Eby has left the building!

There wasn't a lot of love for VANOC or the Vancouver 2010 Integrated Security Unit at Simon Fraser University's Harbour Centre campus on Nov. 26. That may be an understatement.

Am Johal's Impact on Communities Coalition forum on Olympic security and civil liberties lost its civil libertarian early when B.C. Civil Liberties Association executive director read a scathing open letter to VANOC and V2010 ISU and dramatically departed.

VANOC commercial rights director Bill Cooper was part of the panel while vice-president of sustainability Linda Coady was watching from the audience, along with other staffers.

Eby read an eight minute, 17-second litany of historical VANOC errors of omission and commission and earned a raucous round of applause from the audience upon his exit from stage left. The VANOC and V2010 ISU types were not clapping.

Here are excerpts from his speech.

"The things our community says mean little to your organizations at this stage... nothing anyone says here today will make you change your plans and tactics.

"I'm concerned with your wilful and continuous disconnect from our community.

"It seems trite at this point to mention the Inner City Inclusive statement and report that you broke your promises. But I will. And you did.

"You promised to protect low-income tenants, you did not do so. You promised to leave a legacy of affordable housing, you abandoned that plan when it looked like it might cost more than anticipated.

"You promised ot arrange the Olympics so they did not make the lives of the poorest and most marginalized in our society worse. Then you said you'd arrest those who squatted in your secuirty zones. Your leadership endorsed the plan to arrest the homeless who refuse to report to shelters and you ran two Olympic lanes up the middle of Hastings Street. You promised to fund a watchdog to ensure that you'd keep your promises. That promise too is a lie and hardly a surprise.

"VANOC, an organization that is funded by government, the majority of whose board is appointed by government, whose business plan is directed by government, and who, despite this, spent tens of thousands of dollars, perhaps hundreds of thousands of dollars, convincing a court they are exempt from the Charter or Rights and Freedoms, that engaged in such a practice for the remarkable purpose of preventing women from competing equally in a sport that men compete in.

"What do you say to representatives of VANOC? A group already exempt from Freedom of Information laws, but who nonetheless pioneered the idea of a meeting where no minutes are kept, so that freeodm of information requests to government partners will not reveal what hidden policy agendas they're pursuing. How can we as citizens demand any accountability when it's simply impossible to know who's steering the Olympic ship into the rocks at what time?

"This evening it's my luxury to ignore your concerns...

"Just as for the last five years you had better things to do than listen to our community, this evening I have better things to do than to listen to you. I wish you a good evening."

Fuel for the Flame: No foolin'

On May 15, I told you about the hole that crews dug (and covered) at the centre of B.C. Place Stadium's floor.

That's where the Olympic cauldron is going, say my sources. It's a logical spot because it's the most visible location as far away as you can get from the air-supported fabric roof while still being indoors. See the video.

Now I have more fuel for the fire. A natural gas pipe was installed in the east end zone tunnel next to section 227. I shot photos after the B.C. Lions' regular season finale on Nov. 7. The cauldron will be fed with natural gas to keep the Olympic flame burning Feb. 12 to 28.

VANOC's virtual disgrace

Oh, to have been a fly on the wall at the Saturday morning gong show in the VANOC headquarters and at Tickets.com!

The Nov. 7 online and phone sale of 100,000 tickets for the 2010 Winter Olympics in the Canadian market could have generated, by my estimate, at least $15 million in a single-day if all sold out. That's money that cash-strapped VANOC needs so it can avoid relying on a line of credit to get by.

The first signs of trouble were apparent shortly after 10 a.m. PST when not even the virtual waiting room was open. Many prospective customers got a page that said tickets would go on sale at 10 a.m. PST on June 6! That was the start of phase 2. This was supposed to be phase 3.

Anger mounted on Twitter and after an hour some people said they would give-up. The silence from VANOC and Tickets.com was deafening. It was as if they didn't know what was wrong themselves. It is clear to see that VANOC is not equipped with crisis communications skills. This was a crisis in consumer confidence.

The website cited high demand, but that wasn't what VANOC spokesman Chris Brumwell said. A man who answered the phone and said he was assistant to Tickets.com executive Tom Benson said "They're all in meetings right now looking at it."

Finally, a news release was issued at 1:14 p.m. PST in which Tickets.com CEO Larry Witherspoon apologized. The news release explained there was a configuration difficulty "between the virtual waiting room and the ticketing transaction site."

In plain English: somebody wasn't doing their job properly. The virtual waiting room seemed to work during phase 2 in June. Most complaints had to do with the long waits to get out of the waiting room and into the ticket-ordering website. But the demand-management measure didn't work on the phase 3 launch day. It was a multimillion-dollar mistake that left egg on the face of both VANOC and Tickets.com.

