Olympic protestors manage to offend everybody
Wow. The anti-Olympics rabble that showed up at Vancouver City Hall last night probably couldn’t have succeeded in dissing more people in 30 minutes if they tried.
I decided to go last night with my child to see the lighting of the Olympic flags at a ceremony at City Hall. We parked a block away and walked up to 12th & Cambie. My little one was oblivious to the heavy security presence, but I wasn’t. While these guys & gals make me feel safer, for a short time it gave me a chill to know that we now need that much muscle to stage city celebrations.
Thanks to these 2010 grumps we can’t even hold a simple civic event without their aimless ranting.
In order to view the ceremony we had to be held back 20 meters behind a fence. Myself and other families and Olympics groupies stood at the left, while the chanters taunted police and event organizers on the right.
A group of young girls arrived on stage, a local Bach choir. Many proud parents stood in the crowd to wave at them. City Manager Judy Rogers was the emcee, and as soon as she began to speak the whistles and screams came out of the protestors. The rabblers continued to hoot, whistle and scream right through the song by the kids.
Then Paralympic athletes were introduced, including gold medal winners. The mob on the right still felt the need to scream.
Two leaders from local First Nations made presentations, and a haunting aboriginal song was sung to open the proceedings. All the while a bunch of white kids on the right screamed, “No Olympics on stolen native land!!”
Er, okay.
The usual assortment of political and Olympics figures spoke, and of course the chanting continued. Eventually my child grew impatient with all the noise, and begged me to take us home. We drew to the back of the field just long enough to see the lighting, then left…
So I got to see Vancouver’s anti-everything crowd up close, and it leads me to make these observations.
Political activism done properly is focused. It has an aim, and that aim shouldn’t be to disrupt children’s choirs, rant against native elders, paralympians and present a threat to kids. This, my friends, is the level that political protest has sunk to in the 21st Century: vandalizing property and howling until your vocal chords are raw.
Angry and sometimes violent protests, when they happen in Vancouver, more often alienate than achieve change. I can’t imagine a day when all discourse is civil, but it should at least make sense. Hearing this crowd is like entering a room where everyone has their radios set to different stations, and turned it up full blast. You just quit listening when someone won’t stop shouting at you.
Instead of making a difference, they transparently make political mischief. Some of these kids are smart, but they throw it away by constantly raging against the machine. That’s unlikely to change between now and 2010.
March 15, 2007 @ 2:43 am
Morning Brew: March 15th
Morning Brew: Beware the Ides of March (Happy Birthday Dad) Blogged Out: “The trolls, the constant attacks: in the beginning, you live off that. It’s almost fun. But after awhile it turns something that was fun into something tedious…” I’m…
March 15, 2007 @ 2:51 pm
I think the nature of the protests are a symptom of a failed democratic process rather than a cause. The fact that they are reduced to screaming is a sign of desperation, not stupidity.
By deriding the protesters intelligence and calling them “mouth breathers”, “anti-everything”, “and having 2 brain cells” cheapens your argument by easily dismissing the protesters concerns. Its a cop out. You’re decontextualizing and depoliticizing the argument, therefore marginalizing the political discourse.
Of course, people have been opposed to 2010 since before we were even given the Olympics. I suspect that if the referendum were to be held today after seeing that the naysayers have been proven right, what with the homeless rate expected to triple, the RAV line debacle, and the hotel evictions, (and if landowners this time weren’t allowed to vote and only vancouver citizens were), then the results would be closer to 50/50. VANOC has already broken its promises of a green olympics with Eagleridge, and is currently working on breaking its social component as well.
March 15, 2007 @ 3:43 pm
Hi Sean. I think I’m entitled to my own frustration here, and I wrote this originally from that view. Hence the edits to reduce the name-calling since. Try bringing a six year-old to an event that goes sideways and see how you feel.
The protests around the lack of social housing and the concerns raised about the Olympics in my opinion have some merit, but as you can tell I disagree with the tactics.
I agree we should not write a blank cheque for the government to spend money on the games. We should challenge our elected reps about where highways go, and when woods are turned into roads.
We should not ignore the strife many people face over unaffordable health and housing.
If there is anything I find offensive about politics is its tendency to divide rather than find common ground. Solutions exist for these problems, but I sense there is no middle ground for the protesters. Their role is to agitate, not negotiate.
I think there is some good in the things you pillory, but we needn’t debate decisions made a few years back. The fact is that Vancouverites of different political stripes must combine their energies to focus on how we fix the mess.
Telling the political leaders of the day that they’re a bunch of assholes may make the protesters feel better, but it doesn’t accomplish their goals nor does it improve the so-called failed democratic process.
March 16, 2007 @ 4:06 am
They’re not assholes because of the Olympics, but because they’re failing on their promises.
March 16, 2007 @ 6:38 pm
If you say so. Nice to think that you’d otherwise be supporting our Federal, Provincial and Civic governments if not for those pesky broken promises.
March 17, 2007 @ 2:31 am
You’ve got a point there but I guess as long as governments continue to fail the most vulnerable in our society there will be unrest. But your point also distracts from the topic at hand:
“I think there is some good in the things you pillory, but we needn’t debate decisions made a few years back. The fact is that Vancouverites of different political stripes must combine their energies to focus on how we fix the mess.”
So how is demanding that all levels of government prevent the Olympics from gentrifying the DTES not ‘focused on fixing the mess’? Or demanding that hotels not be allowed to evict low-income residents. Or demanding that welfare rates and minimum wage be increased?
March 26, 2007 @ 2:09 pm
So you agree VANOC has already broken promises made in the bid book. How do we hold them accountable ? How do we make them live up to their promises ? They are unelected and considered political appointments, numerous Olympics have fired the CEO of their organising committees before the games. Would the firing of Furlong help ? I doubt it. Fire Messrs Poole, Podmore Hennesy and their ilk from the board first and then see what happens.
March 29, 2007 @ 8:26 am
I haven’t said that I think the government nor VANOC have broken any promises, nor do I think they have. I have said that must be accountable. We can argue whether this is happening, but I’m satisfied with what I’ve seen so far.
I think it’s ironic that the city’s most famous gentrification project (Woodwards) led by one of the city’s most notable anti-poverty activists (Jim Green), and it’s being built by one of the city’s biggest capitalists (Bob Rennie).
I conclude from this that the solution to Vancouver’s social housing crisis is not black and white. If you improve a community then naturally it becomes attractive to people of means. This requires us to continue to build and locate affordable housing all around the region, not just concentrate it in the Downtown Eastside.