Music: {allcanada} Budget for Pan Am leaves out athletes' village

Tuesday, October 1, 2013

{allcanada} Budget for Pan Am leaves out athletes' village

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TORONTO — It turns out the $1.4-billion budget for Toronto's 2015 Pan Am Games does not include money to build the athletes' village.

Sport Minister Michael Chan says it will cost about $709 million to build the athletes' housing for the international sporting event.

Chan had another surprise today for a legislative committee, confirming there are actually two budgets for the Games: one for the Toronto 2015 organizing committee and another for the Pan Am Secretariat, an arm of the government.

However, it appears the cost of the athletes' village is not in either of those budgets.

Under questioning from the opposition parties, Chan said he was angry when he learned high-paid executives on the organizing committee were billing taxpayers for minor expenses like coffee and parking.

However, he denied approving the expense policy or the actual expense claims of the Pan Am executives, saying that was done by the committee's board of directors.

Chan says any unacceptable expenses will be repaid, but the Toronto 2015 committee has already said they all fell within the current guidelines.

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