Three years ago...

Yes, it has been three years.

Three years since the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics began on Feb. 12, 2010.

The Games of the Great Recession. The Bailout Games. The El Nino Games. The Summer Games in Wintertime.

Hands up if you remember the heatwave or got sunburn; the sunsets were fabulous from my perch in the press tribune at Cypress Mountain.

Since then, the London 2012 Olympics came and went. We're now less than a year until the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics.

Coming later this month is the 10th anniversary of the City of Vancouver plebiscite on the Olympic bid, which was passed by 64% of the 46% of voters who went to the polls on Feb. 22.

Relive all the memories and learn shocking, never-before told stories. Read Red Mittens & Red Ink: The Vancouver Olympics e-book by Bob Mackin. The only book of its kind on the biggest, most-controversial sport and security spectacle in Canadian history.

Special $3 off discount -- only available on Feb. 12, 2013 -- to celebrate the third anniversary of opening day.

Click here to go to Smashwords and enter coupon code UV67Y to get your copy for just $5.99.

As a special bonus, click here to enjoy the Feb. 12, 2010 opening ceremony, in full.

Boessenkool, Burns Lake & Booze: 3 Bombshells

What a week.

Alberta import Ken Boessenkool got pushed/jumped from his job as chief of staff to Premier Christy Clark. Boessenkool submitted his resignation on Sept. 23, the morning after the B.C. Conservatives were licking their wounds after 71% of one-third of the party voted against reviewing John Cummins's lacklustre leadership.

It turns out this was one of those "uh-oh, they noticed, now we've gotta do something" matters. 

Global TV's Jas Johal was tipped-off about Boessenkool getting in trouble at a Victoria pub on Sept. 7 after Liberal caucus members and Press Gallery members had a round of golf in Metchosin. Clark started the week with a press conference where she released Boessenkool's resignation letter, but hid behind privacy laws and would only call it an "incident of concern."

Boessenkool lost his nearly $200,000-a-year gig and, under B.C. government employment rules, he must not lobby the B.C. government for the next year. That could hurt him in the wallet, since Boessenkool was a former Hill and Knowlton executive whose client list included Enbridge, Taser and Merck. 

Boessenkool allegedly got drunk and groped a junior female staffer in the Bard and Banker pub. Clark claimed the Public Service Agency investigated Boessenkool. But in a startling lack of leadership, it was revealed that Clark did not suspend her chief of staff, but instead let him carry on as the ultimate supervisor of the woman who was the alleged victim. 

Instead of giving Boessenkool the heave-ho on Sept. 20, BC Christy heralded the poaching of star third-place Chilliwack 

by-election candidate John Martin from the Conservatives. Politics before people, that's the Clark way. 

The million-dollar question: Why didn't the police become involved in the Boessenkool incident?

Boessenkool was replaced by Dan Doyle, the BC Hydro chairman who was the executive vice-president of construction for VANOC. Doyle was CC'd on the famous March 24, 2009 John Furlong email, revealed by CBC in February 2011, that indicated there were major safety concerns at the Whistler Sliding Centre. 

On Feb. 12, 2010, Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili flew off his sled near the end of his last training run, struck an unpadded pole and died. The track's construction was partly to blame. Almost $2 million more is being pumped in to correct the flaws. 

Furlong under fire for Burns Lake secrets

Vancouver 2010 Olympics chief executive John Furlong wasn't in London for the opening of the 2012 Olympics on July 27. His absence was odd, to say the least. Furlong and London 2012 chairman Sebastian Coe both told me in 2010 how they struck a friendship, as Furlong advised Coe on the ups and downs of running an Olympic organizing committee. Furlong served as VANOC chief executive at the pleasure of Premier Gordon Campbell, now Canada's High Commissioner to the United Kingdom. Campbell told CKNW's Philip Till in July that he hadn't spoken to Furlong for "months." 

On Sept. 27, Furlong was slammed with allegations in the Georgia Straight that he abused students at a Burns Lake, B.C. Catholic elementary school after he came to Canada as a teenager. The RCMP confirmed it is investigating. 

