VANOC's Disgraceful Demand

As a former member of the Vancouver Youth Symphony Orchestra (VYSO), and a current member of the West Cost Symphony Orchestra, Sean Bickerton’s outrage over VANOC’s treatment of both the youth and the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra rings very true for me.

This apology is as useless as a Gordon Campbell promise not to use the practice of lip synching during the opening ceremonies, or a Gordon Campbell promise of inclusion into the opening ceremonies.

I am particularly troubled by the muzzling aspect of the contract signed with the VYSO, as it is indicative of the information/security/cost/etc. vortex that comprises the business of organizing the Olympics.

The spectacle of the Olympics has taken on a decidedly negative hue in so many aspects in my humble opinion.

Security that potentially infringes on freedom of expression and which costs over $1 billion.

Ticket prices that make any normal working family shudder and then come to the realization that television will likely be the “venue” that they can watch the events occur.

Intensive corporate protection of multinational corporations that represent everything opposite to the spirit of sports, competition and healthy lifestyles (Coke, McDonald’s).

A organizing committee that will likely do nothing to leave a social legacy after the games – as in, watch for the Olympic village social housing component to slip away due to market forces. This will only be the beginning.

And let’s not forget the nuclear explosions of expense and cost that we as Canadian, British Columbian and Vancouver taxpayers will have to pony up for years to come.

Forgive me if my Olympic “spirit” is as damp as our weather over the past week.

Read more great stuff by Jonathan Ross at www.civicscene.ca