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Women ski jumpers can't compete in 2010
By Allan Dowd
July 15, 2009
VANCOUVER, British Columbia (Reuters) — A Canadian judge has rejected a bid by female ski jumpers to compete in next year's Winter Olympics in Vancouver, but agreed they were being discriminated against.
The International Olympic Committee is discriminating against the women by barring them from the 2010 Games, but that decision cannot be challenged under Canada's civil rights laws, the court ruled on Friday.
"There will be little solace to the plaintiffs in my finding that they have been discriminated against; there is no remedy available to them in this court," British Columbia Supreme Court Justice Lauri Ann Fenlon said.
Ski jumping has been an Olympic sport since 1924, but is one of the few events in either the Winter or Summer Games to not have both a men's and women's competition. All new sports allowed into the Games must have both.
The IOC has refused to sanction women's ski jumping in the Games, arguing that not enough women are competing in the sport worldwide for it to qualify as an Olympic event.
Friday's court ruling comes after a group of 15 current and former international women ski jumpers sued the Vancouver Organizing Committee on the grounds that, as the host and organizer of the 2010 Games, VANOC was required to abide by Canadian law.
The women did not name the IOC in the suit, acknowledging that the committee, based in Lausanne, Switzerland, was not directly bound by Canadian civil rights laws.
NOT VANCOUVER'S DECISION
VANOC has said that, while it is sympathetic to the women's desire to compete, only the IOC had the authority to decide which sports would be included in Olympic competitions.
Justice Fenlon agreed that the decision on whether to include women ski jumpers was not VANOC's to make.
"The IOC made a decision that discriminates against the plaintiffs. Only the IOC can alleviate that discrimination by including an Olympic ski jumping event for women in the 2010 Games," Fenlon wrote.
The group of women, both current and former ski jumpers, dispute the IOC's claim that there are not enough competitors internationally to qualify, and allege the IOC's decision is motivated by sexism.
"It's awful that we lost, but I'm glad we tried," said Canadian ski jumper Katie Willis.
The jumpers' lawyers will have to study the court decision before deciding if there are grounds to appeal, a spokeswoman for the group said.
A BITTERSWEET VICTORY
VANOC praised the decision, but said it hoped the women would be included in future Olympic Games.
"I think the judge did the best she could to sort out a very difficult matter," said VANOC Chief Executive John Furlong.
The IOC also said it was pleased by the decision, but strongly disagreed with the court's finding that it discriminated.
"As previously explained, our decision was based on technical issues, without regard to gender," the committee said in a statement.
The judge said the IOC has promoted women's participation in sports, but also noted that men's ski jumping is also not widespread internationally it remains an Olympic sport out of tradition.
(British Columbia Supreme Court in Vancouver, Docket #: S083619)
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Vancouver Mayor Slams 2010 Security -- Mayor slams ‘Orwellian’ limits on free comment, "Vancouver is a free-speech zone"
By Damian Inwood
July 14, 2009
Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson says he’s concerned about the intimidation of activists by Olympic security cops.
And he’s hitting out at the “Orwellian” label of “free-speech zones” for protesters during the 2010 Winter Games.
“I am concerned about the intimidation that the activists have felt, related to the Vancouver 2010 Integrated Security Unit's] activity and questioning,” Robertson said at a city council meeting yesterday.
“I think there are more appropriate ways to conduct those conversations and communications.”
Council voted to write letters to senior levels of government, Vancouver 2010 and the ISU, asking they “publicly reaffirm their commitment to the security of the person and freedom of expression in light of recent concerns about intimidation” during the lead-up to the Olympics.
The move follows complaints from 20 people who claim they were approached by plainclothes police at home, at work and on the street, and whose neighbours were questioned about them.
“I think there are more appropriate ways to conduct those conversations and communications,” said Robertson.
“We do need to be vigilant that civil liberties are guaranteed throughout.”
Robertson supports concerns over ISU plans to set up “free-speech zones” for Olympic protesters.
Calling it an “Orwellian” label, he said: “Vancouver is a free-speech zone and we will ensure . . . that we maintain that status and work closely with the ISU to make sure that they are not overstepping bounds.”
Chris Shaw, spokesman for 2010 Watch, accused council of passing a “wishy-washy, motherhood-and-apple-pie” motion supporting the Charter of Rights.
He said council should be telling, not asking, city police what they’ll do during the Games.
ISU officials couldn’t be reached for comment.
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Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics Flight Restrictions Disclosed
July 15, 2009
Specific NOTAMs Will Follow For The Event -- OK, OK, we know it's early. We're all thinking about summer in Wisconsin, and Washington (DC) is thinking about winter in Washington (state). But forewarned is forearmed, right? And it'll be winter before you know it. So, at the request of the Department of Homeland Security and Department of Defense, FAA will implement airspace security measures for the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics and Paralympics Games in February and March 2010. These flight restrictions in northwest Washington State will complement Canadian restrictions and procedures on the other side of the border.
