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Cell phone photo of officer Greg Smith of the Vancouver 2010 Joint Intelligence Group. (Photo Ska-Hiish Manuel)
The police took a special interest in an anti-Olympics speaking tour’s Kelowna stop last night. And while the cops say they are just doing what’s necessary to keep the Olympics safe, critics contend their actions are intimidating and an attack on the right to dissent.
About 15 minutes before the talk began, according to event organizers, a uniformed RCMP officer dropped by the Okanagan College classroom where it was being held to check up on what was going on.
Once the talk was over, one of the speakers, Aboriginal activist Ska-Hiish Manuel, was approached in the college parking lot by a waiting member of the special Vancouver 2010 Joint Intelligence Group.
“He made me feel uncomfortable,” said Manuel, noting that it was dark and that he was by himself.
According to Manuel, the officer identified himself as Greg Smith, produced his badge and handed Manuel his card. Manuel quickly snapped a picture of the officer with his cellphone.
Manuel says he told the officer he had no interest in speaking to him and kept walking to his car. Smith however, kept following him.
“I told him to stop following,” said Manuel. “I was pretty thrown off. I wasn’t expecting that.”
Feeling scared, Manuel decided to turn around and reenter the college. Smith did not pursue him and when Manuel left a second time -accompanied by one of the other speakers- the officer was gone.
Contacted on his cellphone, Smith would not say why he was trying to talk to Manuel and directed all inquiries to the intelligence group’s media relations office.
The executive director of the B.C. Civil Liberties Association, David Eby, said he’s not surprised police showed up at the Kelowna event and tried to talk to participants.
“They’ve been doing these visits for a number of months now,” he said. “We feel that they have mistakenly identified people who disagree with the Olympics as a security threat and that they’re mistaking dissent with some kind of danger to the public and they have launched a very high profile and successful campaign, despite our concerns, to intimidate people who speak out against the Olympics.”
Eby said police have visited people who showed up at Vancouver city hall to speak out against Olympic-related initiatives, Cowichan knitters who are upset the Hudson Bay Company is selling a knock off of their traditional designs as the official Olympic sweater and outspoken academics like Dr. Chris Shaw, who is an ophthalmologist, UBC professor and a member of the Canadian Reserves.
“It used to be if you were opposed to government policy you wouldn’t need to expect a visit from the police. Now it appears if you are opposed to government policy you should expect a visit from the police as a matter of course,” said Eby.
Staff Sgt. Mike Cote, a media spokesman for the Joint Intelligence Group, said “it disappoints me” to hear people say they find the approach taken by police intimidating.
“Let’s face it, the people we approach aren’t picked out of a hat. Obviously there’s reasons for these people to be approached and asked to be spoken to… perhaps they have information that would be of interest to our security planning, to our security workforce or perhaps they have associations that might be relevant,” he added. “We have to do our due diligence…I think Canadians expect us to make sure we leave no stone unturned when it comes to the security of the Olympics.”
But that kind of reasoning does not wash with Eby.
“In the history of the Olympics, have any of the people who’ve engaged in violent acts held press conferences, held open meetings or gone to city hall to speak about their concerns?” he said, “The people they are identifying as threats have never historically presented any threat except perhaps blocking a road or causing a delay. The people that they need to be concerned about are the people who are not doing press conferences, who are not holding public meetings, the people who potentially would set off bombs or who would attempt to target athletes with violent acts.”
Last night’s event was organized by the Kelowna chapter of the Council of Canadians and besides Manuel, included speakers from the COC and the Olympic Resistance Network.
adrian@kelowna.com
250-575-3517
Ska-Hiish Manuel speaks out against the Olympics at Okanagan College. (Photo Adrian Nieoczym)
23 Responses to “Police descend on anti-Olympic speakers in Kelowna”
Tags: bc civil liberties association, council of canadians, joint intelligence group, Kelowna, olympic resistance network, Olympics
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The idea of intimidation being used against people speaking
their mind in a lawful manner, is not police action at all.
The last real organized police force that was engaged in this type of thing was in Nazi Germany. At that time the
special task force was call Brown Shirts. What color are
the present uniforms anyway?
