An unofficial Olympic watchdog group, the Impact on Communities Coalition (IOCC), released its Olympic Oversight Interim Report Card Sunday giving the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Games a D-minus grade, as well as its government partners – the Integrated Security Unit, the Vancouver Police Department and Vancouver Coastal Health. This was based on their progress in social commitments outlined in the Inner-City Inclusive Agreement, the Olympic Bid Book, and the Multi-Party Agreement.
According to the Canadian Press, Vancouver 2010 signed the agreement during the bid process along with the governments and social agencies, to ensure that Vancouver’s inner-city residents, the environment, and all residents of the province of British Columbia benefited from the Games.
Pivot Legal Society lawyer Laura Track told reporters Sunday, “the one reason that we didn’t go with an F grade is there is still time to make positive developments and move forward on the promises. We hope that when we publish our next report closer to the time of the Games, we can have a more positive outlook”.
The report card is a product of an eight-month collaboration between the IOCC and academics, students, community advocates and legal experts. It focuses on civil liberties, accountability, and transparency issues related to the 2010 Games.
Coalition spokeswoman Stefanie Ratjen said many of the promises VANOC committed to have since been broken and that her organization is concerned time might be quickly running out.
A final pre-Games report card from the IOCC will be issued for January 2010, followed by a post-Games report to be published in September 2010.