Furlong vehemently denied their claims, which are contained in eight affidavits obtained by Georgia Straight contributor Laura Robinson. He suggested he was the victim of a blackmail attempt. Furlong and his lawyer Marvin Storrow said they would sue for defamation. They refused to answer questions from reporters. 

Furlong, however, conceded that he had actually lived in Burns Lake. He said it was a "brief" and "uneventful" time. That was news to anyone who bought his book, Patriot Hearts, or paid to hear one of his speaking engagements. It was also news to his co-writer, Gary Mason. Furlong's memoir only indicates he arrived in Canada with his wife and two children 

in 1974 at Edmonton and settled in Prince George. 

Odd that an immigrant to Canada would omit any mention of his first impressions of his new country. Also odd that he would use the word "uneventful" to describe a period of his life in which he married his first wife who bore his first two children.

Read more from The Tyee here. 

BCGEU beats Booze Barn bid

And then the third bombshell of the week. The Liquor Distribution Branch privatization was cancelled 220 days since it was announced and 18 days before the successful bidder was scheduled to be announced. 

This one came wrapped by the government inside the new deal for the B.C. Government and Services Employees' Union. BCGEU president Darryl Walker said the prospect of thwarting the government's planned sale of warehousing and distribution came as a surprise to him earlier in the week. Read more in Business in Vancouver here.

The government appears to have made the right choice by putting a cork in the plan. It published no business plan to justify the privatization and conducted no formal industry consultation. The privatization push was driven by the persistence of BC Liberal-allied lobbyists in an environment of a cash-strapped government seeking solutions to balance the budget before the May 14, 2013 election. 

Every step of the way, I discovered more questions than answers. Freedom of Information delays, denials and censorship. And, of course, the minister responsible for liquor, who avoided all my interview requests. 

I have heard from only one bidder so far. ContainerWorld president Dennis Chrismas hired the Liberal-friendly Pace Group public relations company to send out a prepared statement. ContainerWorld opposed privatization at first, but then submitted a bid out of self-preservation. The province's largest pre-distribution warehouse in Richmond would have had an uncertain future if it didn't win the contract because the pre-distribution program was to be phased out. 

I will have more to say in the coming days and weeks. I'm confident there is a story behind this story. 

This had the appearance of another BC Rail-style scandal in the making. 

Starting with the title of the Oct. 6, 2009, internal Exel memo that flipped open the lid on this procurement plonk. 

It was called "Project Last Spike." 

Furlong: white toques to Whitecaps

It seems Vancouver Whitecaps chief executive Paul Barber's chair was barely cold when the ownership group began thinking of re-filling it.

The media had been told that president Bob Lenarduzzi and chief operating officer Rachel Lewis would run the Major League Soccer franchise as a duo since the former Tottenham Hotspur executive announced his shock resignation on Dec. 9, 2011. Barber worked his last day on Feb. 29. (Sources told me Barber was frustrated that his decision-making authority fell victim to principal owner Greg Kerfoot's micromanaging.)

On April 12, part-owner Jeff Mallett surprised the gathered media at the Hyatt Regency Hotel by introducing John Furlong, the chief executive of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics organizing committee, as the club's new executive chairman. Lenarduzzi and Lewis will report to Furlong. Furlong, who served VANOC at the pleasure of Premier Gordon Campbell, will report weekly to Kerfoot, the mysterious, media-shy West Vancouver tech tycoon.

Furlong told the media the idea was hatched at a dinner with Kerfoot about six weeks earlier. The job is a full-time gig, without an equity stake in the company, that includes a desk on the same floor in Gastown's Landing where he led the Vancouver 2010 Bid Corporation and its successor, VANOC, after the International Olympic Committee chose Vancouver in 2003 to host the 21st Olympic Winter Games.

Irish-born, 61-year-old Furlong chairs the Own the Podium advisory board, is a director of Whistler Blackcomb Holdings and was recently promoted to chairman of the Rocky Mountaineer Railtours' board (more about that below). The Whitecaps' gig gets precedence for Furlong, who did not receive

any IOC or Canadian Olympic Committee appointment after the 2010 Games.