We expect our police to enforce the law, but we do not want
them violating peoples rights especially when no laws were
being broken. The time has come for the legal system to
speak up, lawyers and judges who believe that even if you
disagree with what is being said, people in a democracy have the right to say it. That is democracy. We condemn
the Taliban and other groups that rule with no respect for
the citizens of their nation, at because we have a vested
interest in a sporting event, we allow law enforcement to
act like goons, intimidating people with another opinion.
But then we are losing respect for police and politicians
and this is an example as well. I was not in favor of this
waste of money either, and I was not in favor of trading our sovereignty for corporate profit either. However now that the games are a reality I hope they can salvage as much as possible so our taxes are not a lot more. My protest will come in the future. I hope and will promote
that we vote against the governments that brought the games
here. I also will support lawmakers that eventually determine if any laws were broken by police and those cops
be punished in accordance with the law. Remember your ballot in a future election is your revenge
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You mean an officer approached somebody, said hi, and introduced himself? That’s exactly what Nazi Germans used to do! Good god, where is the democracy??? That’s clear thread to our freedom of speech!
Come on people. Take some happy pills. Stop making a big deal out of everything.
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Almost a criminal harassment charge against the officer had he been a bit more threating. Remember, an RCMP officer recently killed an Ottawa city cop. They all walk a fine line of being criminals themselves.
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Gosh..Officer Smith sure looks threatening…he apprached a person, identified himself (note his badge around his neck), asked some questions but the person did not want to answer the questions and so the person walked away…that is what we expect the police to do…to even suggest this is close to criminal harassment is strange, I guess some folks just want the police to sit in their cars and drive around and…quite frankly by trying to compare the actions of Officer Smith to tactics found in Nazi German is absurd. I would suggest you take some history lessons covering Nazi Germany….someone sees a cops at a coffee shope, they accuse them of just sitting around and if they go about their job asking questions some people (probably the same people) accuse them of criminal harassment. They are dammed if they do and dammed if they don’t..I think most people want the police to be out and about asking questions and talking to people working on preventing problems before they happen…and Eby the last time I checked blocking a road is against the law.
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Idiots. The Olympics are happening, get over it. Go hug a tree.
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It seems apparent to me that activists, no matter the cause, use the technique of cultivating mistrust in our police forces, as a means of furthering sympathy for the cause of the day. Mr. Eby suggests that people who’ve engaged in violent acts don’t hold press conferences or open meetings or go to city hall to speak about their concerns but what he fails to acknowledege is the fact that mainstream terrorism succeeds to the degree that it has because its proponents can assimilate into daily lives, execute monotonous routine and appear seemingly benign so thatvthe common public is none the wiser…that is until planes crash into buildings, explosions occur..you get the picture.
The fact is we don’t know who is involved in activities that may cause danger to the olympics, whether they come from Canada or not. The job of the Olympic security forces is to ensure these people do not get a chance for martyrdom. I feel a whole lot better knowing that cops like Greg Smith are looking out for the interests of our citizens and our country. Keep up the good work!!!
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Frankly, even the press have gotten into the act of cultivating mistrust in the police. The title of the article “Police descend on anti-Olympic speakers in Kelowna” is truly a mis-representation of the events described in this article and if nothing else, are inflammatory in nature and by design meant to initiate controversy and dissent. Shameful!
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You would think He’d be dressed a bit more appropriately.
With that old army shirt and sweats, and being what looks like a big guy, and approaching Manuel alone in a dark parking lot.
I would totally be intimidated,
especially after some of the gustopo stuff we’ve been hearing about the olympic organization(and thier circle of people) over the last couple years leading up to the olympics.
eg. getting civic laws changed to suit thier agenda, making businesses change thier established approved business names, to strongarming peaceful anti olympic speaking.
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I am sick of these “activists” I am sure these are the same people that abuse social programs like welfare and health care. They don’t work when they are healthy enough to work. They don’t want the Olympics because they want more money (and land) for themselves.
Good for the cops, these losers have been given a free pass too long.
Get a job!
Go Canada Go
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Gustopo? Is that kind of a sandwich?
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So you’re telling me that if he was dressed in a police uniform, or something less intimidating, say perhaps a business suit or something with sequins, Manuel would have been cooperative and accomodating? He identified himself properly and attempted to engage Manuel in dialog. Why, if he was such a model, upfront dissident, with nothing to hide, would he have anything to fear from a guy asking a few questions. That’s gestapo at its finest right there. By the way, isn’t activism a way of promoting one’s agenda?
