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Vancouver 2010: Olympic Opening Ceremony & Olympic Protests
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by Sudha Krishna | February 9, 2010 at 02:07 pm
23188 views | 17 Recommendations | 14 comments
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With the Vancouver 2010 Winter Games and the Olympic Opening Ceremony fast approaching the corresponding Olympic Protests are also looming large in the city. Follow the NowPublic real-time Scan of the Protest.
While Olympic organizers and volunteers are busy with the rehearsals for the Olympic Opening Ceremonies, police and security forces are preparing for managing Olympic Protesters.
So far it seems everything is on track. Protesters plan to gather at the Vancouver Art Gallery at 300pm PST and make their way to BC Place for the 600pm Opening Cermony.
Security for the Vancouver Winter Games is being handled by the Vancouver Integrated Security Unit. A unit consisting of various police forces including the RCMP and the Vancouver Police Department.
"We're not going to stand by and wait until things get out of hand," said Staff Sgt. Mike Cote, spokesman for the RCMP's Vancouver 2010 Integrated Security Unit. "We'll have to wait and see what we're confronted with." (source: The Province)
It is still unclear exactly how many people will show up for the Olympic Protest but some reports says too expect between 1,000 to 1,500 people.
VANOC CEO John Furlong expects everything to go smoothly.
"I know that people that are working to secure the Games will make sure it will all happen the way it should," Furlong added. "We expect Friday to go off well and if we have a few challenges, they'll be managed professionally and the best way that we can."
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The anti-olympic resistance movement is a whole variety of groups including First Nations groups, anti-poverty activists, anti-globalization activists, all under the umbrella of the 2010 Welcoming Committee. A statement on their website says
What Is Wrong With The Olympics?"Tens of thousands of police, soldiers, security forces, and spies; exploitation of Indigenous land and resources; crackdowns on visible poverty; crony corporate deals and financial waste ($6 billion and counting); restrictions on public mobility and free expression (assembly, leaflets, street theatre, political signs and our voices); broken promises on social housing and shelter spaces; public video monitoring...."
Though all parties are expecting things to proceed peacefully the subtext is one of anxiety.What police are not talking about is if they will be wearing riot gear. In Vancouver, the relationship between protesters and police have always been uneasy. Confrontation is not unusual dating to the APEC protests in 1997.
Back then world leaders converged on Vancouver for a big international political summit and there was protests surrounding the presence of the Indonesian dictator at the time - signs were ordered taken down and police and protesters confronted each in ugly, violent incidents. The most infamous being a clash between student protesters and police at the University of British Columbia.
Now, those young protesters are all grown up and some are part of the Olympic Resistance Movement, people like Garth Mullins.
"Now a prominent figure in the anti-Olympics movement, Mullins has joined a growing chorus of voices that accuse police of heading down the same road to conflict once again. Unless things get better, they say, pre-Winter Games tensions could trigger an even higher profile confrontation in 2010.
"APEC was small-scale," said David Eby, acting executive director of the B.C. Civil Liberties Association. "There will be a huge number of tourists and visitors coming to the Vancouver area for the Games -- so the potential for embarrassment is significant."
The questions is have lessons been learned? If we head down the APEC path no one wins - neither the police nor the protesters, nor the city of Vancouver, nor Canada -because 12 thousand media are here and the speed at which a protester police clash story can spread and get amplified in the digital age of 2010 is frightening.
Update: Opening Ceremony Protest (Friday Feb 12, 5:08 PST)
So far reports indicate that Opening Ceremony Olympic Protest have been peaceful Police have set up barricades to keep the protesters away from BC Place Stadium but it appears protesters are marching and protesting without incident.
