Frustration

I was sitting in my American politics class today when two representatives from NO 2010, came in to our class to talk about protesting against the Olympic games and supporting government involvement in support other social policies such as affordable housing and free speech.

Now let me get this out of the way, I am a huge supporter of the Chart of Rights and Freedoms, and would defend it to the grave, but what these guys were arguing is bull*#@&!!

First of all, they argued that VANOC and the City of Vancouver have free speech zones and are imposing on the right of freedom of speech. As unconstitutional as this may same, it is constitutional. We have "freedom of expression" in Canada first off, not freedom of speech, and these protesters are still being allowed that right along with their right to protest, however none of this is being imposed on by the government. Just moderately maintained. For example, how would you feel if you were a bi-athlete from Germany, just spent 8 years of your life devoted to qualifying for the Olympics to have you event overrun by protesters (guys jumping in the pools in Athens in 2004, along with a excommunicate priest from Ireland nearly tackling the lead male marathon runner at the same games), or being potentially harassed or injured by this protest groups, which have not shown that they can protest peacefully. Such cases were protesters entering into the finance minsters office and vandalizing it, protesters cursing at the Governor-General greeting her as "your royal F*#&in' highness." I can see why the RCMP and the Canadian Armed forces are concerned about the security at the Olympics.

Secondly, they argued that the torch relay is costing tax payers over 150 million dollars to run. This is true, it is costing us that... for a once and a life time experience. What people don't realize in a country where being completely united is a huge issue, where it is easier to fly to Europe then it is to fly 3 provinces over, a simple thing as a torch representing pride and achievement is very symbolic to every Canadian and can unite us under that common vision. That we can be proud of our country, its athletes, its representatives who make this such an amazing place to live. Its not about the money, hell I would have chipped in a couple hundred bucks had they asked. Its about National unity.

Thirdly, they argued about corporate sponsorships and government tax payer money going into the games. Well I don't know the exact numbers, but think about how much these corporate sponsors are pitching in to promote and support the games. Without them, we as tax payers, would be left with ALL the burden. It seems like whenever a group is opposed to how the government spends the money that we so graciously hand over in income taxes, protest groups always go to the "spending tax payers money" because its easy. Personally, I think when the government uses the money for something illegal or stupid (examples: buying illegal drugs, inside deals which involve conflicts of interest or frivolous spending) then we can argue, but when a government spends 300 million dollars on a torch relay, to send a symbol across our nation to promote our unity in pride because Vancouver will be hosting the world, again its not about the money, its about national unity. Governments provide us with numerous social programs (I would argue they could provide more and inject more money into existing ones) but we live in a pretty incredible society.

The Olympics are supposed to be an event free of politics, war, and oppression. Its a celebration of sport and pride. I would argue the 99% of the people who will be in Vancouver during the Olympics will have no run-ins with law enforcement, like most people do every day. Its that 1% who decide that "their rights" are being infringed upon who create the problems. As previously stated, I am a firm believer in the Charter and everything it stands for, but I cant stand for people arguing that their charter rights are being infringed upon because the government had told them where to protest and God forbid requested that they behave appropriately for a single month in their lives. The 2008 Olympic games in China were different. China's human rights and environmental record are no where near that of Canada and they enforced these rules but its because who wants to have the world watching and see chaos with protesters. The way I see it, its like being a really great party, everybody is having a blast, and one or two people decide that they don't like how things are going or the music being played and have to protest and screw it up for everyone else. If your unhappy about the Olympics, then protest that. Don't show up and protest the environment, or low income housing, or a money spent on a torch relay and screw up the games for every one else. These issues are being addressed, they are extremely difficult issues to tackle. Poverty is another issue that governments (believe it or not) are trying to tackle. Since I have been volunteering at a downtown Victoria organization, I know this first hand.

People, lets be united and welcome to world to Vancouver in February regardless of what may be politically brewing. Show our athletes some support, who for the most part live in poverty while training to become representatives of our great nation. As for those who protest, be thankful you live in Canada and were given that right to protest, some nations aren't as lucky as we are.