Organizers of the 2010 Winter Olympics hope protesters will behave in a laid-back Canadian way and "respect” the Olympic torch relay when it begins Oct. 30 in Victoria.
"You’d have to be naive to think that we aren’t going to, from time-to-time along the route, see people express themselves," said VANOC CEO John Furlong. "That’s a Canadian tradition, it’s a value in this country and will always be one. But I do believe that what happens in Victoria will be extraordinary."
The flame will be lit Oct. 22 in Olympia, Greece and arrive in Victoria in a canister on a charter flight. A crowd of 50,000 people is expected at the Legislature lawn. Anti-Olympic protesters sympathetic with aboriginal and environmental causes have pledged to protest the start of the 45,000-kilometre tour of Canada that ends at the Feb. 12 opening ceremony in B.C. Place Stadium.
The relay will cap the busiest month since VANOC was established in September 2003.
Executives will attend the International Olympic Committee congress in Copenhagen at the start of the month. In mid-October, athletes' medals will be unveiled and so will the second phase of the transportation plan. Sensitive details of early-2010 road closures and neighbourhood impacts were supposed to be released during the summer.
“If you put information out too soon people forget, so we wanted to pick that sweet spot and we believe that starts in mid-October," said vice-president of communications Renee Smith-Valade.
Canadian delegates at the United Nations will present the Olympic truce on behalf of VANOC on Oct. 20 in New York.
The VANOC board met on a private teleconference Friday morning instead of the traditional closed-door, bi-monthly event that was planned for Wednesday. Chairman Jack Poole, who is battling cancer, was absent because of a medical appointment. None of the directors was involved in a post-meeting phone call with reporters.
Deputy CEO Dave Cobb, who is also executive vice-president of revenue, marketing and communication, said just $3.5 million remains in the revenue contingency. He declined to discuss terms of the International Olympic Committee’s late-August pledge to help resolve post-Games losses.
"What we told you is what we’re prepared to tell you," Cobb said. "This is off our list of things we worry about."
Cobb did not say how many free workers have been provided by private companies or governments since cash-strapped VANOC made a July 31 plea.
"We’re going to have, at the end of the day, into the hundreds of people from the corporate community that are loaned to us," he said.
Cobb said "several million dollars of out-of-home advertising" has been sold in recent weeks and the sales of the $285,000 deluxe ticket packages have resumed. He said there were two "immediate, on-the-spot sales" but didn’t name the buyers. The original sales target was 100, but only 25 sold by July.
"We’ve had very good signs in the last few weeks,” Cobb said.
Bob Mackin reports for Vancouver 24 hours.
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DPL
2 years ago
What a pile of BS. So the
What a pile of BS. So the manager of a local company over here in the village of Victoria gets to haul over the torch. The tax payers, may or may not show up at or somewhere during the trip around the country. Lots of cops,private security companies, Military aircraft and photo ops for assorted politicians. Hope they don't sweep the streets of the poor or the folks who feel the whole thing is an unnecessary expense. Sure hope they stay off our street.It's in Vic west and with any kind of luck it will probrably start at mile zero, vancouver Island version and go up Douglas. Will I be throwing rocks? Of course not, I will simply ignore the PR event. This thing has been going on for years, and the circus is all of two weeks long. The tax dollars spent is massive. VANOC has more VP's than large companies.
My God I'll be glad when the whole mess is over. Then the bills will start coming in and maybe there will be another run , as is, run the rascals out of town
North of Hope
2 years ago
He might get a better
He might get a better reception if he thanked the taxpayers of BC and Canada, not the CEO's and Directors< for paying for the Games. He might get a better reception if he thanked the people who had their budgets cut or eliminated so their would be enough money to pay for this party.
Remember what Len Dieghton said, "If you invite the rich to dinner, be ready to pay the bill."