Watch the video below to get a sense of the those APEC confrontations in 1997
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Ryan B (not verified)
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mtippett
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optic
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Sudha Krishna
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Most RecentMost Recommended Comments (14)
at 16:04 on February 9th, 2010
Why give zealots attention...why give them press...focus on the true heroes of each nation , the athletes...this event is not about solving world hunger...focus on the positive...please.
at 21:29 on February 12th, 2010
Listen to what you're saying... calling them zealots... then saying to focus on the positive and ignore the reality of the situation..... excuse me?who's the zealot? Not to mention these athletes don't even get payed well for what they do and many become olympic protesters later in their careers. The olympics is not about sports. Read up on your local politics instead of watching sportsnet please. it melt help the state of things in this city.
at 21:39 on February 12th, 2010
Listen to what you're saying... calling them zealots... then saying to focus on the positive and ignore the reality of the situation..... excuse me?who's the zealot? "this isn't about solving world hunger" What just give you your sports? man you're gross. Like REALLY gross. Focus on the positive, how about the positive fact that these people are trying to help people in need instead of just watch a dumb hockey game? That's pretty frikin' positive man.Why give them attention? because they deserve it. More then some guy who can ride a sled down a hill. The democratic right to protest should be far more interesting to you then a sport. Its what Canada was REALLY founded on. Not hockey, gimme a break. In fact I'm pretty sure all the people that the history books would call heroes fall under the same category as these protesters NOT the athletes.Not to mention these athletes don't even get payed well for what they do and many become olympic protesters later in their careers. The olympics is not about sports. Read up on your local politics instead of watching sportsnet please. It melt help the state of things in this city.
at 16:25 on February 9th, 2010
"...going back to APEC"? Uhm protest has been a significant part of Vancouver since the beginning!
at 17:57 on February 9th, 2010
Agreed West Coast, the point of the story was not to talk about the Gastown from back in the day or other issues but to high light a recent protest and how some of the players haven't changed
at 07:55 on February 11th, 2010
Vancoover looks like a tropical paradise.
at 15:43 on February 11th, 2010
Majority of protesters are always looking for something to protest. Do their protests really help anything? Cause they really anoy me. Whetherr you like them or not, the Olympics are here, there is nothing you can do to stop them. People from all around the world are here in Vancouver to enjoy the games, so let them enjoy it. Grow up, get a real job and do something that actually contributes to society.
at 20:19 on February 12th, 2010
Ryan, I live in North Vancouver, have a real job, am respectable and generally an upstanding citizen. I have served my country faithfully in the military and consider myself fair-minded and reasonable. My opinion is that the games are just a big money-making business these days. Host cities have to prostitute themselves and make all sorts of concessions in order to win the games that make the local populace angry and treat them like a second class citizen in their own home. The Olympic ideal is a marvellous one and I love it. The sad reality is that it is NOT good for Vancouver, we will be paying off the debt for it decades from now (ask Montreal) and all so that a few politicians can look good. There is no way in hell it will bring in as much money as it costs and in the meantime all Vancouverites are expected to welcome it and behave themselves. I say good luck to the protesters. What one person above says is sadly true, we, the ordinary people, the tax-payers, the voters, cannot stop it. This is unfortunately what democracy is these days, the ordinary person can do nothing to stop what the few in office want. Voting only replaces one self-interested bunch of crooks with another.Anyway, Go! Canada! Go!
at 18:00 on February 11th, 2010
Sounds to me like the protesters want the police to beat them up, and will do whatever they can to make that happen. Then the media will show police defending themselves, calling it 'brutality'. Get a real job is right, we all just want to enjoy the 6 billion party without this kind of nonsense in our city.
at 21:25 on February 12th, 2010
Well considering these protests were entirely peaceful or on top of that, consider the fact that the police forces often have undercover agents agitating the crowd to violence (look it up if you don't believe me) Then consider that this crowd was full of very well educated people exercising their democratic rights and I'm afraid the only non-sense going on in this city is being carried out by fools like you who just want a "party". That is disgusting. This isn't your mom's house, and she's not on vacation take some responsibility for yourself and your fellow citizen's. to condemn these people for standing up for their rights is a disgrace and I hope someday you realize how shameful it is to say that.
