No doubt about it, we had a great party during the Vancouver 2010 Olympics. Now, as in the aftermath of many great parties, we have the hangover.

The B.C. government has reported out on the cost of the Olympic games. According to its report, the B.C. taxpayer is on the hook for $925 million, $765 million for construction costs and $160 million for hosting.

But these aren't all the costs B.C. taxpayers paid, or will pay, for. Instead of basking in the good news part of the Olympic Games and coming clean on the its entire cost, the government continues to try to spin away from the truth about the spending blowout.  

To get a better idea of how much taxes are going to have to go up by to cover all the costs, taxpayers need a full accounting. For example, the Sea-to-Sky highway, the Canada Line, and the Convention Centre cost $4 billion alone. Then add a few of the exasperating costs, like the paid volunteers, at $560,000. Then add the 2010 Secretariat - the BC Olympic bureaucracy, at $600 million and the tens of millions the BC Crown Corporations handed over to the Olympics in the form of sponsorships and ticket purchases. The real total spins only upwards.

Not even this spin includes the costs incurred by municipalities for items such as the torch relays, Athlete's Village financing fiasco and speed skating rink construction, or the trips that Richmond city councillors took to Turin in 2006 to 'study' speed skating ovals.

It also doesn't include about $730 spent by the federal government.  

Many conclude that the money is spent so why worry about it. Well, the B.C. taxpayer is on the hook for all cost overruns, so if we want a fairly good idea of how much taxes are going to have to go up by in the future to pay for this legacy of debt, we need a full accounting of the cost of the games.