Unless Canadian taxpayers cough up $90 million in the next two weeks, there will be an Olympic-sized lawsuit, says the CBC. Unfortunately taxpayer subsidies are nothing new to the 2010 Olympic games.

The New York Post reported Monday that the parent of Intrawest ULC, the company which owns one of the venues for the Vancouver Winter Olympics, wants the Canadian government to put up $90 million US before the Games start or it will sue.

The Post reported the parent firm, Wall Street hedge fund Fortress Investments LLC, is negotiating with the Canadian government, with the report quoting Fortress as saying Ottawa had promised to compensate it for the time Whistler Blackcomb mountain is used for the Olympics.

Whistler is to be the site of major alpine skiing events during the Olympics, which start in 11 days.

The report said Fortress wants to get paid before the Games start or it will start legal proceedings. It did not identify its sources.

More olympic cost overruns and scandals can be seen in the following article and below.

CTV Olympics - Cost overruns continue to plague Vancouver (June 15, 2009)