AFP - Vancouver is the largest metropolitan area to host a Winter Games but the excitement is being tempered by skyrocketting costs that many fear could leave organizers with a legacy of debt.

With two months to go before the cauldron is lit at the opening ceremonies the sprucing up of the city has begun. The venues are in place and competition tested, the road to Whistler has been widened and a new elevated high-speed train will whisk visitors from the airport to the downtown.

But there remains an Olympic angst among Canadians who worry that the global recession and cost overruns will linger long after the closing ceremonies and result in taxpayers being on the hook for many of the money problems associated with these Games.

"The Vancouver Olympics were built from the ground up on broken promises and budgets. The Games have hindered, not helped, our province, and will continue to do so for years if not decades to come," Jane Sterk, head of the Green Party of B.C., wrote in Vancouver's Georgia Straight newspaper.

Organizers have tabbed the official budget for the Games at 1.8 billion dollars but that doesn't include 1.5 billion for the high-speed rail extension, one billion dollars for the waterfront media centre expansion and 600 million dollars in improvements to the mountain highway connecting Vancouver to the ski resort of Whistler.

The security budget was initially estimated at 175 million dollars but that is now expected to be closer to one billion dollars.

This is just the third time Canada has hosted the Olympics and the previous two were received with mixed economic results.

Canadians are hoping this will be more like the 1988 Winter Games in oil-rich western city of Calgary than the 1976 Montreal Summer Games which left that city with a debt of 1.6 billion dollars that took three decades to pay back.

When you add up all the officials and unofficial costs the Vancouver Games it could be between four and six billion dollars rather than the 1.8 billion dollar operating budget touted by the organizers.

No matter what the final figure is, it will still pale in comparison to Beijing's over-the-top 40-billion-dollar budget for the Summer Games.

Beginning with the opening ceremony on February 12, the 2010 Games will feature 86 events contested over 17 days until it concludes with the ice hockey final and closing ceremony on February 28.

Vancouver's preparations have been scandal free so far and organizers kept their word that they would have most of the venues completed well before the start of the Games. The majority of the venues have been tested with international competitions and been given rave reviews from the athletes.

The impressive speed skating oval in the Vancouver suburb of Richmond is the crown jewel of the new venues.

Also completed are Whistler Creekside, Sliding Centre and Olympic Park in Whistler, which is 125 kilometres (78 miles) north of Vancouver.

Canadians athletes seem to be taking the Games to heart and are hoping to benefit from exclusive access to training sites outside of the official pre-Olympic competitions.

Figure skater Amelie Lacoste even has the Olympic rings painted on the ceiling of her bedroom.

"Every night I see them when I go to sleep," said Lacoste. "It is my dream and I am going to work hard to make sure I achieve it."

In a recent test event at the 104.9 million dollar Whistler Sliding Centre 13 of 23 sleds reached 150 kilometres an hour.

Potential disruptions could come from terrorist attacks, violent ethnic street gangs, protests from human rights groups, homeless advocates or Indian bands who have been battling the provincial and federal governments over land claims for decades.

The Olympic torch relay has completed over one half of its Canadian journey to Vancouver with just a sporadic number of protests along the way.

More than 4,000 torchbearers have carried the flame across approximately 25,000 kilometres on its way to the opening ceremony.

It was carried through the halls of the Parliament building in the nation's capital of Ottawa on Thursday.

Tourist spots such as Stanley Park and Gastown are getting makeovers but the east side of the downtown remains one of the most crime-ridden and drug-plagued areas in North America.

Even the east side drug dealers are getting into the Olympic spirit. In an embarrassing find for local law enforcement, Canadian police seized ecstasy pills stamped with the Olympic rings on Thursday.

Police discovered over 100,000 ecstasy pills and a some cocaine with a street value of close to one million dollars. Two men were arrested but were released without being charged.

Hundreds of people are expected to show up for a protest during the games to highlight the homeless and poverty situation in Vancouver. Organizers are billing the event the Poverty Olympics.