Like many folks, although I loath the IOC and Olympics industry, I do have a penchant for sports.
I follow hockey regularily and recently had the opportunity to see politics, hockey, first-nations issues and Anti-Olympics discussions pop up on a a popular US hockey board.
Messge poster on the final torch bearer (later revealed to be Wayne Gretzsky):
Nancy Greene Raine already ran with the torch and was a developer of Sun Peaks.
And the response:
Sun Peaks was a gross development. It's native-land, lock-stock and Raine's company didn't even consult first-nations which they were ordered to do by the supreme court.
The fact that she was carrying the torch pretty much explains to me why a bunch of protesters are saying "no olympics on stolen native land" over and over again. The BC government should have had all the treaty negotiations wrapped up by now and Raine should not have been and should not be anywhere near the torch.
Needless to say, it caused a bit of a stir, and doesn't usually happen in that forum. You can read the fall out here.
Even better, the writer for the hockey-blog had a nicely timed story a couple days later on Ken Moore, an Olympic Gold Medalist for Canada at the 1932 Lake Placid Olympic Games. As the writer points out:
Ken Moore never had the chance to play in the NHL. Not because of wars, economics, opportunities or injuries. He could not play because he was First Nations, or Indian as would be said back then some 80 years ago. I did not realize that the NHL had discriminatory element to it, but I should not be surprised really as most of Canada certainly has towards First Nations people for it's history.
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