Halloween Olympic Torch Protest 'Will Test Police Vows'

http://www.ctvolympics.ca/news-centre/newsid=16107.html

Halloween anti-Olympic protests will test police vows
Rod Mickleburgh, Globe and Mail, Sept 21 2009

The first big test of vows by police and security that protests and
civil rights will be respected during the Olympics is headed for
normally sedate Victoria.

Under the organizing banner "NOlympic Torch Relay Halloween
Convergence," opponents of the 2010 Winter Games have been meeting and
planning for months to protest the Canadian launch of the famed
Olympic torch relay late next month in Victoria.

Tamara Herman of No 2010 Victoria said the hundreds of expected
protesters have no intention of using any of the so-called free speech
zones police say will be offered to them for peaceful demonstrations.

"We have a constitutional right to hold rallies. We believe every part
of our city is a free-speech zone," Ms. Herman declared Monday. "This
is all about creating a space where people can express their dissent."

Despite Olympic security and police promises that the Charter of
Rights and Freedoms will be respected - underscored by 2010
organizers, who say protests are part of the fabric of Canada -
activists and the B.C. Civil Liberties Association have expressed
concern that normally lawful opposition may be curtailed for the
Games.

After the ceremonial lighting of the flame in Greece, the Olympic
torch is scheduled to begin its 45,000-kilometre cross-Canada journey
in the B.C. capital on Oct. 30.

No 2010 Victoria's plans for the day include a downtown anti-Olympic
festival in the afternoon, followed by a Halloween-inspired "zombie
march" to a special evening torch celebration in front of the B.C.
Legislature.

"We are going to be the opening act of this circus. We are going to be
the test case for the Canadian Charter and the Olympics," said artist
Zoe Blunt, a protest organizer.

"People in Vancouver, Chicago, London, they're all going to be
watching us, to see whether the Charter of Rights will be upheld [for
Olympic protests]. However it plays out, we're going to be the first
to find out."

Added Ms. Herman: "Everyone's kind of standing around nervously,
waiting to see what happens."

She was one of three activists who had their homes visited last month
by members of the RCMP-led Integrated Security Unit for the Olympics,
seeking to question them about the Games.

"I wasn't there, so they tried to question my roommate, but she
refused to talk to them," Ms. Herman said. "It's harassment. No one
likes to have the police come to their private residences."

Several past Olympic protests in Vancouver have been marked by
incidents designed to disrupt events rather than demonstrate
peacefully against the staging of the 2010 Games.

Ms. Herman said No 2010's goal is to bring "a disruptive message" to
Victoria's torch celebration, rather than actually impeding the event.
"But I am not going to condemn anyone who takes on more disruptive
activities. We don't want people to think that it's business as usual.
The Olympics is a ludicrous waste of money."

Alice Bacon, co-ordinator for the Greater Victoria Spirit Committee,
which is organizing the first two days of the torch relay, said there
will be an opportunity for protesters to express themselves at the
event. "But we certainly hope they don't choose to spoil the
experience for everyone else. ... This will be a celebration organized
by the community for the community."
No protests are expected farther up Vancouver Island on the Snuneymuxw
reserve by Nanaimo, where native elders plan to bless the flame during
its stop in the native community on Day Two of the relay.

While one of the main slogans of the Vancouver-based Olympic
Resistance Network is "No Olympics on Stolen Native Land," local relay
co-ordinator Teyem Thomas said she hasn't heard a peep of opposition
to the Olympics.

"We are going to have a big community celebration of the Olympic
torch, starting with a feast," Ms. Thomas said. "One of the great
things about the Olympics is the exposure it will give to aboriginal
people. People will see we're modernized now. We're not the old
romantic image of the past."