By NICK DALLA GARDA for the Toronto Globalist
With both the Canadian Men’s and Women’s Hockey Teams, as well as a number of other Canadian athletes winning gold at the Olympics, which sees Canada hold the highest number of gold medals in the history of the Winter Olympic games, there is much to be proud of as a Canadian. Canada has been successful in hosting a Winter Olympics that has simultaneously unified international communities and spurred nationalist pride. However, in the midst of all the fanfare and excitement, there are still many questions that need to be addressed.
For instance, the crackdown by various law enforcement agencies on anti-Olympic protesters and activists is rather unprecedented. The RCMP’s Integrated Security Unit has $900 million dollars of federal and provincial money at its disposal for security, and strangely enough it has been using this to publicly confront activists as they go about their daily activities. One woman, Danika Surm, was traced down to the entrance of her biology class where (snappily dressed) plain-clothed officers asked if she had any intention of actively protesting the Olympics. She responded in the negative and declined to give them her cell phone number, but they still managed to call her the next day. The question is whether or not these steps were really necessary for someone who is merely a friend of a well known activist (namely Chris Shaw, a neuroscience professor at UBC and author of the documentary Five Ring Circus). Consider the necessary intelligence gathering that had to be done in advance before approaching Danika Surm, and they had to somehow find Danika’s class schedule without the school’s help as well as her cell number.
Another question to be asked is whether or not the money which went towards the Olympics (circa $500 million) could have been spent more wisely. Considering the problems ranging from poverty to drug addiction (remember that Canada’s only safe-injection site is in Vancouver) and forced prostitution which trouble Vancouver, the least we could do is recognize them during the Olympic Games. It should be acknowledged that while our athletes make us proud and we are hosting one of the world’s greatest traditions, our fellow citizens are suffering in various ways while we choose to pay for Zambonis and secret police (while saving on frivolities like padding for the luge track) rather than shelters and job creation.
I commend your simple honesty in writing this article. Not only has the city breached resident privacy, but the money spent towards this mega-tourist event (which I believe, is supposed to be closer to 6 billion, not 500 million), has not been put towards the poorest region in the country – internationally recognized as such.
Moreover, you are absolutely correct in regarding the prostitution here as “forced.” Vancouver is a human trafficking hub, and represents sheer ignorance of the violence against women in this city.