Vancouver View -- Security Exercises, Test Events at One-Year Mark

Canadian Navy officers at Deadman's Island with the Westin Bayshore, Vancouver 2010's IOC hotel, in the background. (ATR/ B. Mackin)RCMP Vancouver 2010 Integrated Security Unit chief Bud Mercer said Monday that Exercise Silver, the second of three pre-Games security exercises, will run Feb. 9-13.

One thousand personnel from 100 agencies will participate, including various local, provincial, national and U.S. departments and agencies. Mercer warned the public to expect naval and coast guard activity in Burrard Inlet and Howe Sound and air force activity in the skies above the Lower Mainland.

Test scenarios include criminal activities, weather, health, seismic, marine and aviation-related themes. The 2010 Games will be the biggest peacetime security operation on Canadian soil. The cost of security is expected to be as high as 1 billion Canadian dollars.

"This is a challenging environment that encompasses the major urban center of Vancouver, the mountainous terrain of Whistler, vast ocean spaces and one of the busiest airspaces in Canada," said Canadian Forces Rear Adm. Tyrone Pile, commander of Joint Task Force Games.

The 8,000 police from the RCMP and municipal forces as far away as Manitoba will be augmented by 4,000 Canadian Forces troops.

Even before Silver starts, attendees of the Four Continents Figure Skating Championship at the Pacific Coliseum and the world cup bobsled and luge event at the Whistler Sliding Centre will encounter Games-style pedestrian and vehicle screening.

Exercise Gold, a full-scale exercise, is coming in November 2009.

James: VANOC Budget Missing Details

The six pages of revised budget information VANOC issued on Jan. 30 are inadequate, says B.C. NDP leader Carole James. According to the summary, the cost of operating the 2010 Winter Olympics and Paralympics rose $102.6 million to $1.4 billion.

In comparison, VANOC released a comprehensive 196-page document when it forecast a $1.3 billion budget in May 2007.

“I think it’s a trend we’ve seen with the government,” James said. “I’m not surprised VANOC would go in that direction and keep information secret.”

“It was just meant to be a budget update,” said VANOC chief financial officer John McLaughlin.

McLaughlin added it would “cause a lot more confusion” to release greater details because spending and revenue responsibilities have been shuffled throughout the company.

“I struggle at times even to be able to explain it within our team,” he said.

The original $80.6 million contingency was halved and a $21.7 million rainy day fund for revenue shortfalls was created.

Test Events, Concerts for One Year Countdown

Test events and festivities are on deck for the one-year countdown to 2010 next week.

For the first time, VANOC will host three simultaneous test events – figure skating, freestyle skiing and bobsleigh and skeleton.

The ISU Four Continents Figure Skating Championship runs Feb. 4-8 at the Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver. On Feb. 5-7, visitors have their choice between the FIS Grand Prix freestyle skiing event at Cypress Mountain, or the FIBT bobsleigh and skeleton world cup.

On Feb. 12, the Olympic flag will be raised on Parliament Hill in Ottawa and the Olympic torch will be unveiled in Whistler.

Premier Gordon Campbell is the featured speaker for the annual Vancouver Board of Trade countdown lunch at the Hyatt Regency and will appear at an afternoon event in Richmond. IOC President Jacques Rogge is expected to attend the Cultural Olympiad's one-year countdown concert starring A rendering of the Four Host First Nations Pavilion was revealed on Feb. 2. The building will celebrate aboriginal involvement with Vancouver 2010. (Four Host First Nations Society)Sarah McLachlan at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre.

Native Pavilion Celebrates Aboriginal Involvement

The Four Host First Nations unveiled plans on Feb. 2 for a 65-foot-high, air-supported dome to be built in downtown Vancouver to celebrate aboriginal involvement with the 2010 Games.

The 8,000-square-foot Four Host First Nations pavilion in the Queen Elizabeth Theatre plaza will include a trading post and hospitality center. The cost of the temporary FHFN pavilion, to be designed by Seattle-based Orca Creative Group, has not been settled. VANOC is contributing $2.3 million from its operations budget.

FHFN CEO Tewanee Joseph called the Games “the biggest potlatch ever,” in reference to the ceremonial Coast Salish feast tradition.

Government Housing Security in Camps, Cruise Ships

The Canadian government is spending almost $28.6 million for six military camps to house 1,600 soldiers.

Camps holding 400 soldiers each are planned for the Squamish Airport quarry, B.C. Hydro Rainbow Substation near Whistler Village and Twin River gravel quarry. Three other camps for 200 soldiers will be at Cypress Provincial Park’s Quarry picnic area, the Ministry of Forests firefighting base at Pemberton Airport and Callaghan Country, a Nordic wilderness lodge beside the Whistler Olympic Park.

Almost half the estimate is to pay for meals and sleeper trailers. The camps would be occupied for up to three months.

The RCMP, by contrast, is seeking 5,000 beds on three cruise ships. A $35.5 million deal with a North Carolina company fell through in November.

…Briefs

…The first Student Olympic Conference at the University of British Columbia on Jan. 31 gathered a variety of pro- and anti-Olympics forces together to discuss impacts and legacies of the 2010 Games. Speakers included Rob VanWynsberghe, who is leading the UBC Olympic Games Impact Research Project, Conrad Schmidt, director of the critical Five-Ring Circus documentary, Vancouver city councillor Suzanne Anton, anti-Olympic native activist Gord Hill and Canadian Paralympic Committee President Carla Qualtrough.

The only VANOC representatives were chief medical officer Dr. Jack Taunton and Patrick Jarvis, a CPC appointee to the board of directors

Kevin Falcon (center), the B.C. transportation minister, announces at a news conference that the Sea-to-Sky highway is 80 percent complete. (ATR/ B. Mackin)...B.C. transportation minister Kevin Falcon said Jan. 29 that the $484 million Sea-to-Sky highway overhaul is 80 percent complete and could be ready before the December target

…The Richmond O Zone will not be a riverside celebration. City of Richmond announced Jan. 28 that it was cutting $2.4 million from its $5.2 million fund for the live site near the Richmond Olympic Oval. An area around city hall, the cultural centre and Minoru Park will be used instead

…Whistler councilors met for two hours behind closed doors with VANOC CEO John Furlong and Executive Vice President of Operations Terry Wright on Jan. 27. Council then unanimously approved the temporary commercial use permit bylaw to allow temporary workforce accommodations and tents and trailers for souvenir and food sales at Whistler venues

…The second of three Vancouver 2010 Cultural Olympiads began Feb. 1 with a Chinese New Year Parade in Chinatown. The seven-week, 400-event festival continues through March 21.

With reporting from

Bob Mackin in Vancouver.

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