Now that the spectacle of the Beijing Olympics has wrapped up, people working on the 2010 Winter Games to be held in Canada are wondering about the Olympic legacy for Vancouver and Whistler.

Although Vancouver's ageing BC Place Stadium pales in comparison to the new and magnificent National Stadium in Beijing which became the signature venue for the 2008 Games, there is hope the innovative Richmond Skating Oval, with its wooden "wave" roof, will captivate the world.

Or perhaps the natural beauty of the Callaghan Valley and pristine conditions in Whistler will be a welcome change from Beijing's smog and crowded streets.

But there are deeper, more important issues Vancouver, the province, and Canada as a whole, will have to address if they plan on escaping the harsh microscope of the international media. Beijing faced scrutiny human rights the past few weeks; and Vancouver is likely to have to answer questions about social issues.

Laura Track of the Pivot Legal Society expects journalists headed to Vancouver in the weeks prior to the 2010 Games will turn their cameras on in the city's Downtown Eastside and question the severity of the homelessness problem.

"I'd like to answer that by saying that they'll be telling about how B.C. and Vancouver have solved the homelessness crisis," Track told CTV British Columbia.

Back in 2006, Pivot predicted homelessness would triple by 2010 and according to Track, the city is on pace to meet those numbers.

B.C. Housing and Social Development Minister Rich Coleman disagrees. He expects the homelessness crisis to improve by the time the Games roll around.

"Given what we have in the pipeline you're going to see a huge difference by 2010," Coleman said.

In Beijing, Chinese officials had few qualms about deporting pro-Tibetan activists, forcibly detaining journalists and restricting protests to "designated areas," but in Vancouver there will be no such measures by the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

VANOC will be looking to duplicate Beijing's successes, not its failures.

"We're still in the planning phase for sure, that's why it so critical to learn the lessons in Beijing to make it a better experience here in Vancouver for 2010," VANOC's Dick Vollet said.

With a report by Mike Killeen