A contingent of officials from the Vancouver 2010 bid will join bid officials from other countries in Salt Lake City next week to network with some of the IOC officials at the Winter Games.
Vancouver 2010 CEO Jack Poole and other bid executives arrive in Utah on Feb. 3. Poole said, “I’m sure we’ll meet a lot of IOC members, without any in-your-face lobbying. I think our objective is to be seen to be quiet and responsible and very Canadian”.
The group has been invited to attend the Feb. 5 Canadian Heritage Reception hosted by Federal Member of Parliament Sheila Copps; the Feb. 6 Team Canada Reception hosted by the Canadian Olympic Association and the Feb. 7 Salt Lake City Mayor’s Reception.
The team will be based in the Canadian Olympic Association’s headquarters near the downtown medal awards area.
Poole said, “we’re going down with no privileges at all. We can’t have a press conference. We can’t have a hospitality suite”. But they will have two VIP and four observer Games passes. The VIP passes give senior officials seats at events and lets them into IOC lounges while the observer passes allow staff a behind-the-scenes look at security, accommodation, transportation and other aspects.
Bid Corporation chairperson Marion Lay said all the Canadian sports federations will be briefed on the Vancouver bid. “Any of our athletes, as soon as they’ve finished competition, we will be meeting with them to make sure they’re telling other athletes that Vancouver-Whistler would be great. We’re getting all set behind the scenes so we can take advantage of heroes that are created by winning medals”.
Vancouver Police Department Inspector Murray Day chairs the bid’s health services, safety and security working group. His group will also be in Salt Lake City to look at the command centre, which will co-ordinate all anti-terrorism and security operations. “We’ll look at their operations centre and see how it functions under a joint command”, he said. If Vancouver wins the 2010 Games bid it will have a joint command system of RCMP and city police.