Furlong, who grew up playing centreback, professes a lifelong love for the beautiful game. He recounted how he thrilled he was to watch England's 1966 World Cup win live on TV. He may owe a small debt of gratitude to the world's most powerful soccer executive for helping Vancouver get the Games.

In the following excerpt from his 2011-published memoir, Patriot Hearts: Inside the Olympics that Changed a Country (Douglas & McIntyre), Furlong revealed details about the 2002 night he spent with FIFA president Sepp Blatter at VANOC founding chairman Jack Poole's ranch. (Many have called for Blatter to resign amid longstanding allegations of bribery and FIFA's reluctance to immediately implement recommendations from well-respected transparency expert Mark Pieth's Independent Governance Committee.)

The bid process could hardly be described as logical. Sometimes we sought out Hail Mary opportunities on the off-chance something might work out. Delegates were scattered all over the world, so face time with them as often hard to arrange. When we had an opportunity, we pounced it immediately. One such occasion occurred that August. Canada was hosting the women's U19 World Cup of soccer. Sepp Blatter, the iconic head of the International Federation of Association Football, or FIFA as it is commonly known, was in the country and, we were told, was going to be passing through Vancouver on his way to Edmonton, where the tournament was being held. Working with our friends at the Canadian Soccer Association, we arranged to squirrel him away for an evening to talk Olympics. Sepp was an IOC member and an influential one at that. We wanted to make an indelible impression on him. We decided this would be a night for Jack Poole and his wife, Darlene, to put on the ritz at their sprawling estate in Mission, a rural community 90 minutes east of Vancouver. The plan was to send a helicopter for Sepp and fly him to Jack's place, while showing off a little of the local geography at the same time.

We met Sepp when he touched down on the estate's landing pad. Yes, Jack had his own landing pad. The Pooles poured on the charm. The steak was brilliant and so was the apple pie. We had a great evening talking to one of the most influential sports kings in the world, who waxed eloquently about sport politics, including those that surrounded the IOC.

Sepp was in his element -- at the centre of attention with no pressure. I asked him at one point what his vision was for the game of soccer. "I will not be satisfied until every child on the planet owns a soccer ball," he said. And he meant it. Sepp was a formidable man, short and stocky and with an imposing face, who seemed to dominate his surroundings the way someone much bigger might. By the end of the night we were friends. As always, we didn't ask for Sepp's vote but we were all smiles when he told us we could count on him.

(Media scrum video courtesy SendtoNews/Whitecaps).

John Furlong named executive chair of Whitecaps FC
John Furlong interview

For the record: Vancouver hosted the North American Soccer League's last single-game Soccer Bowl in 1983 at B.C. Place Stadium between the Tulsa Roughnecks and Toronto Blizzard. The NASL championship was contested one more time in 1984 in a best-of-three format between the Chicago Sting and Toronto. The Sting swept the Blizzard in two games, winning the trophy in Toronto.

Meanwhile, Furlong opted not to comment on the ongoing labour dispute between Rocky Mountaineer and its unionized on-board attendants from Teamsters local 31. This, despite being the chairman of the upscale tourist train company's board.

"You need to talk to Randy (Powell, president) about that, that's how we've chosen to do it," Furlong said. "I think this is an ongoing dispute and it wouldn't be appropriate for me to talk."

Workers were locked out last June and the company intends to continue using replacements. The company also chopped limbs off trees on adjacent public land, but claims it was a mistake.

Flashback: Feb. 16, 2010

Ricker rides to historic gold
Bob Mackin, QMI Agency

WEST VANCOUVER: The fog lifted at Cypress Mountain Tuesday and Maelle Ricker became the first Canadian woman and first British Columbian to win Olympic gold at home.

Ricker, a 31-year-old from Squamish, B.C., beat Deborah Anthonioz of France and Olivia Nobs of Switzerland in the women’s snowboardcross final. World champion Helen Olafsen of Norway crashed midway.

"I tried to explode out of the gate, I really wanted to get out of that gate as fast as I can,” said Ricker. "It was really, really hard today to get a clean run all the way down the course, but I just held on and did my best."

The North Vancouver native who grew up near Cypress was the undisputed favourite after winning three of five world cup races this season and placing third in another.

