Civil Liberties Group: Vancouver Olympics Threaten Free Speech

Few would have thought that the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympic Games would be deemed a threat to civil liberties. But the British Columbia Civil Liberties Association says that the Games pose a threat to the right to free speech and political expression.

The BCCLA maintains that free speech during the Vancouver Games, scheduled for this upcoming winter, will face an "Olympic-sized threat". The statement comes in response to a University of British Columbia policy that is asking students to agree not display "signage or displays that create a false or unauthorized commercial association with the Olympics." UBC students will be prevented from posting signs and posters in the windows of school buildings and residences. The Vancouver Organizing Committee (VANOC) has urged municipalities to prohibit people from distributing political pamphlets during the Games. Robert Holmes, the President of BCCLA, declared that "It’s time for a sober second look at these anti-free speech activities, and if necessary seek review of them by our Courts." BCCLA Executive Director, David Elby, maintained that the policy is too broad. He said that "We're concerned about any particular wording that would leave the interpretation of free expression up to a UBC bureaucrat to decide whether or not speech was commercial or not commercial." BCCLA has identified and spoken out against a number of decisions in advance of the Olympics that put free speech and political expression in danger. Holmes added that "it boggles the mind at what they are doing to try to limit what people can say and do, all because they want, ostensibly, to preserve the intellectual and property rights that go with the Olympics trademark." Meanwhile, UBC spokesperson Stephen Owen denies that free speech or the right to political expression is at risk, noting that the policy was enacted to protect the commercial interests of Games organizers. "There's absolutely no impact on free expression of personal or political views," he said. "It's very strictly limited to predatory commercial marketing practices." The BCCLA is working with UBC students to overturn the university's decision.