The Olympic spirit is alive and well in Penticton. The city’s Olympic Torch Relay committee deserves recognition for its decision to pay tribute to the hard work of one of the many volunteers who make the South Okanagan a place we’re proud to call home.

Susie Welch was selected to be the torchbearer for Penticton’s Olympic celebrations. The committee chose the 18-year-old Princess Margaret grad for her work giving back to the community in a selfless way. A fitting tribute indeed.

Our provincial and federal governments will also be using the Olympic Games as a way to pay tribute — to themselves and some of their political friends. Or at least that’s the way it’s beginning to appear.

The Canadian Heritage Department spent $447,000 for tickets that MPs and senators will be able to buy. While the federal politicians will have to pay for the tickets out of their own pockets, they are able to bypass the lottery system set up for us mere commoners, and jump to the front of the line. Seems more like some forgotten policy from the Politburo than one representing the Olympic spirit.

Here in B.C., Gordon Campbell’s government spent $900,000 for 3,000 Olympic tickets, so that government MLAs and cabinet ministers can take in the prime events in the best seats in the house as part of their “official hosting business.” Another $1.5 million was shelled out for tickets for Crown corporations like ICBC and BC Hydro.

There is no doubt some tickets should be set aside for the premier, senior government officials and their visiting guests, but NDP leader Carole James is quite right when she says this appears to be a blanket policy to admit MLAs and their friends.

Wouldn’t it be more fitting if some of the tickets were provided to B.C. sports associations? Maybe they could raffle them off to make up for the cuts to their gaming grants.

The Olympic spirit is loosely defined as striving to inspire and motivate the youth of the world to be the best they can be, while building a mutual understanding through the spirit of friendship, solidarity and fair play. It’s hard to imagine any of this province’s youth seeing the fair play and finding inspiration in the government’s handling of this issue.