Summer Food Fun and Drink - Olympic ring of protest - rant #28 · 21.07.09 by colin newell
Brace yourself B.C.
The taxpayers of B.C. (and at some level the rest of Canada) will pay over 1 Billion dollars for 2010 Olympic security.
Ostensibly to protect British Columbia residents from.
Wait for it.
British Columbia residents. Non-residents. Tourists.
And maybe even a bad person or two… but not likely if history is any guide.
The joint security task force will be most concerned with those speaking up against the 2010 jock charade. Who may find themselves in one of hundreds of potential security zones in downtown Vancouver – where our Charter Rights (it seems) will not apply.
The 2010 Olympic joint task force will view potential protesters as anyone:
Who will be commiserating with friends, colleagues and loved ones over the loss of trust, the loss of choice, the loss of hope – in a Province once proud for its record on how it treats its less fortunate.
Or waving flags. Or speaking in small groups.
Bull-horns or any kind of electronic amplification or paper leafleting not previously approved by VANOC or the IOC will be prohibited within security zones.
And how are we going to pay for all this horse potty?
Currently in British Columbia, every ministry, community and municipality is having its budget cut in some fashion or another – Every organization, corporation and private-public-partnership in this Province is seeing some belt tightening.
Except for one I am guessing. Can you guess who?
Correct! The Vancouver Olympic committee… and likely the integrated security unit and joint task force in partnership with the R.C.M.P.
They will be employing upwards of 16,000 police and military – some of them American military, top-guns in American fighter jets circling over Canadian skies…
To keep you and me in line. Keep us from speaking, alone or in groups, or embarrassing the establishment or participating countries or host corporations.
One billion to be spent on keeping tabs on peaceful protest. At least in part.
And even if it was less than peaceful – you know, waving of banners, yelling, gathering outside of Free Speech Zones etc. The actual chance that a protester is going to doing anything really silly, like hurt someone other than themselves…
Is, well, next to nil.
Because through history, peaceful protesters have rarely (if ever) hurt anyone.
Peaceful protest in Canada (and the U.S.A.) annoys the crap out of…
wait for it again
The Establishment and for that reason, they have convinced the military and law enforcement complex to spend 1,000,000,000 dollars watching flag waving, peace loving, bleeding heart liberals and socialists (and some fuzzy thinking conservatives) – like you and me.
Because you and I
are scary when we pick up flags, banners and yell reasonable truths through bull-horns.
So to be safe, 1 Billion needs to come from somewhere…
Health-care, women and child’s programs, the Arts, infrastructure, and everything else.
And that is just wrong.
In 1997 APEC (I was there on unrelated University business), one student was put in jail several days before the parade and only released if he promised not to go anywhere near UBC or along the Burrard corridor leading into downtown Vancouver; A UBC law school student was jailed for carrying a cloth banner saying “Democracy” and “Free Speech”. Protesters were showered with pepper spray for having the nerve to say nasty things about heads of state participating – that the Canadian corporate and political establishment didn’t want embarrassed.
Is this going to repeat during the 2010 lock-down in Vancouver? I sure hope not!
A reminder:
The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms states in section two,
And neither VANOC, the IOC, the RCMP or The Man can take that from you.
Footnotes: In the name of fair and balanced dialog on the subject of Olympic Security, we do acknowledge al-Qaida as a potential threat to the 2010 Olympics. It is most certainly an issue at the London 2012 Olympic event. And one must never forget the horror of the 1972 Munich Olympics where 11 Athletes and their coaches as well as a police officer died during the raid. More reading
Yes, this is a massively weighty issue with strengths and arguments on both sides of the security and peace camps. However as the 2010 security plan unfurls, someone is going to feel like it’s not enough, it’s too much… or something in between.
Personally, I try and maintain a healthy quotient of skepticism about the whole athletic affair.
Til next time,
Peace out.
Summer Food Fun and Drink Chapter 17 Bang Zoom to the Moon 2010 Olympic Rant #38 Culture Jam the 5-Ring Circus