North of Hope
2 years ago
He might get a better
He might get a better reception if he thanked the taxpayers of BC and Canada, not the CEO's and Directors< for paying for the Games. He might get a better reception if he thanked the people who had their budgets cut or eliminated so there would be enough money to pay for this party.
Remember what Len Dieghton said, "If you invite the rich to dinner, be ready to pay the bill."
G West
2 years ago
There was a line in the Sopranos
Came up time and again where one or another wiseguy didn't show the proper reverence for Tony's bar and strip joint - the Bada Bing.
Tony and his pals, insisted everyone not disrespect the 'Bing' - on threat of getting the shit kicked out of them or worse.
That's the trouble with such organizations - they can't understand why the rest of the world thinks they're just gangsters....I'll be out in Victoria - and it won't be out of 'respect'!
What a bunch of elitist twerps.
offended
2 years ago
Torch relay
2 things about this relay nonsense:
in my town, a seniors' outreach program had their $86,000 grant taken away. Result: seniors won't be getting out of their homes to socialize. They need this program.
At almost the same time, a grant to the town in the amount of $50,000 was given by the government for the Olympic Torch Relay.
Really?!!
And the second thing:
the female ski jumpers who are being discriminated against because a bunch of old white men won't let them compete in the Olympics.
Well, I got news for Furlong. I'll be protesting these events at the event. Because it's baloney. It's corporatism at its worst and it's not about the athletes.
Shame on Vanoc and the government for using the taxpayer to pay for this sham.
DPL
2 years ago
VANOC Now figures the folks
VANOC Now figures the folks shooting at each other in assorted wars , in respect for the big circus should stop shooting each other. Will that include locally the assorted gangs and the odd horseman. What started off as a display of amateur sports at it's finest is now making the province look like a bunch of fools. But we are a bunch of fools if we support the gang running the circus
The Blackbird
2 years ago
Respect is Earned
And so far VANOC and the IOC haven't earned mine. Doesn't look like they will any time soon, either.
Unkept social legacy promises, a failure to consult with communities impacted by Games-related business and a complete disregard for fundamental freedoms guaranteed Canadians by the nation's Constitution have sullied their image beyond repair in my eyes.
And then there's the fact the Torch Relay has been a fixture of every Olympic Games since Hitler's Berlin in 1936. Great tradition we're carrying on here!
Let's all keep a close eye on what happens along the relay, the police response toward protestors will be heavily scrutinized. If they go overboard, I'd look into a request for UN observers for Games time.
freebear
2 years ago
Respect the Giant Spliff Torch!
Its great advertising for BC, Bud!
The best, but least talked about budget deficit-increasing health spending solution!
But they are afraid the weed will turn the sheeple into citizens and volunteers!
Janie Jones
2 years ago
Dead in the Water
Yes freebear, there is getting to be very little left for the rest of us.
From the St'at'imc (stat-lee-um) Runner (monthy newspaper published and written by a white woman for the Lil'wat Tribal Council):
"Recognition Legislation: dead in the water
The Discussion Paper on BC Recognition and Reconciliation Legislation proposed by the First Nations Leadership Council and BC early this year has been laid to rest. On Friday, August 28, at the All Chiefs Assembly in Squamish territory, the passing was marked with a song from Nuu-chah-nulth representatives.
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What was the proposed legislation?
The stated objective was that the legislation would be used to implement the stated aims of the "New Relationship."
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What is the status of the New Relationship?
Separation. Divorce. Paperwork. Court dates.
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What will happen next?
Many Chiefs noted that there is only a six month window before the 2010 Olympics, when the world media will be focussed on BC and Canada. The Chiefs were repetitive in their calls for action before and during that time, suggesting various plans to attract world media to the outstanding land question here.
Many other struggles have been won because of world attention, such as in the ending of the apartheid regime in South Africa."
Gee I wonder if they'll be giving back the $100 million they took to implement the New Relationship?
And if this means, after signing onto the Big O and taking mucho more dinero, they'll be disrespecting the torch?