Ricker’s win was the biggest snowboarding victory for Canada since Ross Rebagliati took the Olympic gold medal in giant slalom at Nagano 1998. Ricker also made her Olympic debut at Nagano, finishing fifth in halfpipe. Tuesday’s win was redemption for Turin 2006 where Ricker finished fourth in snowboardcross despite crashing before the finish line.

“Turin was such a motivator for me, it just made me work that much harder and just go for it for today,” Ricker said.

Ricker’s American rival Lindsey Jacobellis, the Turin silver medallist, was eliminated from contention in the semifinal. The two appeared to make contact early in the race. Jacobellis was the consolation final winner.

“I don’t think we clipped, we were definitely really close right out of the start, and I don’t know what happened to her,” Ricker said. “I don’t know where she went down, I just tried to stay on my line and focus on what I was doing.”

Turin bronze medallist Dominique Maltais of Petite-Riviere-St-Francois, Que., was eliminated after she crashed in both qualifying runs.

Cypress is Canada’s most lucrative venue of the 2010 Games. Montreal moguls skier Alexandre Bilodeau captured Canada’s historic first home-won gold medal on Sunday at Cypress. On Monday, Mike Robertson of Edmonton got silver in the men’s snowboardcross.

The West Vancouver resort has also provided the Vancouver Olympic organizing committee, known as VANOC, with its biggest weather challenges. Warm and wet El Nino-influenced weather wiped snow off the slopes in January. More than 350 truckloads of snow were brought 160 kilometres from Allison Pass in Manning Provincial Park to salvage competitions.

Allison Pass, coincidentally, is named for John Fall Allison, a B.C. gold rush pioneer in the 19th century.

True patriot's love

Patriot Hearts: Inside the Olympics that Changed a Country is in stores now. The autobiography of VANOC CEO John Furlongwas written with Gary Mason.

Sadly, it's hardcover only. Furlong and publisher Douglas and McIntyre have missed a golden opportunity by neglecting to produce an e-book. The iPad and Kindle are changing the face of the publishing industry and VANOC claimed to be sustainable. But Furlong's memoir is constructed with dead trees, albeit Forest Stewardship Council-certified paper.

Few gold medal revelations are contained in the book. A secret deal with the Russians helped Vancouver win the 2010 Games. Late luger Nodar Kumaritashvili's family was to receive $150,000 in insurance payments. Furlong is no fan of the NDP's Carole James or Harry Bains.

But there are nuggets in every chapter.

Here are things that you probably never knew about Furlong.

Chariots of Fire is his favourite film. He’s seen it 20 times. He hasn't watched the Vancouver 2010 highlights video, which includes his speeches.

He suffers from migraine headaches. "Most days it's tolerable, some days it's terrible. But it is always there, a constant reminder of a heady time in my life when it all started" (during the 1978 Northern B.C. Winter Games).

Was Canada’s national squash champion on May 2, 1986 -- the day Expo 86 opened. Expo 86 closed Oct. 13, 1986, the day after his 36th birthday. He was born Oct. 12, 1950 in Clonmel, Ireland.

Mentor and VANOC chairman Jack Poole hosted FIFA president Sepp Blatter in 2002 at his Mission ranch. Blatter came by helicopter for a steak BBQ. "We didn't ask for Sepp's vote, but we were all smiles when he told us we could count on him."

Furlong was named VANOC employee number one and paid $300,000 a year.

Cirque du Soleil was in the running to produce the opening and closing ceremonies. Founder Guy Laliberte wanted the opening ceremony’s theme to be about water and the world water crisis. Cirque eventually withdrew its bid. "We were looking for a partner, not just a contractor."

If Furlong had his way, slam poet Shane Koyczan would not have performed “We Are More” at the opening ceremony. Why? No humility and no French.

Furlong wanted Wayne Gretzky to be transported from B.C. Place Stadium to Jack Poole Plaza for the outdoor cauldron lighting in the basket on a helicopter. Security officials were not amused. Gretzky went by pickup truck.

