olympics
Probe clears Victoria police chief of misconduct
By Katie DeRosa, timescolonist.comThe B.C. Civil Liberties Association is dismissing an investigation that cleared Victoria’s police chief of misconduct, after Jamie Graham joked about an undercover officer spying on a busload of anti-Olympic protesters last year.
The association is calling for a more thorough probe by the Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner.
Meanwhile, the man who filed the complaint is demanding a full public hearing, saying the investigation focused on discrediting him rather than looking into whether Graham’s comments put anyone at risk.
Clara Hughes says sports saved her life
Speed-skating champion, once a troubled youth, wants to help others overcome adversityBy Lindsay Kines, Canwest Olympic Team; Canwest News Service, The Vancouver Sun
It was last summer that Clara Hughes took a wrong turn and ended up in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside.
The Canadian Olympic champion, who moved to Richmond two years ago to train at the speed-skating oval, was looking for the organic food stores and cool shops of downtown. Instead, she stumbled on a neighbourhood beset by drug addiction, poverty and despair.
Feared police crackdown absent during Games
Homeless encampments, free speech, marijuana use unaffected by policeCBC News
Anti-poverty activists and civil rights watchdogs in Vancouver say their worst fears about police crackdowns during the 2010 Winter Olympics have yet to materialize, more than halfway through the Games.
Sean Spear, a director with RainCity Housing, said their emergency shelters and housing projects are full and their clients are appreciating a place far from the crowds.
"We also have people staying in our projects who are going to the Games and enjoying that as well, or finding other things that they enjoy about the Games — just watching some of the stuff on TV," he said.
Pot City: Vancouver gives games a distinctive odor
By JOSEPH WHITE, The Associated PressVANCOUVER, British Columbia -- Walk downtown around midnight and take a deep breath - but not too deep - and you'll experience the unofficial odor of the Vancouver Olympics.
And it's not maple syrup.
Condom campaign stretches around city
Activists promote safe sex, methadone during GamesJanaya Fuller-Evans, Special to Vancouver Courier
If Methadone Man approaches you when you stumble out of a bar on the Granville strip during the Olympic Games, do not be afraid.
The Safe Games 2010 mascot wants to give you a condom.
The person portraying the mascot could very well be Orla Adams, an administrative assistant with an NGO called Panos Canada and an outreach volunteer with the Safe Games campaign.
Feature: It's a Bird, It's a Plane, It's... Methadone Man? Harm Reduction at the Vancouver Olympics
from Drug War ChronicleThe Vancouver Olympic Games are getting underway today, and along with thousands of athletes and an estimated half a million visitors from around the world, the harm reduction community will also be there. A consortium of local, national, and international harm reduction and advocacy groups have crafted a campaign called SafeGames 2010 to bring harm reduction theory and practice to the forefront during the Olympic games.
Brian Hutchinson: Is Vancouver ready for its Olympic-sized close-up?
By Brian Hutchinson in Vancouver, National Post Final touches of plaster and paint are being applied. Volunteers wearing Games-approved smiles have hit the streets; police officers are at the barricades, waiting. Almost a decade in the making,
Vancouver's multi-billion-dollar party is one week from launch. Is this city ready for its close-up?
Advocates slam government's `spin-doctoring' of Vancouver homelessness ahead of Olympics.
Canwest News ServiceVANCOUVER – Vancouver advocates on Monday criticized the British Columbia government's plan to highlight the drug-plagued Downtown Eastside with an information centre for Olympic journalists.
Downtown Eastside Connect, which opened on Monday, will provide the 10,000 reporters set to flood into the city with fact sheets and story ideas about the notorious Vancouver district, made famous by the murders of sex-trade workers by serial killer Robert Pickton.
"This is government spin-doctoring," said the Carnegie Community Action Project's Wendy Pedersen.
Capt. Condom will be packing 250,000 rubbers to Games
By Damian Inwood, Canwest News ServiceNever fear, Capt. Condom will be here — in time for the Vancouver Olympics.
And he's bringing 250,000 safe-sex sheaths with him to hand out on busy street corners and in bars and clubs.
"You'll be seeing Capt. Condom, Methadone Man and Bi-Curious Man," said Lucianno Colonna, spokesman for SafeGames 2010 Thursday. "There's really no limit and you can expect to see lots of different characters. We're encouraging the volunteers to be creative."
SafeGames 2010 to Distribute 250,000 Condoms in SafeKits During Vancouver Olympics
SafeGames 2010, Press ReleaseVANCOUVER, British Columbia, Jan. 7 /PRNewswire/ -- SafeGames 2010 (www.safegames2010.com), a consortium of local, national, and international harm-reduction and advocacy organisations, is working to ensure that Vancouver residents and international visitors celebrate safely during the upcoming Winter Olympics.
