Are the Olympic Games a good deal? It depends who you ask.

For almost a decade, we’ve been hearing from the provincial government and the organizing committee that they are. The message has been driven home in every part of the province, and if you’re looking at sheer size and prestige, the Olympics have no rival. Any location craving ‘world-class’ status can do no better than to play host.

Around this office, there are well-spoken people on both sides of the issue. One side sees the roughly half-month gala and its Paralympic counterpart going off without a hitch, earning a healthy profit and generating residual economic spinoffs into perpetuity.

The other sees a bloated bureaucratic beast trampling the rights of the local population, steamrolling toward its goals, benefiting a select group of International Olympic Committee members and construction companies – never mind the monstrous security concerns.

Whatever side you take, there’s no denying the cost and scale of the event. Nor the high number of worthy projects or recipients that won’t receive those hundreds of millions of dollars.

If all goes the way Vancouver organizers hope, the Olympic Games will inspire discussion. They hope the discussion is about the memorable performances turned in and the close (and clean) competition.

They hope the Games will be the single most important and successful public relations move in the region’s history.

The Games represent such ancient ideals as fair play and universal co-operation, ideals that are well worth our continued pursuit.

Looking back at past Games, however, the possible headlines could involve anything from doping and cost overruns to ticket scalping and far worse.

On a more positive note, Whistler and the Lower Mainland will definitely wind up with some great infrastructure to last well beyond the dousing of the torch. This kind of stuff is great, especially for those involved in competitive winter sports, but what about the rest of the province? How about here on the South Island?

There have been rumours of a non-Canadian hockey team or two using Bear Mountain Arena for a mini training camp. But as of last week, no such deals were in place, although negotiations are ongoing, an administrative source told me.

We’ve got top-level women’s hockey to look forward to this fall at Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre. The Canadian and U.S. women’s national teams will face off here on Monday, Oct. 5. The teams are playing a six-game Olympic tuneup across Western Canada leading up to the 2010 event. As for more events planned for the Save-On-Foods barn, nothing to report as of last week.

That’s about it.

A tangible and valuable Olympic-related benefit is 36 athletes’ housing units headed this way after the Games, part of a VANOC legacy announced last fall. Victoria Cool Aid Society executive director Kathy Stinson said the units are bound for a Saanich location, to be used by people who have been homeless or are at risk of homelessness.

Legacies Now, a provincial government initiative, has been touting a wide variety of ways that sport, arts, culture and more will benefit from the Games. Communities from Port Renfrew to Pender Island will get buttered up in some fashion.

There are 57 entries under the Victoria heading alone that will reap community benefits from the program.

Measuring Up, a program to improve accessibility and inclusion for people with disabilities, is handing out $15,000 to the communities of Sooke, Metchosin, View Royal and Highlands; $20,000 to Langford, Colwood, Esquimalt and Oak Bay; $25,000 to Saanich and $80,000 to Victoria.

That may be some consolation if you oppose the Games, because it looks like they’re going ahead.

Jim Sinclair is a reporter with the Sooke News Mirror.

news@sookenewsmirror.com