take full advantage of the opportunity of the Games."

Opposition House Leader Mike Farnworth, meanwhile, accused the government of bellying up to an Olympic trough.

"They've spent hundreds of thousands of dollars, almost a million dollars, on Olympic tickets with no plan to distribute them," Mr. Farnworth said. "At the same time, they cut funding to sports groups ... so why doesn't the minister and the government get their nose and their snout out of the trough?"

The exchange, and a similar round of questions Wednesday, came after the NDP filed freedom-of-information requests looking into government ticket strategy.

Details of the number and cost of tickets purchased by the province were blacked out in documents released in relation to that request. But in the House Wednesday, Ms. McNeil said the province has purchased 3,000 tickets for about $900,000.

There are about 1.6 million tickets to the Games.
Olympic tickets can be a public-relations minefield for governments, which have to weigh potential networking opportunities against public skepticism over free-riding, free-spending officials.

The Resort Municipality of Whistler spent $37,000 for 184 tickets. The mayor and council members do not get free tickets. Most will be earmarked for dignitaries, community groups and business delegates.

Richmond spent about $200,000 on tickets and the "vast majority" of those will be sold at full price to community partners, city spokesman Ted Townsend said yesterday. Richmond officials will also have access to a space in the Richmond speed-skating oval to play host to visitors.

The province of Alberta, like other contributing provinces, bought 170 tickets to Olympic events as part of its financial support for the Games, said Anne Douglas, a spokeswoman for Alberta's Ministry of Tourism.

Any Alberta representative using a ticket would have to have a business purpose, Ms. Douglas said.
The Vancouver Organizing Committee this week announced Celebrate 2010, a program that will donate 50,000 tickets to community groups in the Metro Vancouver and Sea to Sky region.

The tickets, to be allotted through community organization networks over the next few months, will include all events and all venues, although some high-profile events, such as hockey finals, will not be part of the donated inventory, VANOC spokeswoman Donna Wilson said yesterday.