A prominent civil rights advocate told an Olympics forum he’d given up trying to change the hard-set plans of organizers and security planners. Then he walked out of the event altogether.

David Eby’s pessimism may not have been genuine – his departure a carefully planned stunt. But the sense of inevitability evoked by the B.C. Civil Liberties Association executive director was one of the major themes of the evening.

Thursday’s forum brought together security forces, Games organizers, city councillors and activists to discuss civil liberties in front of a packed crowd at Simon Fraser University’s Harbour Centre.

Before he left the stage, Eby all but threw up his hands at the hope of having a productive discussion. “Nothing anyone says here today will make you change your plan or tactics at this late stage,” he said.

Bud Mercer, the man effectively in charge of Olympics security, suggested as much. He’d just returned from a trip to Ottawa to get the Privy Council’s approval for Exercise Gold, the last major security test before the Games.

“We fared very well,” Mercer said. “We’re good to go.”

VANOC director of commercial rights management Bill Cooper also signalled there was little organizers could – or would be willing – to change at this point. Corporate sponsors are an essential revenue base for the Olympics. And VANOC must do everything it can to protect their rights from ambush marketers.

“No matter your position on the Games,” he said. “To ensure their success we need to have confident and satisfied commercial investors.”

Vision Vancouver councillor Geoff Meggs took the stage with a not-so-subtle swipe at the previous NPA-led council. His assessment of the Inner-City Inclusive Commitment Statement – an important piece of the bid process – bordered on resignation.

“I’m frustrated – as many are – that it wasn’t pursued as aggressively as I would have liked,” Meggs said. “But that’s how the electoral process works. A different council came in and they had different priorities.”

A similar feeling of frustration was articulated by Pivot Legal Society lawyer Laura Track. She lamented the 373 per cent rise in Metro Vancouver’s street homelessness since 2002.

Olympics bylaws, the Assistance to Shelter Act and security/protester issues informed most of the discussion. There was little consensus over an exhausting two and half hours. Cries of “bullshit” and “liar” echoed often from the assembled crowd.

But if the goal of the evening was a lively debate, the evening was certainly a success. And in the closing words of organizer Am Johal: “We were not trying to sign a peace treaty.”

Geoff Dembicki reports for the Tyee.