He was raised on prison grounds: His father John was chief of the Irish jail system. Mother was Maureen. Brothers Jim, Eamonn, Brian and Terry and younger sister Rosemary, who was his closest sibling. Cousin Siobhan Roice died in an Ulster Volunteer Force Protestant terrorist bombing that Furlong wrote was on May 14, 1974 in Dublin (but the correct date of the Black Friday bombing was May 17, 1974).

His kids are Maria, John, Damien, Emma and Molly, who danced in the closing ceremony.

Patriot Hearts, however, is dedicated “To Catherine and the Canadian spirit.”

Catherine is not mentioned again until the final page of the acknowledgements.

That’s where the twice-married Furlong thanks "my dearest friend Catherine Bachand" for the "support, encouragement, compassion, love, deep loyalty and inspiration."

"Hers is a patriot heart. Thank you so much."

Bachand (below) was a VANOC employee. Furlong's executive assistant who became the head of the VANOC/Canadian Olympic Committee transition team.



Furlong appears Feb. 12 (9:30 a.m.) at the VancouverAM.ca breakfast at the Vancouver Convention Centre, Chapters bookstore at Granville and Broadway (3 p.m.), Feb. 13 at the Whistler Public Library (3:30 p.m.) and Feb. 14 at Richmond Public Library's Brighouse branch (7:30 p.m.)

VANOC secrecy extends to cookies

From the “why should I be surprised?” file.

The snack table at the Cypress Mountain media centre included -- gasp! -- free cookies. This was in the same room where VANOC was selling Snickers candy bars for $3. The ones with the special Believe wrappers. (I Believe that’s price-gouging!)

There was a whole basket of generic milk and white chocolate cookies. The one I had went down just fine with the free hot chocolate.

So who makes the snacks? Good question. The bilingual wrapper with very detailed ingredients (“may contain peanuts, tree nuts, sulphites and tartrazine”) and nutritional information (170 calories per serving) only says “made exclusively for VANOC, Vancouver, B.C. V5K 5J5.”



At the Olympics, there is paranoia about avoiding sponsor conflicts or making a commercial relationship where one should not exist. But this is taking it a little too far.

Then again, VANOC is one of the most secretive businesses in Canada. The organizer of Canada's Games doesn’t have a Canada flag on the property outside its City of Vancouver-owned headquarters.

Not exactly Canadian Olympic history

I hate to pop your balloon and rain on your parade, but the presentation of the men's moguls gold medal to Canada's Alexandre Bilodeau at B.C. Place Stadium on Feb. 15 was not the first time a Canadian received a Winter Olympics gold medal in a ceremony in Canada.

On June 25, 2004, cross-country skier Beckie Scott was awarded a gold medal for the Salt Lake 2002 5-km pursuit. North Vancouver-based International Olympic Committee member Charmaine Crooks bestowed the medal on Albertan Scott in the midday ceremony at the Vancouver Art Gallery.

Scott was the bronze medalist, but a doping scandal caused the Court of Arbitration for Sport to revoke medals from Russians Olga Danilova and Larissa Lazutina, who occupied the top two steps on the podium at Soldier Hollow in Utah. Scott was rightly upgraded.

Bilodeau was the first Canadian to win gold on snow-covered straw and soil at Cypress Mountain on Feb. 14, but Scott was the first Canadian to be awarded winter gold in Canada.

Reporter's notebook: unprepared security and woeful wifi

At the Olympics, organized chaos is the name of the game.

On Feb. 9, reporters allowed to tour the Vancouver Olympic Village were told to report to the bus loop at the cruise ship level in the Canada Place Main Press Centre by 1 p.m. We were to be pre-screened so that the motorcoaches we were going to board could drive right into the Southeast False Creek village and let us off so we could wander freely. Efficient idea. But theory doesn't always shake hands with practice at the Olympics.

The Contemporary International security screeners weren't ready for 300 reporters to show up at the same time. Ushers finally made the quick decision to separate the lines into rights-holding broadcasters and print reporters and photographers. That seemed to speed the airport-style security check, but then there was the wait on the other side of the fence for motorcoach assignment. We eventually made it to the village just before 2 p.m.

It would have been immensely easier - and more sustainable! - to hop aboard the SkyTrain from Waterfront to Main Street and walk a block to the venue security entry. That would have taken all of 15 minutes.

