However the minister in charge said a retractable roof would be preferable.
Stan Hagen, Minister for Tourism, Sports and the Arts said Wednesday that no decision had been made on the roof replacement, but the government certainly favours a retractable roof.
"If you've ever attended a game there you will know the attractiveness of a roof that has an ability to open, just from a ventilation point of view."
Hagen said the B.C. Pavilion Corporation which operates the stadium has a lot more work to do on the proposal.
The debate over the roof started 16 months ago when the marshmallow-like dome suddenly collapsed during a wind storm.
One of the panels ripped and had to be replaced.
Hagen said the government has been assured by the B.C. Pavilion Corporation that the current fabric roof is safe.
Replacing the entire roof with a similar design would cost about $20 million, while a retractable roof is estimated to cost $200 million.
Reports have been circulating for more than a week that the B.C. cabinet would consider options for the aging fabric roof from the B.C. Pavilion Corp. at Wednesday's weekly meeting.
"We need to step back, make sure we're checking everything out and look at the timing," Hagen said, adding that cabinet will make a decision "at some point in the future."
But New Democrat critic Norm Macdonald said the public has been left wondering what the B.C. government has been doing since the dramatic collapse of the stadium roof on Jan. 5, 2007.
"This is something the government should have been dealing with back as early as 2006," he said. That's when a report on the stadium roof, which was nearing the end of its projected quarter-century lifespan, was originally submitted to the government.
"After those 25 years are up, you'd think (the government) would have looked at the need for replacing it, but they ignored it," he said. "It's unbelievable and it's going to cost British Columbians for no good reason."
Macdonald called it ministerial incompetence, pointing out that the NDP had been given specific assurances from the minister in the fall of 2006 that the roof was fine and would not collapse. Several months later a portion of the roof fell in.
Hagen conceded that the timeline around the 2010 Olympic Games is drawing shorter and the government is taking that into consideration. But he denied the Winter Games are having much effect on the government's next move.
"Nope, we just want to make sure we make the right decision with regard to the building," he said.
But Macdonald said the collapse of the stadium roof in early 2007 should have been a signal to the government that they needed to have "a real close look" at that roof and that they needed to do something to ensure it would be ready for the games.
Especially after BC Place was selected as the venue for the opening ceremony.
"There are going to be billions of people watching and judging British Columbia and Canada," he warned. "We can not afford a disaster."
Critics have warned that if the inflatable roof is retained, safety issues may preclude the Olympic flame from being used inside the stadium.
Others warn that work would have to begin almost immediately if a retractable roof is to be installed in time for the start of the 2010 Olympics, which will run for 17 days, beginning Feb. 12.
