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World Cup cost overruns are 'outrageous,' while tourists are repelled: Carson Binda

The associated costs have already climbed to a staggering $1-billion

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Excitement is growing for the World Cup, but so, too, is concern over the price tag. Canada is hosting just 13 FIFA World Cup games starting next week — seven in Vancouver and six in Toronto — but the associated costs have already climbed to a staggering $1-billion. The Canadian Taxpayers Federation is asking some hard questions about what they see as unnecessary extravagance associated with hosting these games, and whether taxpayers are getting any value for being saddled with such a huge bill. In this conversation with Rob Breakenridge, CTF B.C. Director Carson Binda lays out their concern over rising costs, pointing out that cost in Vancouver for hosting games has risen from an initial estimate of $230 million to now over $729 million. Compounding the misery for taxpayers, Binda notes, is the concern that many of the touted benefits of hosting don’t appear to be materializing as promised.

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