Why are we concerned about the Olympics at Britannia?

Many concerns have been voiced by community members about plans uncovered to use Britannia as an Olympic venue:

Security/Surveillance

More than 13,000 police, military, CSIS and private security will be used for 2010 (Globe & Mail). All Olympic venues will have closed circuit cameras installed and in Australia and Atlanta they were not removed after the Games (CBC Radio).

We are concerned about:

increased police/military/security presence;
a "security perimeter" around the community centre with checkpoints, special ID passes and heavy surveillance including closed-circuit cameras/and satellite surveillance (Industry Canada);
that "security" would be set up at Britannia long before the actual Olympics and remain long after;
the impact on homeless people including "sweeps" by police and harassment;
increased racial profiling, especially of indigenous youth;
heavy weaponry (guns, tasers, tear gas, pepper spray, helicopters) near our schools, libraries and day cares; and
the constant threat of police violence and repression of opposition and dissent.

Community Values

The Britannia Board represents our community and demographically, this community voted against the Olympics coming to Vancouver in the 2003 referendum. If you voted "no," this process at Britannia is in essence the same vote (referendum was 'No to Olympics in Vancouver', this vote is 'No to Olympics' in our community centre). As one concerned community member stated at the recent public meeting: it is "very important to have a neighbourhood where you feel like you can be away."

Our concerns include:

That "security parameters" will cut off or severely restrict access for our seniors, students and children.
Increases in traffic and rents, due to proximity of an Olympic venue, and general increased gentrification.
That rink upgrades would be carried out at the expense of more pressing upgrades at Britannia.
That needed upgrades shouldn't be tied to the Olympics deal which uses public money anyway.
Britannia and its strong community-based history should be a leader in demanding that community centres need better funding and upgrades in general.
The Olympic machine (which includes corporate sponsors like MacDonald's) targets youth and children with mascots, advertising and school curriculum.

Service Disruptions

The success of Britannia has always been in the variety and diversity of services it offers to the varied and diverse community it serves.

We are concerned that this will be overridden if the centre is used for the Olympics including:

lack of access to the rink and other services such as the seniors centre, the pool, the library, teen centre, etc;
possible room rental disruption at the centre;
disruption to surrounding services and their clients, including Kettle Friendship Society, Reach Clinic, bus routes, pedestrians; and
the displacement of kids and adults in the hockey and skating programs.

Accountability and Transparency

Although private talks have been going since 2006 between Britannia and VANOC, the community has only recently been consulted after community pressure. The details of these talks have not been made public. We are concerned that:

The use of the Britannia Community Centre was not included in the Olympic Bid Book.
VANOC has repeatedly been described in local media as "undemocratic."
VANOC is not subject to freedom of information legislation.
VANOC holds meetings that are closed to the public and of which no official minutes are kept.

The new Britannia Board will need to step forward as a community champion for access to information before a decision is made about a project which will impact heavily on the community that depends on its community centre. We believe the impacts and concerns we have listed make it imperative that the new Britannia Board reject this "deal".

Meanwhile, the 2010 Olympics will have enormous impacts on other communities, near and far. Learn more...