2010 COUNTDOWN

A time-line of major events & actions, from 1998 to 2010

1998
Vancouver-Whistler 2010 Bid Society is formed, receives $50,000 from BC NDP government. Later has its incorporated status revoked for failing to file financial reports. The Society is comprised largely of real estate, tourism, construction, and hotel business representatives (those who will profit most from the Games).

1999
Vancouver-Whistler 2010 Bid Corporation is formed and replaces the Bid Society.

2002
Vancouver-Whistler is short-listed as 2010 candidate city by the IOC.

June 2002
Grassroots members of St’at’imc and Secwepemc file submission with IOC outlining human rights abuses carried out by Canada against Indigenous peoples, including those within their territories (Sutikalh and Skwelwkekwelt).

February 22, 2003
City of Vancouver holds a non-binding plebiscite (a public vote) on hosting 2010 Games. The vote is 63.4 % Yes, 36.6 % No. The Yes campaign, backed by millions of dollars from the government, city, Bid Corp., and corporate media, claim it is a resounding victory. However, the vote represents just 45 % of Vancouver voters. No Games 2010, an early anti-Olympics group, calls for a BC-wide binding referendum, citing the fact that all BC citizens will be paying for the Games. According to the group, the Feb. 22 Yes vote represents just 3 % of all BC voters.

March 2003
Two representatives from Secwepemc (youth & elder) travel to IOC headquarters in Switzerland requesting that Vancouver-Whistler not be hosts for the 2010 Games.

July 2003
IOC selects Vancouver-Whistler as host city for 2010 Winter Olympics. Shortly after, the 2010 Bid Corp. is dissolved.

September 2003
Vancouver Organizing Committee (VANOC) is established, comprised largely of former members of Bid Corp.

April-May 2006
At Eagleridge Bluffs near North Vancouver, environmentalists begin blockade of construction work for Sea-to-Sky Highway expansion. Some two dozen protesters are arrested by West Vancouver Police after a month of blocking workers & equipment.

FALL 2006
In October & November, the Anti-Poverty Committee (APC) occupy a number of vacant buildings and hotels to highlight the growing problem of homelessness in downtown Vancouver and its relation to the 2010 Olympics. Altogether, over 25 arrests of APC members occur. On November 1, seven APC members are arrested by 40 riot police after they occupy a vacant building near City Hall for two days.

February 12, 2007
Anti-Olympic protesters disrupt VANOC ‘2010 Countdown’ event, at which large countdown clock is unveiled, when a masked Native storms stage and seizes mic, yelling “Fuck 2010! Fuck your corporate circus!” A member of APC also gets on stage, yelling “Homes Not Games!” Some 80 protesters scuffle with police; altogether 7 persons are arrested. The event is aired live on CTV, an official broadcaster for 2010 Games.

February 24, 2007
Native elder Harriet Nahanee, 71 years old, dies shortly after serving a 14-day jail sentence following her conviction for taking part in the 2006 blockade at Eagleridge Bluffs. Nahanee is from the Pacheedaht and had married into the Squamish. Betty Krawczyk, 78, an elderly environmentalist, is later sentenced to 10 months in jail for the 2006 blockade.

March 6, 2007
The large Olympic flag at City Hall is stolen, just as an IOC delegation arrives to inspect VANOC’s preparations for 2010. Days later, just as the IOC tour ends, the Native Warrior Society release a communiqué with a photo of 3 masked warriors holding a Warrior flag and photo of Harriet Nahanee, with the huge Olympic flag in background. They claimed to have taken the flag to honour Harriet Nahanee and in opposition to the 2010 Olympic Games. One reporter calls it “good timing for a bad deed.”

March 12, 2007
Anti-Olympic protesters disrupt another VANOC ‘Countdown 2010’ event, a ‘flag lighting’ ceremony at City Hall. Having replaced the stolen Olympic Flag, VANOC officials and the city mayor are drowned out by 200 protesters, many with yelling, whistles and foghorns. Over 100 police, inc. riot cops, Emergency Response Team, mounted police and a helicopter are deployed, along with security fencing. People entering the grounds are searched; mega-phones are prohibited. Two people are arrested.
Earlier that day, the ‘Countdown Clock’ at the Art Gallery was spray-painted with a stencil stating “Free Betty,” referring to Betty Krawczyk. He sprayed the stencil eight times before leaving. At the time, the clock was supposed to have 24-hour security, announced after the Feb. 12 protest. One person is later arrested & charged.

March 29, 2007
Vancouver Police raid the offices of the Downtown Eastside Resident’s Association (DERA), claiming to have received a tip that the stolen Olympic flag was there. After an hour-long search, they leave empty-handed. DERA claimed it was a “political attack” to undermine their work for the poor and homeless.

May 16, 2007
Anti-Poverty Committee protest at VANOC headquarters in East Vancouver. Some 40-50 protesters arrive, confronted by over 100 police with security fencing, a riot squad, dogs, and helicopter. Media dub the headquarters ‘Fort VANOC’. APC members publicly state they will begin a campaign to evict VANOC & government officials from their homes & offices.

May 19, 2007
APC member David Cunningham is arrested by Vancouver police posing as journalists, who lure him to a meeting. He is arrested for “uttering threats” during the May 14 rally (APC’s intent to begin evicting officials from their homes & offices). Many media outlets condemn the police action.

May 22, 2007
Ken Dobell, a VANOC board member and close advisor to BC premier Gordon Campbell, is ‘evicted’ when 3 APC members gain access to his office in downtown Vancouver posing as a flower delivery ‘team’. They begin removing furniture and office equipment until police arrive and arrest them.

