With the 10th anniversary of 麻豆传媒映画hosting the 2010 Winter Olympics upon us, we are looking back at some of the stories that were making the news in the Courier during those 17 days in February.
This story was originally published Feb. 17, 2010
They came, they protested 鈥� and they got approval from the police to do so.
A small group of activists advocating homes for the homeless unfurled a 45-foot wide banner over the side of the Cambie Street Bridge Monday morning.
The bright red banner read 鈥渉omes for all鈥� and featured the city鈥檚 skyline and an image of a woman crying.
Pivot Legal Society organized the banner drop as part of a national 鈥渞ed tent鈥� campaign to draw attention to homelessness. The banner hung over the east side of the bridge in direct view of the Athletes鈥� Village in Southeast False Creek.
But in an agreement Pivot made with the 2010 Integrated Security Unit, the banner stayed in place for 20 minutes. 鈥淚t鈥檚 20 minutes longer than we would have had it up if we didn鈥檛 have permission,鈥� said John Richardson, executive director of Pivot, after helping retrieve the banner onto the bridge鈥檚 sidewalk.
A few police on bicycles stood several metres away on the sidewalk but did not impede the demonstration.
Though the banner faced the Athletes鈥� Village, Richardson said it was not meant as a slight to the athletes.
鈥淚t鈥檚 really aimed at the Olympics and it鈥檚 using the Olympics as a platform to get the message out,鈥� he said. 鈥淗aving it face the Olympic Village seems kind of poetic justice.鈥�
Down below, along the north seawall of Southeast False Creek, a woman on her way to work stopped to gaze up at the banner.
Renata, who declined to give her surname, said she had 鈥渘o issue鈥� with the protest as long as it was peaceful.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 agree with people smashing things,鈥� she said, referring to a protest Saturday that included the breaking of a storefront window at the Bay downtown.
Richardson said Pivot doesn鈥檛 condone destruction of property and violence to bring attention to an issue such as homelessness.
鈥淭here鈥檚 many different types of protest as there are different types of people,鈥� he said, when asked if Pivot鈥檚 campaign would falter because of the destruction caused by others. 鈥淥ur aim is different, our methodology is different and the message is different.鈥�
Pivot has 500 red tents, 200 tarps and 200 ponchos emblazoned with 鈥渉ousing is a right鈥� and 鈥渆nd homelessness now鈥� that it is distributing over the next two weeks. Some of those tents were pitched in a vacant lot near Main and Hastings streets Monday afternoon.
Pivot鈥檚 campaign is aimed at the federal government and the fact that Canada is the only G8 country without a national housing strategy. City politicians and social service providers estimate there are 1,600 homeless people in Vancouver. Meanwhile, 麻豆传媒映画police arrested seven people at Saturday鈥檚 protest in which windows were broken, cars damaged and newspaper boxes dragged into the street.
The destruction and clashes with police occurred outside the Bay and into parts of the West End.
Police were kicked at, spat on and one suspect was arrested with a bicycle chain wrapped around his fist, according to the 麻豆传媒映画Police Department.
In a news release, the VPD described the people involved in the destruction as 鈥渁 loosely organized group of thugs from central Canada known to attach themselves to any cause, travel to any event that attracts media coverage and promote anarchy wherever they go.鈥�
A 22-year-old Washington State man, Daniel Frederick Myers, was among those charged with weapons offences.
Various groups are planning more anti-Olympic protests over the next two weeks.
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