The biggest story of the Montreal Olympics was the 1.5 billion dollar debt it caused the city of Montreal and the province of Quebec. Originally thought to cost only around 300 million dollars, the Olympics were entangled with racial boycotts, labor strikes, and inflation all which led the city of Montreal with this huge debt. The debt was one of the major stories coming out the Olympics and was even more important than events like the African boycott. This lead to the stadium being sarcastically The Big Owe which was derived from its real name The Big O.
The mayor of Montreal Jean Drapeau and an Olympic committee decided to build all the athletic grounds on one site. They had decided to build state of the art buildings modelled after the parc defrance. There were many constraints as they had to include several Olympic sized pools for aquatic sports and a velodrome for an indoor bicycle racing track. They had to keep special care so that the stadium was open but also safe. In the end they decided to create the 3 components, the stadium, the swim center, and the velodrome.
The mayor of Montreal Jean Drapeau and an Olympic committee decided to build all the athletic grounds on one site. They had decided to build state of the art buildings modelled after the parc defrance. There were many constraints as they had to include several Olympic sized pools for aquatic sports and a velodrome for an indoor bicycle racing track. They had to keep special care so that the stadium was open but also safe. In the end they decided to create the 3 components, the stadium, the swim center, and the velodrome.
There were constant issues with the building of the stadium such the rising inflation of the 70s. This caused the building supplies for the Olympic stadiums to cost more than needed, such as steel which increased dramatically in price. The inflation was caused the value of American dollar, being slashed due to poor investments. This caused there to be inflation in things such as the Arabian oil barrels. Since Canada was such big trading partners with the US it lead to Canada being severely impacted by the inflation.
The African boycott also had some major impact on the debt of the Montreal Olympics as it lead to a decrease in sales as they had to refund some of the seats . The boycott caused by New Zealand rugby team visiting the racist south Africa, even when the African nation banned any activities there. When the IOC refused to ban New Zealand from the Montreal Olympics, this caused 22 African nations to not participate in the Olympics. The sales of the Olympics were hurt due to this as many stars from the African nations such as Tanzania track star Filbert Bayi not being presented. This lead to some people not buying tickets as their nation was not represented so they didn’t feel any reason to come there.
Besides the devastating inflation of the 1970's, the multiple strikes during the building phase of the stadium caused over 155 workdays to be lost. This was mainly due to the rising rivalry between the two main labor unions; the Federation des Travailleurs du Québec (FTQ) [Quebec Federation of Labor] and the Conférération des Syndicats Nationaux (CSN) [Confederation of National Trade Unions]. These lead to two simultaneous strikes that lasted from November 1974 to January 1975 and May 1975 to October 1975. This lead to a major amount of setbacks in the development of the stadium, which lead to completion of the stadium being called into question. The International Olympic Committee even began discussions to host the Olympics in Mexico.
The Retie des Installations Olympics (RIO) [Olympic Installations Board] helped to organize the building project and stabilize the volatile work environment, which helped increase the production of the workers and made it so the stadium was barely adequate to host the events. The site was not fully finished as many aspects such as the mast, the seats, and the landscape were temporary or not complete.
The effects of The Big Owe can be still felt to this day and serves as a reminder of how careful planning should go into making stadiums such as the one that hosted to Montreal Olympics. If the planning for the Olympic Stadium was better handling the city of Montreal may not have had such a huge debt to pay. This lesson helped Canada and other countries when future Olympic games were held as they learned to make sure they had a proper and financially secure plan.
Besides the devastating inflation of the 1970's, the multiple strikes during the building phase of the stadium caused over 155 workdays to be lost. This was mainly due to the rising rivalry between the two main labor unions; the Federation des Travailleurs du Québec (FTQ) [Quebec Federation of Labor] and the Conférération des Syndicats Nationaux (CSN) [Confederation of National Trade Unions]. These lead to two simultaneous strikes that lasted from November 1974 to January 1975 and May 1975 to October 1975. This lead to a major amount of setbacks in the development of the stadium, which lead to completion of the stadium being called into question. The International Olympic Committee even began discussions to host the Olympics in Mexico.
The Retie des Installations Olympics (RIO) [Olympic Installations Board] helped to organize the building project and stabilize the volatile work environment, which helped increase the production of the workers and made it so the stadium was barely adequate to host the events. The site was not fully finished as many aspects such as the mast, the seats, and the landscape were temporary or not complete.
The effects of The Big Owe can be still felt to this day and serves as a reminder of how careful planning should go into making stadiums such as the one that hosted to Montreal Olympics. If the planning for the Olympic Stadium was better handling the city of Montreal may not have had such a huge debt to pay. This lesson helped Canada and other countries when future Olympic games were held as they learned to make sure they had a proper and financially secure plan.