October 15-21, 2007
‘Homeless Action Week’ is carried out by various community groups in Downtown Eastside, consisting of forums, protests, a tent city, and an attempted squat. This occurs during a visit by a UN Special Rapporteur on Housing (Miloon Kothari), who describes the homeless situation as “very disturbing” and a “national emergency.”

December 2007
No 2010 Network is established to organize & coordinate anti-Olympic resistance. A Native Anti-2010 Resistance group is set up to mobilize Indigenous opposition to 2010. Both groups begin preparing for February ‘Countdown 2010’ events & ‘Cultural Olympiad’. Members of APC begin info picket of Hudson’s Bay Company, a main 2010 sponsor, with leaflets highlighting the company’s role in colonization of the region.

December 8, 2007
The windows of an RBC (Royal Bank of Canada) are smashed in Vancouver. The vandals cite RBC as being one of the main sponsors for the 2010 Winter Olympics in a communique.

December 9, 2007
Another RBC bank in Vancouver has its windows smashed. A communiqué cites RBC’s involvement in 2010.

December 10, 2007
The windows of a Re/Max Real Estate Corporation branch office are smashed in Vancouver. The vandals cite Re/Max’s involvement at Sun Peaks ski resort and related 2010 ski resort expansion.

January 16, 2008
Members of the Impact on Communities Coalition publicly express their frustration attempting to meet & liaison with VANOC & Olympic officials over a period of several years, and warn that they should expect a wave of protests from more radical groups.

January 23, 2008
Governor-General Michaelle Jean visits Vancouver during a mayor’s conference and tours Downtown Eastside, where she and city councilor Elizabeth Ball, surrounded by police and RCMP, are heckled by a crowd of protesters. The Governor-General is reported as being “saddened” and later cancels a media address. Mayor Sam Sullivan, who was to accompany the tour, cancelled at the last moment. The reception for the G-G received national news headlines, and highlighted the conditions in the Downtown Eastside.

January 31, 2008
In Ottawa, an RBC branch has its windows smashed. A communiqué from the vandals cites RBC involvement as a main sponsor for 2010.

February-March 2008
Cultural Olympiad, over 300 arts & cultural events in Vancouver & Whistler, with music, theatre, dance, literary, culinary, and street art (contemporary, classical, and Native). As part of Olympic Charter, host cities must have cultural Olympiad.
There are no large, public Countdown 2010 events by VANOC. On Feb. 11, however, VANOC and the 2010 Commerce Center hold a corporate luncheon at the Hyatt Regency hotel in Vancouver that is met by protests by Native Anti-2010 Resistance and the No 2010 Network. Among those invited to the $400 a plate business summit are senior executives from Coca-Cola, VISA, NBC, Lord Digby Jones (Britain’s minister of state for trade & investment), BC premier Gordon Campbell, and others.
The Native Anti-2010 Resistance & No 2010 Network also organizes forums, film nites, and protests to counter the ‘Cultural Olympiad’ and raise awareness about the impacts of 2010. Groups picket Olympiad and volunteer recruiting events at the University of BC and other locations throughout city.

August 8-24, 2008
VANOC sends observer team to Beijing Olympics.

Fall 2008
2010 tickets go on sale.
Indigenous collaborators & government “walk for reconciliation.”

Winter 2008/09
Official test events for 2010. Media accreditation begins for 2010, expected to be 10,000 media personnel for 2010.

February-March 2009
Cultural Olympiad (see Feb 2008), Countdown 2010 events.

July 31-August 9, 2009
World Police & Fire Games, over 10,000 police, fire fighters, prison guards and custom officials compete in over 67 sports throughout Vancouver area & Whistler; preparatory event for 2010.

Fall 2009
Olympic Torch Relay will begin the Fall of 2009 and end in Vancouver on February 12, 2010, to open the 2010 Winter Olympics.
As with other Olympics, a main propaganda effort of organizers is the torch relay. The 1988 Calgary Winter Olympics provides insight into how the 2009/2010 torch relay will be conducted. The main sponsor of the ’88 relay was Petro-Canada, another corporation then actively exploring & drilling on Lubicon Cree land in northern Alberta.
The 1988 Calgary Olympic torch relay was a major operation involving some 6,250 torch bearers running 1 km each over an 18,000 km route across the country (not all of it was on foot). The relay began in St. John’s, Newfoundland, on November 17, 1987. It arrived in Vancouver on Day 68 (January 24, 1988). The route passed through all ten provinces and two territories, and was designed to pass within a two-hour drive of 90 per cent of Canada’s population (largely concentrated on US-Canada border). It cost some $62,500 per day, with a 70 person staff in a 30-vehicle convoy (including media). In cities, thousands lined the route to cheer the runners, while in remote areas snowmobiles, skis, ferries, aircraft, and even dogsleds were used in order to have the torch arrive in Calgary for the opening of the Games (Feb. 13, 1988).
In January 2008 it was announced that
“BC & Canadian First Nations, Metis and Inuit will play a major role in the 2010 Olympic torch relay. They’ll not only be torchbearers when the Olympic flame crosses the country in the buildup to February, 2010, but their history and culture will help decide the torch-relay route…”
(“Aboriginal groups to lead Games torch relay,” by Damian Inwood, The Province, Jan. 18, 2008)

February 12-28, 2010
2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver-Whistler, ‘British Columbia’, Canada.

Convergence 2010, Feb. 10-15, 2010
A gathering of anti-colonial and anti-capitalist forces in Vancouver to oppose, disrupt and shutdown 2010 Olympics.

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