I wonder how many Tickets.com techies will get virtually fired?

I wonder if VANOC will swallow its pride and offer something to recognize the time spent by prospective ticket buyers on Saturday morning? A free souvenir pin to each and every one who tried logging on would be a nice gesture. (Certainly the VANOC servers should have recorded digital footprints.)

I wonder how many unhappy customers will hold their noses and try again when the ticket window reopens Nov. 14?

Turn off the spin, because it's reality check time

Olympic reality check #1

Statistics Canada reported that the 2008 gross domestic product for British Columbia was $199.214 billion. That's the total estimated value of goods and services produced in the province for the year.

A Nov. 5-published PricewaterhouseCoopers report on the effects of the 2010 Winter Olympics says the Games will benefit the
B.C. economy by $4.2 billion from 2002 to 2010. That's 18 years. Do the math and that's $233.3 million a year.

The same report also said the Games produced as many as 20,850 jobs between 2003 and 2008 in a province where the government pegs the workforce at 2.2 million people.

Any Olympic financial spinoffs are greatly appreciated, but in the grand scheme of things, it's just a mogul on a mountain. Premier Gordon Campbell would lead you to believe that the Olympics are the driver of the economy. They're not.

They are, however, costing taxpayers at least $2.5 billion, according to a 2006 B.C. Auditor General's report. Add related infrastructure projects and it's more than $6 billion. And then there are the disruptions to businesses caused by Olympic security and transportation. Suddenly it's no longer the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow that Campbell said it would be. None of that was considered by PwC, because it wasn't a cost/benefit analysis.

"Even in Economics 101, large-scale projects are evaluated on the principle of opportunity costs," said Impact on Communities Coalition's Am Johal. "If we spent the equivalent amount of public money in other priority areas, what would be the economic spin-off of that? Rather than spend $900 million on security for the Olympic Games, for example, we could have spent $900 million on social housing which would have used a lot of B.C. wood products and put alot of construction workers on a job site."

Well, enjoy the party, hope most of the gold medals remain in Canada and pray for snow on the mountains and blue skies!


Olympic reality check #2

Health Services minister Kevin Falcon claimed the H1N1 virus -- not the 2010 Winter Olympics -- was the reason why the government was ordering ambulance paramedics to return to full service. The paramedics, who have been prevented from a full strike by essential services designation, are considered one of the three major risks to the 2010 Winter Olympics by the IOC, according to a VANOC memo.

VANOC medical director Dr. Mike Wilkinson gave the B.C. Ambulance Service an Oct. 1 deadline because emergency planning for the Games was three months behind.

"At the latest IOC Coordination Commission review in August, the (British Columbia Ambulance Service) strike and uncertainty was raised as one of the three major risks to the Games from the IOC's point of view," said Dr. Mike Wilkinson's Sept. 14 memo to BCAS executives. The memo was copied to VANOC executive vice-president Cathy Priestner Allinger.

Falcon did two things wrong. First, by not disclosing the real reason for the back-to-work order. Second, by fanning the flames of H1N1 paranoia.

Now is not the time to exploit pandemic fears to score political points.

Exclusive: 2010 Olympics went cap in hand to government

Turns out that VANOC chief financial officer John McLaughlin has either been muzzled by his employer or isn't a man of his word.

I'm hoping it's the former. McLaughlin has answered my questions before -- even though some of the answers were vague. But at least he took the time to do his best to represent his organization. For some reason, McLaughlin couldn't talk about the VANOC bid for a bailout from taxpayers and the unusual accounting for Olympic stadium construction.

When he was on a media teleconference Oct. 26 to discuss VANOC's annual report through July 2009, I asked about a letter he wrote March 26 to Philip Steenkamp, CEO of the B.C. government's 2010 Winter Games Secretariat. See above (click to enlarge). I got it via a Freedom of Information request to the B.C. government. In that letter, McLaughlin sought more taxpayers' money to pay for the Olympic torch relay and opening ceremony at B.C. Place Stadium. How much money? Well, that was censored by some bureaucrat, based on the fear that disclosure would compromise financial interests.

I also asked McLaughlin about the Feb. 5 invoice for $3.5 million for Games-related B.C. Place Stadium upgrades. It's also above. Until then, only $300,000 was spent. McLaughlin told media on a June 16 conference call that the VANOC board okayed on May 20 an $8.3 million withdrawal from the construction rainy-day fund.

