The B.C. government is offering partially paid leave to its 30,000 public servants if they volunteer for the 2010 Olympics.
B.C. government employees who volunteer for the Olympics will be able to claim part of that time as paid leave, said Colin Hansen, the minister responsible for the Olympics.
Hansen confirmed that in some cases the government will be hiring replacements for the paid volunteers.
Civil servants who do volunteer will also get vacation time bonus — for every two days they volunteer, they will only be deducted one day of vacation time, said Hansen. The rest will be made up as paid leave.
It is of course, inappropriate to pay people who choose to volunteer, because the volunteers would be using up their own vacation time while working for the Games.
Not surprising, VANOC is praising the proposal, saying it will bring workers with valuable skills to the so-called volunteer pool.
NDP Olympics critic Harry Bains, among others, criticize the plan, saying it could cost taxpayers millions of dollars and is another example of the hidden costs of the Games.
The program was also criticized by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, which said Olympic spending is already out of control.
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