Olympics Q & A (December 15)

On the evening of 15 December 2009, four officials talked about the planning for the 2010 Winter Olympics, and then answered questions from a group of a little more than two dozen. The event seemed poorly advertised. I learned about it only through a forwarded email. The main purpose may have been to add another “consultation” to the list recited by Steve Sweeney without attracting much attention or audience. The venue was the Rickshaw Theatre at 252 E. Hasting St. The presenters were:

• Bud Mercer, Vancouver 2010 Integrated Security Unit (V2010-ISU)
• Steve Sweeney, Vancouver Police Department (VPD)
• Jerry Dobrovolny, Assistant City Engineer, City of Vancouver
• David McLellan, General Manager, Community Services Group, City of Vancouver

Bud Mercer said that the “go live” date for v2010-ISU is 21 January 2010. The jurisdiction of V2010-ISU will be “fenceline in” at Olympic venues, while the VPD will cover “fenceline out,” or “the urban domain.” V2010-ISU security forces reached 500 a few days ago and will stand at 6000 by 10 February 2010. Of the 6000, 4300 are RCMP and 1700 are drawn from 118 police departments across Canada. Access to venues will be handled by 4800-plus private security officers. They will be supervised by regular police at a ratio of 1 to 4. Military forces will number 4000. Only VPD will operate in the Vancouver urban domain.

Steve Sweeney enumerated various outreach and liaison efforts, including the Pivot dialogue series, an urban core group, the Civil Liberties Advisory Committee, and Game Plan sessions. An officer focused on the homeless has determined that 10 people will be displaced when venue barriers go up. The Assistance to Shelter Act will be used on “very few occasions” and have “minimal application.” The VPD has been working with organizations who plan to protest. The two mentioned were Women’s Memorial March (Feb 14) – the VPD is “working around” their requirements – and Critical Mass – which “won’t be large”. Sweeney said that the city street can be a dangerous place to be. Police are not concerned about “the bona fide groups,” but about “small groups trying to hijack” events. Police want to be “guardians” and keep a “safe perimeter.”

Jerry Dobrovolny said that 4 February 2010 is the target date for transportation changes like olympic lane restrictions, and 5 February 2010 will see closure of the viaducts. Olympic lanes will function like existing bus-only lanes, and will be defined only by signage, with no barriers erected.

David McLellan outlined areas that fall within his portfolio: public art, housing and tenants (the Residential Tenancy Act is a provincial matter and the Province has refused to afford protections beyond current rules), community services (there are plans to “go beyond the normal program” and “celebrate” – specific mention made of the Carnegie Centre), bylaw enforcement (contrasted with keeping the peace and dealing with criminal acts), overcrowding and safety, and commercial exploitation of the public realm. Bylaw enforcement will be stepped up. The Planning Department will shut down during the Olympics. City Council will not meet. City Hall will only have morning office hours.

The question and answer session ranged over a variety of topics:

• When asked about the removal and recent return of an art gallery mural (five Olympic rings containing four sad faces and one happy face), McLellan said: The bylaw officers were “a little bit too zealous” and sent the “wrong signal.” A “miscommunication” dealt with the owner rather than the tenant.
• A question about signage started from previous bylaw wording that has been abandoned. McLellan emphasized that the concern is with commercial signage, with the bylaw providing for special expedited enforcement. After reasonable time, “say a day,” action will be taken. Without owner permission, the City will “have to have a warrant.” For other signage the ordinary bylaw applies, with no action taken for 30 days. The questioner then proposed a hypothetical cloth banner. McLellan supposed that such a sign might present a safety issue and thus not be exempt. The questioner then specified a cloth banner that said Fuck You and Your Fucking Olympics, moved the theoretical banner back ten feet from the sidewalk, and draped it across a house. McLellan’s response tailed off in a nervous sentence where the big word was probably.
• A question about the recent reported tactic of infiltrating a protest group with a bus-driving undercover police officer drew a frank response from Mercer. He said that Victoria Police Chief Jamie Graham “spoke out of turn” and “has apologized to me.” Mercer went on beyond that initial statement to further disapprove of Graham’s action and to dissociate himself from it.
• Sweeney said that the only Olympic commitment of space on the north side of the Vancouver Art Gallery is to an “Aboriginal carving demo.” Apart from that, the space will remain available for its traditional uses. He later added that the area is “not a designated venue.”
• In response to a question about “designated protest zones,” Mercer turned the terminology toward “safe assembly area” and referred to the Hughes Report on APEC protest. “If you protest lawfully, it’s none of my business.” To a question about when safe assembly areas would be announced, Mercer said that the planning is “85 to 90 percent there.”
• A questioner referred to the 13 December 2009 protest of the Olympic Kidnapping Act that started from the Vancouver police station on Main Street, noting that the occupation of streets was “normal practice” though technically illegal, and went on to ask if these traditional protest standards would still apply during the Olympics. Sweeney talked about “justifiable” and “proportionate” protest and response, and the need to maintain a “safe envelope.” He said yes to a march, no to a blockade. An action should not “overly impact.” Police will “negotiate.”
• Dobrovolny said SkyTrain will shut down 2:15 am to 5:00 am because of maintenance requirements. Rule relaxations should make more taxis available. Night buses will run.
• To a question about access to parks, McLellan responded that there is a “major expansion of shelters.” Oppenheimer Park work will be completed in January. David Lam will be the only closed park.
• After reference to the Assistance to Shelter Act, the disincentives to using shelters, and the outcome of the recent appeal of the ruling on tents for shelter, a questioner asked about City of Vancouver policy. McLellan replied that “there hasn’t been a great demand for tents” and there are “better ways.” Someone with figures stated that 130 additional shelter spaces have been created and the total now stands at 1100.
• Asked if he anticipated gridlock, Dobrovolny said he foresees “heavy congestion throughout the entire day,” with fluctuations caused by anticipation-experience cycles in transportation choices made by individuals.
• Mercer numbered the “secure venues” in Vancouver at 15, not the 30-40 proposed by a questioner. He went on to say that the footprint of fencing is small, and mainly determined by VANOC requirements for staging space.
• Sweeney explained that the enforcement consequences of the “zone streets” specified in Schedule C of the new Olympic bylaw relate only to commercial advertising, and have no implications of restriction on “assembly,” other signage, or noncommercial leafleting.
• In response to a question about protest within venues, Mercer said, “My folk are not the t-shirt police.” He reported that VANOC at an SFU event had said that it is not concerned about t-shirt content. Mercer also referred to “the rules on the back of the ticket,” which govern what VANOC can enforce, and said V2010-ISU will back up that enforcement. Mercer saw banners as “a problem.” In his view, they inevitably “infringe on rights of others” – presumably by interfering with the ability to see.
• Private security is being provided by a consortium which made a bid of $91 million.

At one point Steve Sweeney delivered a small lecture about how a truly successful staging of the Games would be measured by visitors having no recollection at all of the policing effort. At another point Bud Mercer awkwardly broke the flow of his comment to pull out a copy of the recent report from the Civil Liberties Advisory Committee, to seek out a particular passage, and to read it aloud.