Critic warns Vancouver may muzzle 2010 opponents

Vancouver city officials run the risk of curbing rights during the Olympics in order to keep the city looking uncluttered, says a civil liberties advocate.

January 20, 2009, ctvbc.ca

David Eby, executive director of the B.C. Civil Liberties Association, said the city could damage human rights in its efforts to keep street vendors, signage and graffiti down to a minimum during the Games.

City council is scheduled to receive a report Tuesday recommending legal changes that would allow for stronger bylaws in the city during the Olympics.

At the same meeting, council will be presented with a motion chastising the city's organizing committee for not following through on a promise on civil rights.

The bylaw changes would include giving the city power to remove illegal signs from private property without notice and raise the fine for repeat offenders from $50 a day to $10,000.

Eby said the potential for such a high fine would certainly curb protests.
"If you want to talk about a chilling effect on legitimate protest for example, one of those provisions in there deals with handing out flyers or carrying or installing a sign in a city park or on your own property," Eby said.

"The chilling effect is significant if you feel you're going to be subject to a $10,000 fine."

That's not the intent of the proposed changes, said Paul Henderson, director of Olympic and Paralympic operations for the city.

Henderson said the biggest change is how the city is allowed to respond to signs deemed offensive.

For example, under current bylaws, someone who puts up an illegal or offensive sign is sent a notice and has 21 days to remove it.

"At Games time, that wouldn't provide any sort of deterrent to putting up an illegal sign," Henderson said.

"We're looking for increased ability to effectively, if someone puts up an illegal sign, to be able to remove it almost immediately."

Tuesday's meeting will also include a motion calling on Games organizers to fulfill a promise to communicate with inner-city residents over the security plan for the Games.

The promise is in the Inner City Inclusivity Statement, a social contract the bid committee for the Games, as well as community organizations and government agencies, signed in the process of bidding for the Olympics.

One of its promises is that the parties "commit to a timely public consultation that is accessible to inner-city neighbourhoods, before any security legislation or regulations are finalized, subject to lawful and legitimate confidentiality requirements."

That consultation has not materialized.

Geoff Meggs is the city councillor who is bringing forward the motion.

"It's important to show voters and residents that we're going to live up to commitments that were made to take their concerns and interests into account when we're planning the Games," he said.

Eby said he welcomes the city taking a proactive stand on the agreement but that he hopes it isn't just another empty promise to consult residents about Games planning.

Neither the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the Olympics nor the RCMP, the lead agency for security at the Games, wanted to comment in depth on the motion until it's debated before city council.

While it will be brought forward at Tuesday's meeting, the motion may not be debated until later in the week.

The bylaw changes will require the province to amend the city's charter, the same way it just did to allow Vancouver to borrow money to cover the cost of building the athletes village.

With files from The Canadian Press