The 2010 Winter Olympics will take place on unceded Indigenous land from February 12-28, 2010. Far from being simply about ’sport’, the history of the Olympics is one rooted in displacement, corporate greed, fascism, repression, and violence. Those with the most to gain from the Olympics are the political and corporate elite – from real estate developers to private security corporations.

The negative effects of the upcoming 2010 Winter Games are already quite clear:

Theft of unceded Indigenous lands

There are over $5 billion worth of resort plans since the Olympic bid, despite significant grassroots Indigenous opposition around areas such as Kamloops and Mount Currie. At Sun Peaks Resort alone, there have been over 50 arrests of Indigenous people who have been opposing the $295 million expansion of the resort on their traditional territories. Indigenous land has also been appropriated for the creation of transportation infrastructure such as bridges, port facilities, and highways. Since the Olympic bid the BC government has expedited the application process within the construction, mining, logging, forestry, oil/gas and resort sectors, thus opening up unceded Indigenous territories for sale to corporations, akin to the “gold rush” particularly for sport tourism and resource extraction.

Increasing homelessness and gentrification

 It is projected that the number of homeless in Vancouver will triple from 1,000 homeless people since the Olympic bid in 2003 to over 3,200 people by 2010. The hardest hit area has been Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside (DTES), the poorest off-reserve postal code in Canada. At present, over 1,200 low income housing units have been lost in the DTES since the Olympic bid in 2003. Meanwhile, real estate speculation and gentrification has led to a projected 1,500 new market housing units, primarily condominiums, being built in the DTES. According to a report by the Geneva-based Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions, the Olympic Games have displaced more than two million people around the world over the last 20 years. This figure does not include the estimated additional 1 million displaced due to the Beijing Games.

Unprecedented destruction of the environment

This includes massive deforestation in the Callaghan Valley to build the Whistler Olympic Center, clearcuts of Cypress Mountain which is a designated 2010 venue location; massive sand and gravel mining operations to build construction materials; and the destruction of Eagleridge Bluffs due to the Sea-to-Sky Highway construction. In 2007, 71-year old Pacheedaht elder Harriet Nahanee and 78-year old environmentalist Betty Krawcyzk were two of the arrestees at a blockade opposing construction at Eagleridge Bluffs. Harriet Nahanee contracted pneumonia at the Surrey Pre-Trial Center. She died a few days later, while hospitalized, on Feb. 24, 2007.

More privatization of public services and ballooning public debt

The total cost for 2010 and related construction will be close to $6 billion, with Olympic venues alone costing over $4.5 billion. For example, taxpayers are on the hook for $875 million for the construction costs of the 2010 Olympic Athletes Village, while costs for the Vancouver Trade and Convention Centre have skyrocketed to almost $900 million.

Union busting and vulnerable working conditions for migrant labour

Union busting through imposed contracts that deny the right to strike during the Games are common, for example in BC the seven-year imposed contract handed down to the BC Ferry and Marine Workers Union and the recent Canadian Union of Public Employees contracts. Social control over labourers is also ensured through use of vulnerable migrant workers. There are an estimated 3,000-5,000 temporary migrant and undocumented workers in the Olympics-fuelled and speculation-driven construction industry who are prone to hyper-exploitation and are vulnerable given their lack of full legal status.

Increased funding for the police, military, and border agents

Sociologist David Lyon has dubbed Vancouver 2010 “the Surveillance Games” since security operations will include over 13,000 RCMP, military & other security personnel as well as joint US-Canada military & North American Aerospace Defence Command operations. The 2010 security budget is estimated at $1 billion, almost five times the original estimate of $175 million. In the name of “national security”, additional funding is provided to law enforcement and security agencies to procure advanced technologies, such as Closed Circuit TV’s, that are used well beyond the duration of the Games.

Criminalization of the poor

Former Mayor Sam Sullivan has written “I believe we have a tremendous opportunity to use the upcoming 2010 Games as a catalyst to [solve public disorder problems].” Plans to “cleanse” the city’s core of the poor include, for example, increased funding for private security initiatives such as the Downtown Ambassadors; passing of the Safe Streets Act which prohibits sitting or lying down on city sidewalks; banning dumpsters from the downtown core. In addition, VANOC has set aside $500,000 for an emergency homelessness shelter “warehouse” that will only be open for the duration of the Games.

Corporate profiteering

Beginning in 1985, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) designated top-level corporate sponsors as The Olympic Partners (TOP). These corporations gain exclusive world-wide marketing rights for a specified term. Along with paying sponsorship fees, these corporations supply products and services to Games as part of their contracts with the IOC. While making billions, these corporate sponsors of the Olympic Games also have some of the worst environmental and social practices on record. For example: Petro-Canada is one of the most environmentally destructive oil and gas companies; Royal Bank of Canada is the top financier of the environmentally devastating Alberta Tar Sands; Hudson’s Bay Company has been responsible for the colonization of Indigenous land; General Electric is one of the world’s top three producers of military aircraft engines and a major producer of nuclear power plants; Dow Chemical is the world’s second largest chemical manufacturer and cause of the Bhopal gas disaster in India; Coca Cola has been responsible for massive depletion of groundwater and toxic waste pollution, and has also been involved in hiring paramilitary groups to violently repress union organizers throughout Latin and South America; and McDonald’s is one of the largest junk food restaurants known for its exploitation of workers and its contribution to poor health standards.

Repression of dissent

Anti-Olympic activists are already being subjected to heavy surveillance and repression and countless people, particularly Indigenous defenders, have been intimidated and harassed by CISIS and VISU (Vancouver 2010 Integrated Security Unit).  A May 2008 CSIS Threat Assessment document notes that “opposition to the 2010 Olympic Games is most noticeable amongst the more extreme elements of First Nations communities in conjunction with groups like No One is Illegal, the Anti-Poverty Committee, and the Downtown Eastside Residents Association.” Protest pens, fenced-in areas for demonstrators that are isolated from the public, and control of political displays are already planned for the Games under the guise of “free speech zones”.