http://www2.canada.com/vancouvercourier/news/story.html?id=0252c6ee-2eec-40e4-a551-9b46298c18de
 
Games protesters planning opening day rally
Organizers say cops bent on disrupting Olympic protests
Vancouver Courier
Published: Friday, January 29, 2010
 
Naoibh O'Connor
 
Anti-Olympic protesters planning a rally and march starting at the
Vancouver Art Gallery Feb. 12 say they've been given mixed messages about
whether authorities will try to stop them. But they're determined to hold
the demonstration on the first day of the Games.
 
Sozan Savehilaghi is a spokesperson for the 2010 Welcoming Committee, a
coalition of anti-Olympic groups that's staging the rally.
Members of the anti-Olympic community believe protests during the Games
will be disrupted by cops.View Larger Image View Larger Image
Members of the anti-Olympic community believe protests during the Games
will be disrupted by cops.

The coalition is endorsed by dozens of activist organizations including
the Anti-Poverty Committee, 2010 Watch and StopWar.ca to the UBC Network
of Sri Lankan Law Students, the West End Wild Animal Alliance and Workers
Communist Party of Iran.
 
"We've had a hard time securing the traditionally available Vancouver Art
Gallery as our starting point," Savehilaghi said. "We were getting a lot
of mixed messages from city hall, as well as from the police
department--the RCMP and ISU [the Integrated Security Unit]."
 
She said city staff told the committee the protest could go ahead, but
police have talked about protest zones.
 
"Traditionally, we're able, not necessarily to book the Vancouver Art
Gallery, but just put our name down so people know there's something going
to be happening there. We were told that's not possible because VANOC
might be holding something there on that date," she added.
 
A call to the city's special events manager to find out if VANOC planned
to use the art gallery Feb. 12 was not returned by deadline.
 
Savehilaghi maintains the 2010 Welcoming Committee won't be stopped from
demonstrating. "The important thing is we're going to exercise our freedom
of speech. No matter what, we are determined to do that," she said.
 
Gregory Williams, another committee spokesperson and head of the Student
Christian Movement at UBC, said the right to protest can't be suspended by
the Winter Games. He said the committee's policy is not to negotiate
protests with police or other authorities.
 
"The police are going to try to stop us, but they know well enough that
they can't be too obvious about it because they don't want to look bad,"
Williams said. "They're not going to just visibly stop us from using the
Vancouver Art Gallery."
 
Vision Vancouver Coun. Andrea Reimer said the Integrated Security Unit has
jurisdiction only within Olympic venues and in a 100-metre perimeter
surrounding them. The Vancouver Police Department has authority outside
those areas.
 
"The VPD has very clearly said that, to the best of their ability, given
the demands of traffic and extra pressure [like] the number of people on
the streets during the Olympics, they will support and work with different
protest groups to ensure their events can go off with relatively little
impact," Reimer said.
 
The city has permits for special events, but not for protests, which don't
require permits. If the protest might require things like portable toilets
or power, organizers are encouraged to contact the city's special events
office, according to Reimer.
 
Robert Ages, a member of the committee, said it's committed to a peaceful
protest.
 
"We've made a commitment and, in fact, are training marshals on
non-violent ways of preventing any problems or dealing with provocateurs
from the police or otherwise," Ages said.
 
"We can only be responsible for our own actions. We can't be responsible
for what the police do, but we are publicly and privately urging them to
act in a restrained and professional manner. If they do as good a job
organizing as we are, there won't be any problems."
 
noconnor@vancourier.com

Naoibh O'Connor