Vancouver View -- Ski Jumpers Make Their Case; Security Costs Double

Fifteen women ski jumpers will get their day in court today. At stake – the chance to compete for gold in Vancouver. (ATR/B. Mackin)British Columbia Supreme Court Justice Laurie Ann Fenlon will have to decide who controls VANOC, the IOC or Canadian government, after a case involving female ski jumper lands in her courtroom today.

Male-only ski jumping is scheduled for the $101 million, taxpayer-funded Whistler Olympic Park. The IOC opted in 2006 to add only ski cross to the 2010 Games.

Ross Clark, lawyer for 15 plaintiffs who are past or present ski jumpers, claims VANOC is in breach of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. According to court filings, he will argue that VANOC is planning, organizing, financing and staging the 2010 Games as a “government project.” The Government of Canada guaranteed to the IOC that the “laws and sovereignty of Canada shall prevail.” Therefore, Clark will contend, the constitutional right for gender equality should apply at the Games and a women's competition should be held.

George Macintosh, lawyer for VANOC, will argue that governments do not have day-to-day control of VANOC operations because the IOC decides the sports and approves designs for logos and mascots, venue, marketing, sponsorship agreements, the torch and cauldron and opening and closing ceremonies programs.

Macintosh claims that VANOC has no right or power to include an event in the Games, because it is merely a franchise of the IOC.

Witness testimony is not scheduled. Clark will introduce affidavits from the plaintiffs including the sport’s first female world champion, Lindsey Van of the United States. Macintosh will reply with sworn statements from VANOC CEO John Furlong, Executive Vice President of Sport Cathy Priestner Allinger and Director Walter Sieber.

The trial runs through April 24. A decision could take two months or more.

Even if the ski jumpers succeed, the 2010 Games won’t have gender equality. The dual ski jumping and cross-country skiing event of Nordic combined remains male only.

Outsourcing Olympic Security Costs RCMP More

Contemporary International of Salt Lake City, involved with the Olympics since 1996, leads a consortium given an $80.4 million contract for 5,000 security guards at Vancouver 2010’s airport-style venue checkpoints. United Protection Services of Edmonton and Aeroguard Group of Contemporary International of Salt Lake City leads a consortium that will support the RCMP by providing security guards and equipment. (ATR/B.Mackin)Toronto will also provide services.

The RCMP Vancouver 2010 Integrated Security Unit contract includes training, clothing and equipment, accommodation and travel, project management and administration and overhead.

They will also provide X-ray machines while VANOC will supply fixtures, furniture and equipment.

"Our goal is to hire as many people as we can from Vancouver and create jobs and opportunities so we can leave a legacy of trained and experienced people," said Contemporary principal and Chief Operating Officer Stephen Mirabile.

Contemporary was also hired by VANOC to handle security integration. The size of the contract, dated March 19, has not been disclosed.

The RCMP contract is double the original estimate. An April 25, 2007 RCMP document released under public disclosure laws estimated pedestrian and vehicle screening would cost $38.1 million if staffed with RCMP officers only. A second option pegged private screeners at $20.3 million, plus $7.6 million for RCMP supervision. Equipment was estimated at $37.65 million.

More screeners and supervisors were needed to staff a growing number of venue entry portals.

Cpl. Jen Allan said two X-ray operators per machine, per shift are needed so that operators can rest their eyes every 20 to 30 minutes. A ratio of one supervisor for every four to seven screeners is required because the workers will have 90-day temporary permits instead of the basic security training certificate. The original ratio was one-to-eight.

"The goal is to have all spectators in the venue prior to the competition starting and all accredited personnel in when they are required to be there," Allan said.

Briefs…

...VANOC and its partners got another D-minus grade from Olympic watchdog Impact on Communities Coalition. IOCC’s first report card since May 2007 said 2010 Winter Olympics A recent VISA report says that only 39 percent of Americans know that Vancouver is the host of the next Olympics. (ATR/B.Mackin)organizers, funding governments and policing agencies are not addressing half the housing and civil liberties pledges from the pioneering 2003 Inner-City Inclusivity Commitment Statement.

"There appears to be an overemphasis on public relations and marketing related to a socially inclusive 2010 Olympic Games rather than a substantive effort to address the real concerns of civil society organizations,” said the report.

…According to the "Visa Tourism Outlook: Canada" report released April 16, only 39 percent of U.S. respondents to an online survey knew Vancouver was hosting the next Olympics. Awareness was highest among Japanese and South Koreans (60 percent) and Chinese (55 percent).

The survey of 5,539 people age 18 and over was taken Dec. 11-Jan. 8, before Vancouver 2010 was promoted during February’s Super Bowl telecast on NBC. One quarter of respondents said they were “likely” to attend the Games, but that was based on desire, not intent, according to Paul Wilke, senior business leader for TOP sponsor Visa.

With reporting from Bob Mackin in Vancouver.

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