On Feb. 10, the NetZone wireless Internet - which costs a whopping $560 for 33 days - was not working for long periods of time at the Main Press Centre. When it did, the speed was glacial. This is the Bell and Avaya system in action and both companies ought to make improvements quickly or risk international embarrassment and calls for refunds or service credits.

Bell has been hyping the first "all-Internet Protocol" Olympics for several years while Avaya swept in and picked up certain assets of bankrupt VANOC sponsor Nortel.

Whoa Nelly! Turn Me Round and Wake Up the Neighbours!

K.D. Lang helped close the Calgary 1988 Winter Olympics. She will help open the Vancouver 2010 Games on Feb. 12.

The last dress rehearsal for the biggest winter variety show on the planet was Feb. 10 at B.C. Place Stadium and more than 40,000 VANOC volunteers and sponsors showed up to enjoy the unique event.

A source said CTV personalities Ben Mulroney and Tamara Taggart hosted the pre-show which included live appearances by Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Premier Gordon Campbell, Mayor Gregor Robertson and VANOC CEO John Furlong. David Atkins, the executive producer, thanked attendees and asked them to "don't tell the secrets" of the ceremony.

Members of the Four Host First Nations started the ceremony with a welcome greeting. Performers on the white floor were dressed in white, but the cheerleaders in the grandstands sported red toques, white sweaters, grey skirts or pants and white footwear. The audience kit for interactive portions of the ceremony was not available.

Sarah McLachlan and K.D. Lang sang separately, but Bryan Adams and Nelly Furtado performed a duet.

A snowboarder flew through the Olympic rings. Four totem poles representing the Four Host First Nations popped up and slid out at centre stage. The event stopped abruptly before the portion of the ceremony in which the torch relay makes its final lap around the stadium and the cauldron is lit.

"This will make up for 2006," said a source, referring to Turin when the eight-minute handover interlude of the closing ceremony was full of Canadian cliches, such as ice-fishing and snowmobiling.

The other opening ceremony

Some 27,000 people experienced a dress rehearsal for the 2010 Winter Olympics' opening ceremony on Feb. 8 at B.C. Place Stadium. Many of those who Tweeted were impressed by what they saw, but offered few details. We do know that Sarah McLachlan performed inside and we do know that there was a spectacular display of fireworks from the stadium's ring beam around 9 p.m. Louis J. Horvitz directed the David Atkins production.

We also know that the cauldron is in the centre of the floor, the program includes a Bryan Adams' duet and the performers are in red toques, white sweaters, grey slacks or pants and white footwear.

The show wasn't complete because there is still secrecy surrounding key elements.

All will be revealed at 6 p.m. Pacific Standard Time on Feb. 12.

On Feb. 9 there is a much smaller and exclusive opening ceremony at the nearby Queen Elizabeth Theatre. The opening ceremony of the 122nd International Olympic Committee session. I have been cordially invited to sit in the gold section and wear a gold-ribbon pin for the 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. extravaganza. Few details have been released about the show, but you can bet it will include some speeches in both official languages and presentations of local First Nations culture for the world's sport aristocracy to enjoy before retiring to their ultra-secure Westin Bayshore hotel rooms for the evening.



You can bet that the memory of Jack Poole will be invoked at the Q.E.T. The founding VANOC chairman will posthumously receive the Olympic order this month. A wall display in his honour was unveiled by Premier Gordon Campbell, widow Darlene and chiefs of the Four Host First Nations at the Monday opening of the Chiefs' House aboriginal pavilion. It declares Poole to be "Proud Metis. Proud Canadian. Proud Partner. Great Friend."

Politicians' small talk is always fun to listen to and sometimes cringe-inducing. At one point during a group photograph, Campbell turned to Four Host First Nations' CEO Tewanee Joseph and asked how to pronounce Eskwukweláýakalh Stamsh. That was the name given Poole during the 2008 closed-to-the-public (and media) naming ceremony at the Bayshore. The Coast Salish phrase means "pool warrior."

Whether Joseph didn't hear him or the answer was too complicated, I don't know, but Campbell eventually just called Darlene "Mrs. Stamsh."