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Secrecy games

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while mayor mel woos the inter-national Olympic Committee in Switzerland, it’s the same old secrecy game here at home.The city has denied Bread Not Circuses’ access-to-information request for T.O. Bid’s answers to the IOC’s detailed questionnaire. As well, the city’s Olympic hucksters now say they will not release the 600-page bid book that will go to the IOC next month.

“There’s no reason why the citizens of Toronto shouldn’t have this information,” says Bread Not Circuses’ Jan Borowy. “It’s astonishing.”

T.O. Bid spokesperson Mark Arsenault says city councillors will get a “briefing” on the bid book. But the timing doesn’t allow for any meaningful debate before the city’s final big pitch.

The bid book goes to Moscow on January 17. The next council meeting isn’t until January 30.

Arsenault says not to worry, since the final bid is based on the previously released master plan that was approved by council. Organizers claim Toronto’s Olympic budget of $2.6 billion will be recovered largely from ticket sales and the sale of television rights. The IOC will choose the 2008 Summer Games host city in July.

Says Arsenault, “We definitely won’t release (the book) until after the bidding process is finished.”

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