Broken Olympic Promises

When the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Partners (including the Vancouver Organizing Committee, the City of Vancouver, the Province of British Columbia, and the Government of Canada) made their bid for the 2010 Winter Olympics, they also made some promises: good, bold promises aiming to ensure a positive social and environmental Olympic legacy for the city of Vancouver.

As part of the bid, they promised to: (a) create an affordable housing legacy, (b) protect rental housing, (c) make sure homelessness does not increase, and (d) make sure poor residents are not involuntarily displaced, evicted, or subject to unreasonable rent hikes as a result of the games.

Statue of Ilanaaq the Inunnguaq, mascot of the 2010 Winter Olympics. photo by Bobak Ha’Eri

After Vancouver was declared the winning host city, the Vancouver Organizing Committee made a series of unanimous recommendations about how to meet these promises. These included: (a) building 3,200 units of social housing by 2010, (b) eliminating barriers to getting welfare, and (c) increase welfare rates by 50%.

Unfortunately, these promises have not been kept. The BC government has cut spending on social programs by nearly one third and eliminated any funds for new social housing. Over 850 units of low-income housing have been converted into condos, displacing Vancouver’s most vulnerable community and causing homelessness to triple. To deal with the increase in homelessness, the city passed new by-laws and the ‘Project Civil City’ act that has made it illegal to panhandle or sleep outdoors, further criminalizing the poor.

The situation in Vancouver is not an isolated incident. Over the past thirty years, the Olympic Games have caused the total displacement of over 2 million people. This includes: 1.5 million in Beijing (2008), 30,000 in Atlanta (1996), and 750,000 in Seoul (1988).

Along with the promises of housing, the Vancouver Organizing Committee claimed that these games would be the “Greenest Olympics ever.” Despite these claims, Vancouver’s games will be one of the most environmentally destructive in history. Over 100,000 trees have been cut down, mountainsides have been blasted, and the Fraser River has been grossly polluted. There have been a record number of black bears killed on the Sea-to-Sea highway expansion due to loss of habitat, and millions of Salmon fish have died in the Fraser River due to pollution. 

Shamefully, this Olympic `development` is taking place on un-ceded and non-surrendered Indigenous territories, without compensation to First Nations Peoples. Anti-2010 Olympic Resistance organizers state, “According to Canadian law, BC has neither the legal nor moral right to exist, let alone claim land and govern over Native peoples. Despite this, and a fraudulent treaty process now underway, the government continues to sell, lease and ‘develop’ Native land for the benefit of corporations, including mining, logging, oil & gas, and ski resorts.” Meanwhile, Indigenous peoples suffer from some of the highest rates of poverty, unemployment, imprisonment, police violence, disease, and suicides in the country.

As 1 Corinthians 12:26 says, “If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.” It is a beautiful thing to support and rejoice with Olympians as they reach to achieve their lifetime goals, but should we allow it to occur at the expense and dishonor of our nation’s most marginalized communities? Instead, we should demand that the Vancouver Olympic Organizing Committee and our government are kept accountable for their Olympic promises.

For more information on the true impact of the Olympics visit: no2010.com, olympicresistance.net, povertyolympics.ca, and watch a free documentary at thefiveringcircus.com.