at 01:48 on February 12th, 2010
You can have a 'Free Tibet' T-shirt in your closed knapsack and if you're anywhere near one of the 'Surveillance Games' venues, you'll be stopped by a cop or VANOC-funded security guard and have your 'offensive' article of clothing taken from you. So much for 'freedom of speech' in Canada while billions of our hard-earned tax dollars are p*ssed away on a 17-day sports shindig! The 2010 Winter/Spring Games (on straw!) are a COLOSSAL waste of public money, which is why I voted against them in '03! When VANOC officials and politicians said seven years ago that the Olympics would cost less than $1 billion, I knew they were either incredibly stupid, or lying. Fast-forward to 2010 and the cost of security alone has ballooned from $87.5 million to $900 million! For that amount, 200 MRI high-tech medical scanners could be bought and installed across Canada! And the $1.76 billion in VANOC's operating budget could pay for the seismic upgrading of 100 BC schools where more than 200,000 students attend! Where will the idiots in the Lower Mainland who voted for the Waste-O-lympics in 2003 be after the 'Big One' (earthquake) hits and they're trapped beneath tons of rubble, unable to escape the public building that could have been seismically upgraded but has fallen on them? Remembering who took the Gold Medal in 2010 for the luge as their life fades away?! Just wait until the BC Auditor General finally crunches the numbers on the 2010 No-Snow Winter Games! Only naive morons believe the final bill will be 'just' $6 billion! At least they'll be able to protest against Gordo & His Corporate Gang on the streets of Vancouver without being muzzled!
at 11:04 on February 13th, 2010
Heh, Use your head.I might politey suggest that you take your moniker and apply it to your own ridiculous logic. When I look at these uneducated, umemployed, unappreicativfe kids protesting over nonsense it does indeed remind me of the analogy that you put forth. Parents gone for the weekend and the kids want to party, so they act like stupid children and throw a temper tantrum. You and your ilk might have some valid points but it gets lost in the blindingly comedic scenes that play out on TV's across the world. Spoiled, wealthy North American adolescents who delay growing up and decide to rage against the machine becuase they can afford themselves that luxury on my bleeding tax dollars. If you and the idiots you so idolize, actually got their pathetic arses out of bed every morning, worked, paid taxes and contributed to society your ideology would be significanlty different then the veritrol that you are spouting here today. It is so easy to have conviction from the sidelines but when you are forced to grow up and stop being a child your views change..
at 00:04 on February 14th, 2010
that's a lot of words and explanation solely based on a single simple stereotype, did you see the Burnaby Teachers Association there? i did.
at 13:06 on February 13th, 2010
It's interesting to watch this debate over the right to peaceful protest unfold. The photos and videos I have seen on line are all I need to see to understand that this demonstration/protest, like others in recent memory is being attending by people from all segments of our society. I stayed home and watched the opening ceremonies, and my heart swelled with Canadian pride at the spectacle of it. Today, looking at the stories & photos on line I am filled with pride again to see citizens on the street protesting and crying out for change for the betterment of our society and world, and too, for the prudence that the police have shown. Ahhh Canada indeed. Cops on bicycles, smiling to the friendly protesters, motorcycle cops politely maintaining perimeters. Sure, there is a risk of the radical and corrupt emerging on both sides, but this is healthy, and we are blessed by a democracy that will be strengthened, and rights that will be maintained by people standing up and saying, "Oh no you don't; not on my watch. This is my land, and you work for me, so listen to what I and my fellows are saying, and let's work together to create the world we want." Reports in the media of rioting, burning, and other property destruction are false. And full props to our combined police forces for keeping cool heads in the face of a 99% peaceful demonstration. They did a great job last (Friday) night, and lets hope that continues through these games.Whenever I see a photo of someone masked I assume that they are planted by the state, as happened in Seattle and Montebellowww.youtube.com/watch?v=St1-WTc1kow We're onto this nonsense, so lets hope we don't get a repeat of it here.