The report for the period ending April 30 included an extraordinary footnote about the board decision, which made the B.C. Place budget $12.1 million. VANOC has never explained how the extra funds would be spent, citing the need to keep secrets to preserve a surprise for the opening ceremony. None of the government documents I received gave a hint. Such withdrawals from the construction rainy-day fund are supposed to be backed-up with paper work to the Secretariat, the B.C. government agency overseeing VANOC.

Could that money have actually been diverted to the torch relay and opening ceremony operational budgets, as per the March 26 plea? Could it have gone to payroll?

McLaughlin said on that Oct. 26 conference call that he would "be happy" to talk to me about these matters. "We'll arrange to talk after this," he said.

McLaughlin didn't respond to subsequent emails over the following week and VANOC communications vice-president Renee Smith-Valade and her staff claimed he was "unavailable." I had similar luck trying to get Steenkamp to talk.

When reporters hear "unavailable," it really means "doesn't want or not permitted" to comment. But I got to thinking, maybe VANOC is right. Maybe McLaughlin really is unavailable.

Maybe he is:

A. sick with H1N1;
B. vacationing in Mexico;
C. playing the Mario and Sonic Olympic video game;
D. writing more bailout request letters to governments at all levels;
E. recovering from H1N1 in Mexico by playing the Mario and Sonic video game between writing letters seeking more government bailouts.

Just a tease?

C is for Canada, conservative and champions.

Canada’s 2010 Winter Olympic athletes will be sporting a conservative look in their quest to Own the Podium at the Vancouver Games in February.

This is in stark contrast to the very loud styles worn at Beijing 2008. Those duds were a dud, because they earned a thumbs down from consumers and the media. They were stacking 'em deep and selling 'em cheap even before the Games opened!

I spotted the items below on the shelves and racks Sept. 23 at the Park Royal location of Hudson’s Bay Company, the VANOC sponsor/Canadian Olympic Committee supplier. Is HBC quietly slipping some items into stores to create a buzz? Or did somebody open some important boxes before they were supposed to?

The black circular C on white with the red maple leaf in the middle is prominently featured. Another icon features a shield with a black, snow-capped mountain above ocean waves with 2010 in white across the middle. The shirts and drink containers include O Canada lyrics True North, Strong and Free.

True North, Strong and Free. It’s also used as the minority Conservative government’s slogan. The Tories, under Prime Minister Stephen Harper, view the Games as a an international image-building vehicle to exert sovereignty over the Arctic and boost the might of Canada’s military, which is fighting in Afghanistan.

Official unveiling is Oct. 1 at the downtown Vancouver HBC store, site of the official Olympic Superstore.

Vancouver cops loafin' and sweepin' at the Bayshore

While the Canada Maritime Conference opened at the Westin Bayshore hotel in Vancouver on Sept. 23, Vancouver Police Department officers were huddled on the second floor for Sweep Training. That's what the lobby sign said.

That explains the well-groomed, plainclothes types spotted slowly wandering Coal Harbour area sidewalks with clipboards. The duos and trios were noting every parking meter, pole, fire hydrant and crack in walkways. And, no, they weren't armed with brooms or brushes.

Every Olympic venue will be thoroughly examined in security sweeps during pre-Games lockdowns.

The cops came and went in some of the newest additions to the VPD fleet, Dodge Sprinter vans. The rest of the world knows it as a Mercedes-Benz model or a "bread van" for the loaf-shape.

These vans are popular with police worldwide, from the scene of European soccer riots to patrols of Tiananmen Square in Beijing. Look for them around the Olympic city.

The Olympics are a venue for Nike and Adidas to show off their latest, high-tech gear that turns mere mortals into gold medalists. It's also an occasion for security and safety equipment suppliers to hype their products.

The Westin Bayshore, by the way, will be among the three most-secured locations of the 2010 Winter Olympics because it is the primary Olympic family hotel. Only the Vancouver and Whistler Olympic villages will have such tight security.

A Wacky week

This week's VANOC theme is Chilliwack.

On Sept. 21 at the Roundhouse Community Centre, 70 projects were added to the 2010 Cultural Olympiad. The news conference ended with a performance by Bill Henderson, leader of the classic rock band named for the "green heart" of the Fraser Valley.

On Sept. 23, VANOC is staging a dress rehearsal of the Olympic torch relay, sans flame. The route hasn't been published, but VANOC said the convoy would go through Hope, Seabird Island, Harrison Hot Springs, Agassiz, Rosedale, Chilliwack and Abbotsford from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. The same communities are scheduled for a visit by the torch on Feb. 7 when it's en route to the Feb. 12 opening ceremony in Vancouver.

Media have been advised the faux relay will pass Chilliwack Spirit Square at 12:50 p.m. A test community celebration will be held at 1:14 p.m. at Chilliwack Landing Leisure Centre.

