Anti - Olympic Protestors.

[Good morning blues]

Yup, I live in Vancouver, and I've been all over the city during the Olympics. If anybody has any questions, I'd be glad to answer them.

The main question that I will anticipate:

Why are people protesting the Olympics?

There are a number of reasons. Probably the biggest reason is because Canada is a first world country, which leads to a lot of left-wing protestor types that just want a forum that will get them a lot of media exposure. The god damned Olympics get a lot of worldwide media exposure, in case you were unaware.

The other reason is because the Olympics are genuinely a risky commitment for Vancouver, and are not all that popular amongst the lower mainland's residents. Several billion tax dollars are going into the Olympics, despite the fact that a net profit is not guaranteed and that there are a number of staggeringly important social issues - primarily the problem of the Downtown East Side, the poorest neighborhood in Canada and, as far as I know, North America - that could use some public money. I'll emphasize that the Olympics are not that popular; I haven't seen any polls, but, as a Vancouverite university student, I can tell you that there are an awful lot of left-wing "change agents" that really don't like the Olympics, and that Vancouver is about as hippy-dip a wealthy urban area as you're likely to find in the world.

That said, I'm having a fucking awesome time in town these couple of weeks. The Olympics have forced my university to give us a Spring Break for once, and the entire city is a big party. So far I've been to three free concerts, and I intend on hitting up a hell of a lot more during the second week.

 

[Bretty]

*bows* Oh sir, you are so wonderful, top wonderful for words in fact!

People protest the Olympics because of the economic state of Canada and the homelessness. Who the fuck are they kidding in thinking that if the Olympics weren't here anything would have been different? There would still be homeless people because most of them don't want to be helped and there would still be school/hospital etc closures because thats just the way the government is.

And has anyone ever heard the term, 'You gotta give a little to get a little'? When we put all the money into have OLYMPIC GRADE VENUES like the Richmond Oval and the tracks up in Whistler it brings in such a huge amount of money and infrastructure from athletes all around the world.

Olympic protesters *****, whine and moan. But when it comes down to it they end up enjoying the festivities just as much as anyone else.

Well said brother.

Several billion tax dollars are going into the Olympics

But again... Tax money has only gone into two things these games Infrastructure and the Villages.

1) Villages

The city owns this and will sell at the end of the games as individual housing. Since you live in Vancouver you know how pricey housing is these days. It is a no brainer that they will make a profit with these.

2) Infrastructure

Canada Line, road improvements etc. All of these improvements have been on Vancouvers lists of stuff to do for ages now. VANOC gave the city a huge amount of money to get this stuff done.

Have you used the Canada Line yet? It was desperatly needed.

I love the games, will be going to work in the London games next year to. This past few weeks have been crazy, I have never had so much fun and I am even working through most of it! lol.

 

[Good morning blues]

But again... Tax money has only gone into two things these games Infrastructure and the Villages.

1) Villages

The city owns this and will sell at the end of the games as individual housing. Since you live in Vancouver you know how pricey housing is these days. It is a no brainer that they will make a profit with these.

2) Infrastructure

Canada Line, road improvements etc. All of these improvements have been on Vancouvers lists of stuff to do for ages now. VANOC gave the city a huge amount of money to get this stuff done.

Have you used the Canada Line yet? It was desperatly needed.

I love the games, will be going to work in the London games next year to. This past few weeks have been crazy, I have never had so much fun and I am even working through most of it! lol.

As far as I know, most of these statements are absolutely true; I especially agree about the Canada Line. I really don't think they're painting an accurate picture of the issue, though. I am abundantly aware of how expensive housing is in Vancouver, and if you think that the Olympic Village is going to help that, you're deluded. The problem isn't that there isn't any housing, the problem is that there isn't any affordable housing. If you think that low-income people are going to be able to afford to live in the former Olympic village, you are simply wrong. It's like arguing that the sky is green.

