With only a few weeks to go, Vanoc, public transit and the Liberal government have transformed a quaint friendly city in one of the most beautiful regions of the world, into an orwellian police state. Changes include Visa will be the ONLY credit card accepted during the games, commuters to and from work are to adjust their morning and evening commute times and transport methods to accomodate the 100,000 plus visitors and ticketholders, not to mention pay higher fees. Even the streets will be closed to locals but not to olympic event ticket holders and IOC members. Police and Parking authority officers are out in droves ticketing every tiny infraction with raised parking rates and more stringent rules particularly in the downtown core sending a message of zero tolerance. Even corporations embedded in the roots of Vancouver will be getting their branding stripped to accomodate the olympics brand most notably GM Place “the garage” for the canucks.
Seems VANOC and the IOC have zero accountability in all this, they have made sweeping changes to our city without a trace of community involvement, and they expect us to embrace their tagline: “there’s no place like home in 2010″. While I used to look forward to the olympics coming to MY city, I’ve come to detest the manner in which it has been forced down my throat. Once your done trashing our city, get the hell out IOC.