Canadian rocker MATTHEW GOOD is outraged millions will be spent on the 2010 Winter Olympics in his native Vancouver - insisting the money should be used to eliminate poverty instead.

The former frontman of the Matthew Good Band has been strongly opposed to holding the Winter Games in the city since 2003, when Canadians voted in favour of hosting the sporting event.

But he is worried the entire area will feel the financial burden of the Olympics for years to come.

He tells SpinnerMusic.co.uk, “At the time, people were gripped with the usual Olympic fever. That was before the money started being spent and the problems started and the real economic and social ramifications of this thing came to light. Now that they we’re coming up to it, we face a pretty bleak reality. We face the fact that we’re billions of dollars over budget and the (International Olympic Committee) has called it the most expensive Winter Games that it’s ever been involved in…

“I don’t even know where the concept comes from that the Games are going to attract a massive influx of capital. Maybe for a couple of weeks at a retail level, but really it’s only going to make a very small percentage of rich people wealthier and it’s going to screw your average British Columbian over. It’s just turned into an economic nightmare for people. We’re all going to be paying for this through our taxes for years.”

And the singer believes there are other causes which could benefit from the funds that are being invested in the Olympics: “We can spend billions of dollars on this, but we have the highest child poverty rate in the country and we have the poorest urban neighbourhood in the country, which is a seven-minute cab ride away from one of the wealthiest.”