WikiLeaks has been all over the news lately causing quite a stir, and an embarrassment to many governments. WikiLeaks is a whistle-blowing website that publishes and comments on leaked documents alleging government and corporate misconduct.
Vancouver didn’t escape the Wikileaks glare as the website published cables from US diplomats discussing the financial strain the 2010 Winter Olympics put on the city, and the impact the economic downturn would have on the Vancouver games. While many governments are dreading the day embarrassing information pertaining to them gets released on the website, the Canadian government and the City of Vancouver come out just fine. Most of the leaked memo related to financial and security issues around the Vancouver games, but the Vancouver Mayoral election did get a mention.
From just having a quick read of the memo, it all looked to be positive reviews for the Vancouver games organizers and the memo ends with with a paragraph that includes the phrase “The Canadians are doing an excellent job”. The “slight” over-run in the budget was mentioned, but we all had a great time during the Olympics, right?!
The full memo was published in the Guardian newspaper in the UK and can be read here: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/us-embassy-cables-documents/191833
