CBC Archives

You must sign in to leave a comment on this clip.

Judge blames Drapeau

Broadcast Date: June 5, 1980

It took the Malouf Inquiry almost three years and $3 million to determine responsibility for the astronomical cost overruns of the '76 Olympics. But the verdict is now in, according to this report from The National. Judge Albert Malouf has concluded that Jean Drapeau is largely to blame. Malouf's report says the Montreal mayor commissioned excessively complex facility designs; he failed to appoint a project manager; and he gave too much freedom to Olympic Stadium designer Roger Taillibert.

In contrast, the report takes it fairly easy on Robert Bourassa's Liberal provincial government — much to the chagrin of the new premier, René Lévesque. Lévesque's government was the driving force behind the inquiry. He had hoped Malouf would lay more of the blame on Bourassa, Lévesque's predecessor. But Malouf concluded that the provincial government had little control of Olympic preparations at first, and that Bourassa stepped in to try and fix things as soon as he could.

Judge blames Drapeau

• In 1973, Drapeau stated that the Olympics would cost $310 million. By the time the Games were over, costs had soared to more than $1.5 billion.
• The Malouf Inquiry was initiated by Lévesque's provincial government in 1977. Numerous people were called on to testify, including Drapeau, former Quebec premier Robert Bourassa, and French architect Roger Taillibert.
• The 908-page Malouf Inquiry report was finally released June 5, 1980.

• In addition to blaming Drapeau as the primary culprit, the report was also highly critical of:
• COJO (Le Comité organisateur des Jeux Olympiques, or the Olympic Organizing Committee)
• the Canadian Olympic Association
• Olympic architect Roger Taillibert
• the construction workers and the contractors who hired them
• a political system that allowed municipal authorities to act independently, without another body keeping things in check

• Drapeau responded to the Malouf Inquiry's conclusions by claiming that he was just a scapegoat. He said the report showed "great ignorance of the technology used in the Olympic installations." He believed the report downplayed what he thought were the real problems with Olympic costs — inflation and labour strikes.

• Although many Montrealers were angry about the high costs of the Olympics, that didn't stop the city's citizens from re-electing Drapeau in 1978. He remained mayor until 1986, when he resigned due to health problems. He passed away in 1999.
• In a 1996 Montreal Gazette article, Drapeau confessed that his greatest regret about the Olympics was that too many people associate the Montreal Games with "waste of money" rather than "the spirit of Olympism as I had hoped."

Judge blames Drapeau

Medium: Television

Program: The National

Broadcast Date: June 5, 1980

Host: Knowlton Nash
Reporter: Chris Johnson

Duration: 2:17

Last updated:
May 26, 2004