Olympic Sign Cut Down in Whistler

Chainsaw used to cut down VANOC/MOT sign; police probe weekend incident

September 25, 2008

David Burke, The Question

In what appears to be the first instance of anti-Olympic vandalism in Whistler, a highway sign marking the location of the Creekside alpine venues for the 2010 Olympics and Paralympics was cut down with a chainsaw on the weekend.

Whistler RCMP are investigating the incident, which occurred during the early morning hours on Saturday (Sept. 20). The sign, which is held up with two, 10-inch-by-10-inch wooden posts, was left lying on the ground between the Valley Trail and Highway 99. It was repaired early Tuesday (Sept. 23).

One Creekside resident, Michel Chartrand, said he heard a chainsaw running near the highway early Saturday, but couldn't see who it was or what was happening.

Chartrand, who works as a DJ in Whistler Village, said he was just coming home from work at around 4:15 a.m.

"It went for about 10 minutes, and then there was a break, and then another 10 minutes," Chartrand said.

Asked whether he considered investigating further, Chartrand said, "I just kind of assumed that there were other neighbours who were a lot closer and they could see whether it was maybe someone who was drunk and just cutting down a tree, or something that maybe needed to be looked into."

Maureen Douglas, director of community relations for the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Organizing Committee (VANOC), said the organization is cooperating with the RCMP in its investigation of the matter. She said she doesn't necessarily think that the perpetrator or perpetrators meant to express anti-Olympic sentiments.

"I can't even begin to conjecture," she said whether she was concerned about the perpetrators' motives. "Random acts of vandalism are sometimes just that. We've had situations with the countdown clock (in Vancouver) as well, and at least once it was just random, and occasionally highway signs have their challenges, too."

The sign is one of eight such signs along Highway 99, marking (both northbound and southbound) Olympic venues in the Callaghan Valley, the athletes' village near Function Junction, the alpine venues and the Whistler Sliding Centre.

The signs were erected in April 2007 by the Ministry of Transportation, in cooperation with VANOC. In addition to marking the venues' locations, they acknowledge the contributions the federal and provincial governments made toward the venues' construction.

Douglas said she thinks the signs serve a useful purpose.

"They're highly visible to both vehicle and pedestrian traffic, and it's important and exciting for visitors to know where these events are going to happen," she said.

When they were first erected, the signs raised a few hackles at municipal hall, where one official said they looked "sort of billboardish" and weren't appropriate in a world-class resort. The signs were boarded up for a few days after municipal officials voiced their concerns. After some discussion about the signs' size and design, MOT and VANOC agreed to make four of the eight signs — including the one that was vandalized last week — smaller. Their design, however, was unchanged.