The International Olympic Committee received a complaint from native groups stating their opposition to Vancouver’s 2010 Winter Olympic bid.
The Province reports that IOC sports director Gilbert Felli received a statement from the groups in Lausanne Switzerland that said, “as indigenous peoples, we have to oppose the Vancouver-Whistler Olympic bid as long as regressive and destructive environmental practices and policies that undermine and do not recognize indigenous rights are in place”.
Janice Billy, spokeswoman for the Skwelwek’welt Protection Centre at Sun Peaks near Kamloops said that none of the Games events would take place on the groups’ traditional lands. But she said she fears the Games would promote the Sun Peaks Resort and a proposed Cayoosh Creek resort. Native groups have set up protest camps at both locations and blocked roads, leading to arrests last summer.
Bill said at a news conference, “we want the IOC to become aware of human-rights violations in B.C. and Canada. We’re opposed to the spin-off activity in our territories. There would be people promoting Cayoosh at the Whistler Games and they would be promoting Sun Peaks”.
Vancouver 2010 Bid Corp. spokesman Sam Corea said the bid is working closely with aboriginal groups and has no plans for any venues at Cayoosh or Sun Peaks.
Meanwhile, according to polls conducted by Ipsos-Reid for the bid corporation in April, May and June, 85 per cent of Canadians and 75 per cent of British Columbians support Vancouver’s 2010 bid. And 87 per cent of Canadians believe federal support for Vancouver’s bid is a good thing while 74 per cent of British Columbians believe provincial support for Vancouver’s 2010 bid is a good thing.
Sixty-two per cent of bid supporters in British Columbia are behind the bid because they believe it will provide a positive boost for the economy, 26 per cent believe that the bid will enhance Vancouver’s reputation world wide and 22 per cent said it will stimulate tourism.