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Thank you Kelowna police for working to protect us against these dangerous, welfare loafing, radical environmentalist, fundamental socialists intent on forcing their worldview onto the rest of us.
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Everyone is entitled to their opinion regarding the Olympics however to suggest that the police are violating peoples rights is absurd… the only thing Officer Smith is guilty of is one too many visits to the buffet.
The public expect the police to deliver a safe and secure games… and to suggest that their actions are harassment is ridiculous.
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Too bad I’m not at Okanagan College any more. I can only guess which on campus club organized this event. I would have loved to be there to show my support for the Olympics and the Police! The no2010 crowd are stupid.
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Let’s keep this in perspective people. It’s the officer’s job to maintain the peace – both at the protest, and more importantly, at the Olympic games in Vancouver. When a far-left radical like Ska-Hiish Manuel claims he was cornered in a “dark” parking lot we should probably take it with a grain of salt. Even in this incredibly biased article it appears Mr. Manuel had the time to accept Mr. Smith’s identification and take his picture with cellphone – two actions you shouldn’t do if you really are feeling intimidated. Unfortunately through pseudo-right activists like Eby, the article paints the men and women assigned to protect us at the winter games as criminals. The real intimidation comes from radical fringe protesters and their ideological cliques, using tactics which are disruptive, dangerous, and often times anti-democratic. People like Manuel – career protesters hungry for publicity – should be completely discredited.
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No Olympics on Native Land. I think first and foremost everyone must realize right now if they are not Indigenous to the Territory they are occupying then they are invaders on some other persons homeland ie. Indigenous Territories across this hemisphere. Kelowna is un-ceded, un-surrendered Okanagan Territory and if you are not Okanagan, and living here you must recognize that, without land to live on, then you would not be here, so if you have a racist mentality better just go back to your own homeland, where ever that may be. Send the Olympic Torch back to Europe where it belongs. Stop KKKlanada’s occupation and invasion. Kkklanada is illegal. This is all Indian Land.
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Gooopla googha
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Aquilla krakker: If you had a job you wouldn’t be railing against “KKKlanada”.
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1) I’m a 52 yr old white female,(not even a member of a community that has survived 150 years of violent oppression by the Canadian Government) and with the current RCMP record, quite frankly I’d feel threatened being followed into a dark parking lot for questions after speaking my mind on anything.
2) I’m sure Mr Manuel has a telephone. If the RCMP had questions they could have called him like anyone else.
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Do you think the recent cell phone bans introduced by the provincial government that give police what would appear to be the ideal alibi to observe traffic all day for everything now, especially those new driver regs, if a terrorist was here driving around surely they would be displaying an L or N. And what about the license plate grabbing multi-camera roof-top storage containered SUV. Such timing gordo ! Beware ! We’re all being watched everywhere, all the time.
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I was on the board of a multicultural society for a few years. After 911 an RCMP officer contacted our office to get a list of all the members under the assumption the multicultural society was harboring terrorists as memebers. I was appalled and contacted a few others associations. We recieved a call back from the RCMP officer a couple of days later apologizing for their behavior and did not want the list of our members.
What is happening here again is the police trying to intimidate people that are speaking up about the olympics. I could understand if these people were acting violently but they were not. They were using free speech which is still entitled under a democracy.
People in this country are being ruled by fear and some are willing to give up freedom for that. FEAR stands for as I was told a long time ago FALSE EVIDENCE APPEARING REAL.
When the next election happens I hope people will go and vote to show this kind of behavior is not okay.
“Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.”
Benjamin Franklin
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The Olympic torch relay was invented by Hitler and the nazis for the ‘36 games in Berlin – is it any wonder that the IOC/vanoc/Olympic cops all act like nazis…? Check out historical facts – “The torch Hitler lit” by John Allemang of the Globe and Mail – http://www.ctvolympics.ca/news-centre/newsid=17981.html
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It concerns me to see the officer wearing a camouflage jacket. It’s not Canadian to have lawmen dressed like army soldiers out on the job.
I think officer “Smith” is well aware of how his manner of dress influences the power dynamic when approaching members of the public.
Please continue discussion on the forum: link