How a city convention centre can resemble a 'fast ferry'

Vancouver

As big as four city blocks, built over both land and water, the expanded Vancouver convention centre is a building that reminds some of a ferry.

Not just any ferry, mind you, but the fast ferries that brought down the New Democratic Party government that dominated provincial politics in the 1990s.

A quick recap: former provincial premier Glen Clark wanted to bring in fast ferries to revive British Columbia's shipbuilding industry. He vowed that the total costs would be C$210 million (HK$1.57 billion) but they ended up at C$460 million. The NDP had been in power in the province for a decade, but when the issue lost them the 2001 election to the Liberals, it was the worst defeat in the province's history.

In British Columbia, any government project that goes over budget and takes longer to complete than originally planned is now referred to as a 'fast ferry'. The label has now been attached to the Liberals' convention centre expansion.

Last week, Tourism Minister Stan Hagen delivered the bad news - the convention centre's expansion, originally projected to cost C$500 million, has encountered massive cost overruns and may cost nearly C$900 million.

Organisers for the 2010 Olympic Winter Games have had to deal with similar problems, requiring a bailout from the provincial and the federal governments after meeting higher-than-expected construction costs.