The battle is on. Based on statements issued on Wednesday (Sept. 16) by both Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games organizers (VANOC) and the B.C. Civil Liberties Association (BCCLA), it seems that “observer teams” representing both organizations will be out in force during the 2010 Winter Games.
The VANOC observers, states that group’s press release, will be volunteers stationed outside Games venues “monitoring… commercial infringement and ambush marketing.” The statement adds that when such (alleged) activities are discovered, “due process with the appropriate authorities will be followed on a case-by-case basis.”
The BCCLA teams — actually a joint operation with Pivot Legal Society — “will be out on the streets of Vancouver during the 2010 Olympics watching for rights violations by the more than 7,000 police officers, 5,000 private security guards and 4,500 members of the Canadian armed forces.”
Those possible violations, the statement adds, might include (but are not limited to) “the rights of spectators to wear clothing they choose inside venues, and the right to be free from unreasonable search and seizure.”
In their statement, VANOC officials say they are working toward “respect for freedom of expression in balance with the celebration of sport.” It says the Olympic Charter stipulates that inside Games venues, “no demonstration or political, religious or racial propaganda of any kind is permitted inside any venue for the Olympic or Paralympic Games.” In the next section, it states, “Ticket bearers agree to the full terms and conditions of their tickets, including (the fact) that admission shall not be used to engage in political, commercial, advertising or other promotional activities.”
To us, it seems clear that this means if you want to enjoy a Games event live, you’d better leave your “Free Tibet” T-shirt at home. Or, for that matter, the one with the Pepsi logo. But would the one with the Coke logo (an international Games sponsor) be OK, even though technically speaking, it represents advertising and/or promotional activity?
We have no quarrel with VANOC or the IOC over protection of Olympic marks and Games sponsors. Those sponsors paid good money to have their names associated with the Games, and they deserve to receive maximum exposure inside the venues. But a person’s personal space is that person’s personal space, and as long as you’re not making a spectacle of yourself (i.e. taking part in a “demonstration”), as long as all laws are respected, you should be allowed to wear what you want to, either inside or outside a venue.
VANOC officials say they’re also setting up “safe assembly areas” near the venues “in plain view of the public and the media accessing the venues.” This sounds ominously like the “free speech zones” that were set up by in Beijing during the 2008 Summer Olympics, with the notable exception that demonstrators are not required to use them. This, to us, seems to strike a reasonable balance, though we remain concerned that security personnel might decide on the spot that especially loud or unruly demonstrators need to be marshaled into their designated zones. And, after all, isn’t all of Canada (including the parts inside Games venues) a free speech zone?
Personally, we would expect nothing less of either VANOC or the BCCLA. However, given that the former represents the Games establishment while the latter represents the underdog, it’s difficult not to have a soft spot for those who will be on the streets trying to ensure citizens’ rights aren’t trampled.