The hundreds of millions of dollars that were poured into making sure that people who are really good at skating in a circle really fast would be comfortable before vacating the premises so that rich people could buy them up likely let most of them lay vacant could really have been better spent housing the 3000 homeless people in the Downtown Eastside - or at least offering enough support to low income people so that the number of homeless people in Vancouver hadn't tripled since 2006.

I'm sure that the Olympic Village will turn a profit, but you make it sound like the Olympics will turn a profit overall due to the Athlete's Village scheme. I'm not sure if it's what you meant, but that is clearly not true.

I'm having the time of my life at these Olympics, but we can't ignore the fact that billions were spent on a big party for foreign roid monkeys and rich people while two thousand people in our own city went homeless.

 

[Bretty]

As far as I know, most of these statements are absolutely true; I especially agree about the Canada Line. I really don't think they're painting an accurate picture of the issue, though. I am abundantly aware of how expensive housing is in Vancouver, and if you think that the Olympic Village is going to help that, you're deluded. The problem isn't that there isn't any housing, the problem is that there isn't any affordable housing. If you think that low-income people are going to be able to afford to live in the former Olympic village, you are simply wrong. It's like arguing that the sky is green.

The hundreds of millions of dollars that were poured into making sure that people who are really good at skating in a circle really fast would be comfortable before vacating the premises so that rich people could buy them up likely let most of them lay vacant could really have been better spent housing the 3000 homeless people in the Downtown Eastside - or at least offering enough support to low income people so that the number of homeless people in Vancouver hadn't tripled since 2006.

I'm sure that the Olympic Village will turn a profit, but you make it sound like the Olympics will turn a profit overall due to the Athlete's Village scheme. I'm not sure if it's what you meant, but that is clearly not true.

I'm having the time of my life at these Olympics, but we can't ignore the fact that billions were spent on a big party for foreign roid monkeys and rich people while two thousand people in our own city went homeless.

Yeah no you miss my points. The money invested into the Villages was a gamble made by the city so that they can sell them after for a profit. It is not for affordable housing but will be sold to people that have the money. No they are actually donating a ton of the prefab buildngs to the east side for the Homeless etc. This will supposedly be good for up to 1000 of them, but who knows how that will work out.

And just to reiterate the huge investers in the Olympics are not the local Gov't but companies like McDonalds etc. They are the ones who foot the bill for this. Because of this local cities get huge bonuses, the Richmond Oval for one. The City paid for this, Richmond City, and after the games it will belong to them. But because of the games it was designed by an award winning architect and will remain a huge legacy site for the City. I shouldnt need to explain to the benifits of this to you.

You also need to know that VANOC is a non-profit organization. All the money is either given to a charity or to the city.

The people who profit out of this is us. I have been provided a job for nearly a year now, aswell as over 3000 other Vancouverites. We know have the Canada line and Highway 1 all the way to Whistler. We now have over 6 venues that can now host world events every year.

Not to mention the boost in local commercial trade brought to the games. Could you imagine how well the pubs and clubs around Robson are doing? Can you really say this will not end well for us?

He lack of affordable housing is a huge issue here, but this is the price for living in Vancouver. But look on the bright side for someone that has lived on 3+ Continents. Your Mortgage rates are awesome and you only need 5% down!!!! I mean come on!!!! Sure things are inflated now, but they will drop, they always do.

And sure the East side is messed up. But I have lived in London and Atlanta... You think the east side is bad? Cities always have these problems. No Olympics could solve this, I dont think anything will.

I look forward to the Rio Games, they lose control of half their city every other month to drug gangs.

The Olympics bring light to a really dark world. They improve our cities infrastructure and increase tourism and trade. I just dont see how anyone can see this as fundamentally bad?

But if you disagree, that is your right. Just like it is mine to beleive all above. But to call people wrong (look in previous posts) or just stupid for believing this is just immature and naive at best.

All I want people to do is think for themselves and not just project what others have told them. There is a wealth of information out there for what the games are bringing to this city, some good and bad, but decide for yourselves.