The restrictions will coincide with the opening and closing of the Athlete Villages in Vancouver and Whistler, British Columbia, scheduled for January 29, 2010, and March 24, 2010.
The FAA will publish a Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) with the specific restrictions and may issue additional NOTAMs. Pilots should check NOTAMs frequently for this area.
The 17 page document deals largely with Canadian airspace. For pilots in the U.S. the following preliminary restrictions were published Friday:
All aircraft flight operations are prohibited from the surface to but not including 18,000 MSL, within (the bounded area) except as specified below.
» All aircraft operating with this TFR are limited to aircraft arriving or departing local airfields. Aircraft may not loiter.
» All aircraft entering or exiting the TFR must be on an active IFR or VFR flight plan and must be assigned a discrete beacon code by an Air Traffic Control (ATC) facility and be squawking that code prior to departing within or entering the TFR.
» Approved emergency/life saving flight (air ambulance/law enforcement/firefighting), military operations and other approved operations must call a phone number provided in the published NOTAM prior to operating within the TFR.
» Aircraft must remain in two-way communications with ATC at all times within the TFR.
All waivers are temporarily suspended during the time of this NOTAM except for ELO, GOV and SPO waivers.
The following operations are not authorized within this TFR: flight training, practice instrument approaches, aerobatic flight, glider operations, parachute operations, ultralight, hang gliding, balloon operations, agriculture/crop dusting, animal population control flight operations, banner towing operations, model aircraft operations, model rocketry, and Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS).
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Olympic fears will lead to 2,000 surgery cancellations: memo
July 15, 2009
VANCOUVER (CBC) — An estimated 2,000 elective surgeries will be cancelled during the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in February by the Fraser Health Authority because of concerns about traffic gridlock and swine flu, according to a hospital memo released by the B.C. NDP.
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The text of the memo which was sent to unions working for the Fraser Health Authority earlier this week, according to the NDP said the regional health authority plans to postpone 35 per cent of its elective surgeries over a four-week period.
The move follows a similar decision by Vancouver Coastal Health to also reduce elective surgeries during the Winter Games, the memo said.
It cites traffic gridlock, the potential of a medical emergency during the Games, the possibility of increased demand for hospital beds because of swine flu, and the need for medical staff to volunteer during the Games, as reasons for cancelling the surgeries.
The memo also said the cancellations will allow for cost savings during difficult economic times and will affect only three per cent of surgeries for the entire year.
NDP health critic Adrian Dix said gridlock shouldn't affect hospitals in the Fraser Valley while the Olympics are underway in Vancouver and Whistler, and he doesn't see a need to cancel so many surgeries so far in advance.
"It is always possible to cancel surgeries. But to cancel thousands of surgeries in advance doesn't make sense. If an emergency happens, the health authority of course will respond. But that could happen at any time, and they have mechanisms to deal with that," said Dix.
Dix suggested the cancellations are really just about saving money, because the Fraser Health Authority is facing a funding shortfall. In the end patients will suffer, he said.
"Elective surgery can be elective neurosurgery. It can be brain surgery. It can be serious back surgery. It can be debilitating surgery. It can be knee replacement and hip replacement. It can be a whole range of things that aren't immediately life-threatening, but can be very serious and all of them medically necessary," said Dix.
The Fraser Health Authority was not available for comment early Wednesday morning.
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N.B. firm builds security units for Vancouver Olympics
July 15, 2009
NEW.BRUNSWICK (CBC) - A company in southeastern New Brunswick is cashing in on Vancouver's 2010 Winter Olympics by building mobile security units for the games.
The five-metre-long trailers, filled with high-tech equipment, will allow security personnel to screen hundreds of people quickly, according to Daniel Beauchamp, of Smiths Detection, the company that provides the equipment.
Allain Equipment of Notre Dame, N.B., about 30 kilometres north of Moncton, is building the trailers.
"It's a nice engineering challenge, for sure," said Bruno Lagacé, vice-president of the company.
Allain Equipment builds recycling equipment for the city of Edmonton and fire trucks for some New Brunswick cities, among other contracts it has across North and South America.
The Olympic contract is different, Lagacé said Tuesday. To meet deadlines for the Olympics, his company had to design and finish this project in record time.
"When you are under pressure, you find better ways of doing things faster," he said.
Beauchamp said a lot of the details of the project are top secret, including the number of mobile units they're building.
"Even the locations where we are installing [them] we don't even know yet. It's a secret for security," he said.
However, Beauchamp said, once the Olympics are over, these units may wind up at airports across the country.
He hopes the international attention may also create sales in other countries.
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