We are being told by government and Vancouver city officials that while the Olympics is a feel good event, Vancouver residents and visitors can’t go so far as to express themselves in ways that might embarrass the city. Three recent changes in laws and policies that add significantly to the powers of the provincial and city governments and their police forces wil help ensure that this won’t happen. All three bring back a few too many reminders of the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, when the government ripped down signs and took gypsy’s camping on streets and in parks off to shelters and jails as part of a campaign to make Berlin look better. All three need a much harder look.

The first is the well-publicized set of by-laws approved by the cities of Richmond, Whistler and Vancouver under a new provincial law that permits the cities to enter residences and other private property with only 24 hours notice to remove or cover up signs during the Olympic period. No distinction is made on the basis of the content of such signs, so it is not just to stop people from using the Olympic logo and symbols to advertise their products.

Next we have a new provincial law that will let police remove people who are ‘sleeping’ on streets and force them to move to shelters or jail. Documents quoted by the Vancouver Sun state “The officer takes a person to a shelter. If the person is not accommodated at the shelter, alternative accommodation may be found. As a last resort, and in order for the police to discharge their legal responsibility, the individual maybe taken to police cells… “.

Now we have the news that the Vancouver police are acquiring a high tech sonic device that can be used to cause grievous pain from a distance, making it very effective as a crowd control weapon. While the police insist that it is to be used only to improve communications, they and other experts confirm that it is also used by forces elsewhere for crowd control.

Of course the politicians insist that these measures will all be used benignly. They are not intended to be used to intimidate or interfere with the rights of people to speak freely either through speech or signs, or with their right to participate in organized protest. And we are assured, they are not intended to stop people from doing things simply because their behavior embarrasses visiting athletes, officials, and political leaders or tarnishes Vancouver’s image. After all governments are not permitted to do such things under the Constitution, and to do so would offend all of our basic values.

But we can we rely on the intentions of the police and security forces. Not likely. Remember the APEC meetings? I was a senior government official at that time, and thought I had seen it all, but I was shocked at the determination of the police and security officials to suppress behavior they didn’t like. The police and other authorities can be counted upon to make full use the powers they obtain, regardless of the intentions of the politicians who pass them. We can be sure that the police will push the envelope when faced with pressure to crack down on folks who make BC and Vancouver’ look bad’. That is the insidious thing about these kinds of laws –they are justified with good intentions but then applied on the basis of what they say. I have little doubt that protest signs will be ripped down, organized demonstrations will be broken up, and people will be lifted off the streets whenever the police, Olympic officials or government leaders dislike what they see or hear, whether or not there is a real security threat. And the Constitution can only prevent the use of these laws retroactively – that is after someone has mounted a successful court challenge. By that time it will likely be too late. And the police know that. So too do the lawmakers.

These laws mean only one thing – that the feel good message of the Olympics will be protected from any awkward protests or behaviors, regardless of our rights and values. That will be one of the legacies of the Olympics. It is not the one that most people hoped for. And it need not have been. The police have all the powers they need under existing laws. Our local and provincial leaders should know better. But of course they know that what they are really doing is giving the police and security forces the permission they want to use the heavy had when things don’t go as they want. For some reason politicians aren’t capable of resisting the demands for more police powers, so long as they have a cover for granting them. In this case it is the Olympics. I supported the Olympics but not to see them used to justify this kind of thing.

And kudos to the two city councilors from COPE (a civic political party) who voted against the Vancouver by-laws on signs.