The first torch will be lit in Olympia, Greece on Oct. 22, run around Greece for a week, handed-over to Canada's Gov. Gen. Michaelle Jean on Oct. 29 and then transported in a canister aboard a Canadian Forces military charter plane for the Oct. 30 arrival in Victoria.

The torch will be accompanied on its tour by a convoy of vehicles. Some documents I have obtained show three police cruisers, two torchbearers’ motorcoaches, two SUVs, five trucks, two buses for security and guest relations, six police motorcycles and an ambulance. The torchbearer will be escorted by two RCMP “security runners.” Some 45,000 kilometres must be covered in 106 days by 12,000 people. More clicks will be counted on the odometers of airplanes and automobiles than on the feet of humans. This is more a Great Canadian Road Trip than it is a human-powered feat.

Inside the B.C. Showcase at Robson Square

The British Columbia Showcase at Robson Square in downtown Vancouver is open and ready to promote business. Well, at least it's had a soft-opening. The official ribbon cutting with Premier Gordon Campbell is coming soon. Because it's not officially open until Gordo says so.

Sept. 21 featured a reception for Vancouver Island's Comox Valley and its main attraction, Mount Washington resort.

The ski, snowboard and snowshoe area next to Strathcona Provincial Park is hosting nine national Olympic teams in seven sports in January and February. Among the guests was Swedish Olympic Committee sports director Peter Reinebo who was spotted with Vancouver Canucks legend Thomas Gradin and Susan Kelsey, the Montreal 1976 bronze medal swimmer who is Comox Valley's biggest cheerleader.

The Showcase itself is like a small-scale version of the B.C. Canada Pavilion at Beijing. B.C. wood abounds, as do video screens of all shapes and sizes. The B.C. Explorer interactive map is featured prominently. B.C. is branded "Canada's Pacific Gateway" instead of "The Best Place on Earth." If the province really is "The Best Place on Earth" -- as government propaganda tells us -- then why not say so to B.C. Showcase visitors?

Construction workers have packed up and gone home. The new domes and the Ice Plaza rink are ready. Just add ice. The official opening of the reborn rink is coming in the third week of November, according to title sponsor GE.

Pavilion panoply

When the global economic crisis hit last fall, the promotional plans of Olympic sponsors were turned upside down.

Only Molson-Coors, Samsung and Coca-Cola, B.C. Lottery Corp., and Heineken have announced public pavilions so far. Governments, however, don't seem concerned about spending taxpayer dollars. In fact, the governments appear to be rescuing VANOC in a subtle way that will be not-so-subtle come February.

Ontario, Quebec and Saskatchewan will have pavilions on the old Expo 86 site, the northeast False Creek Concord Place. The Atlantic provinces are joining forces at the Arts Club Theatre on Granville Island. Manitoba will be at the EasyPark live site along with the Sept. 20-announced Canada Pavilion.

The Canadian Heritage ministry is spending $10 million on the tourism and trade exhibit. The last paragraph of the news release, however, says bids will soon open for designing, building and operating the pavilion. Hurry up, guys and gals, the opening ceremony is in less than five months! Seems like this was written on the back of a napkin by Gary Lunn, the junior minister for the Olympics.

Why do I say that? Not because of cynicism. As recently as July the federal government was studying the feasibility of an Olympic and Paralympic pavilion being part of a national tour hitting big domestic events. In fact, the feds are well-advanced in their planning for the Canada Pavilion at the Shanghai 2010 World Expo and renovations to make Trafalgar Square's Canada House embassy the Canada pavilion for London 2012.

In August, the B.C. government released a request for proposals for a B.C. Canada Pavilion in the fourth floor of the Vancouver Art Gallery. Victoria and Ottawa partnered on pavilions in Torino and Beijing. Problem is, there was previously no plan to do a joint B.C./Canada pavilion at Vancouver 2010 and the entire B.C. presence was supposed to fit in Robson Square. Renting space in VAG was not part of the plan.

Robson Square was simply to host the B.C. International Media Centre, B.C. Showcase, 2010 Commerce Centre and the GE Ice Plaza free skating rink. The list is right here. A pavilion, per se, was not part of the plans that were originally envisioned by B.C. 2010 Winter Games Secretariat CEO Annette Antoniak. She was suddenly replaced last January by Phil Steenkamp.

Apparently, Mr. Steenkamp has new ideas. Or perhaps someone in the Liberal government asked for the Secretariat to do more while VANOC and the local economy have to do with less from recession-hit, penny-pinching Olympic sponsors.

Maybe B.C.'s junior minister for the Olympics, Mary McNeil, has a pen and napkin just like Lunn's.