Olympic Security to Allow Peaceful Protests

CTV news article on Olympic security, they talk about G8 summit in Kananaskis 2002 as a successful template (probably because nothing happened in terms of direct action). The RCMP also refer to protesters as 'stakeholders' which is... kinda wierd...

Updated Tue. Feb. 12 2008 9:17 AM ET

CTV.ca News Staff

Protesters will be given an opportunity to peacefully make their point during the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, says an RCMP official.

Cpl. Manon Chouinard of the force's Integrated Security Unit told Canada AM on Tuesday that the 2002 G-8 Summit in Kananaskis will be a template.

"The model that was used there in Kananaskis was something that was very successful," she said in Vancouver.

"I think we need to go and reach out to different stakeholders, which involves protesters who want to come to Vancouver with an important message," she said.

The Kananaskis summit went off without a hitch. Protests were peaceful, unlike the clashes that marred the 2001 Summit of the Americas in Quebec City.

There were free speech areas in Kananaskis, and Chouinard said there would be similar zones in Vancouver. "We need to do this. People need to have a voice," she said.

But the peace in Kananaskis came at a price. The security bill for the 30-hour summit came in at $96.5 million. The summit's total cost was about $300 million.

The Games, with a $1.7 billion operational budget, are a much larger event. More than 5,000 athletes alone are expected for the event, which begins on Feb. 12, 2010.

The security bill for Vancouver 2010 was originally budgeted at $175 million, but other recent Winter Olympics have spent about $300 million.

In the lead-up to the games, anti-poverty protesters have already tried to use anti-Games protests to raise the profile of their issue;

In May 2007, activists stormed the cabinet offices of the B.C. provincial government;

The Olympic flag was stolen in early March 2007, leading to a raid on the Downtown Eastside Residents Association, a group that speaks for residents of the troubled Vancouver neighbourhood; and,

A February 2007 ceremony to unveil the Olympic countdown clock was disrupted by activists, who threw eggs, paint-filled balloons and rocks at police.

On Monday, about 50 protesters gathered outside a hotel where B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell was speaking.

Angela Sterritt of Native 2010 Resistance said that Olympic construction has destroyed hunting and fishing grounds and sites sacred to First Nations peoples.

There are four First Nations bands participating as partners in the Games, but Sterritt claimed they don't speak for the native poor and homeless.

John Furlong, VANOC's CEO, told Canada AM that the organizers have tried to include everyone and live up to its commitments.
By doing so, the protests have declined over time, he said.

"We have a long way to go, but I think by the time we get to 2010, everybody will come together to celebrate and help us do the job we have to do," Furlong said.