2010 Olympics Business News for the Vancouver and Whistler regions of British Columbia. Plus, Alberta, the rest of Canada, Washington State, Oregon, Idaho, Montana & California

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Another Hidden Olympic Cost - Gangster Violence
Live Safe - Learn to recognize and connect the dots.

CanWest & The Courier Finger Rather
Local newspaper thinks being homeless is a joke

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Vancouver Sags Under Olympic Weight

In November of 2007 it seems like every time we turn around Vancouver gets caught coming out of a 180 coiled grab and into a big powder faceplant. And each time a new problem pops up it becomes a little bit harder to live in and enjoy this region.

Will it be worth it? Ask the businesses owners on Cambie.

We expected some of the challenges ... and we half-expected others, but a few events arrive so unannounced that most people in our 2010 Olympics region are having a tough time keeping track of why we are going through such incredible and also sometimes frightening social upheaval.

It's understandable that local mainstream news media are slow in connecting the dots, especially CanWest which is now paid by the Olympics to boost the Games. They own The Vancouver Sun, Province, Courier and Global Television, and have much less incentive than most news companies to inform residents that many of the negative issues we see happening here lately are tied directly or impacted by the 2010 Olympics.

CanWest's responsibility is skewed more to VANOC or the IOC, and not necessarily to our community. Today though I also have to add that by the end of this month they have been making an extra effort to tighten it up a bit. It's not something you can simply catch up to though. There are rights of passage and allegiances to community that have to be won, not taken or leapfrogged to.

Mainstream news media still all too often sensationalize the news without offering much explanation regarding why the news event occurred.

Who, what, why, where and when are still all important components of the news business, but when U.S. President George W Bush ignored the why of 9/11 it set a precedent that made it acceptable for mainstream news media everywhere to distract the public using a very heavy shake of patriotism and emotion, and ignore the reason we landed in that position in the first place ... accountability vanished like steam.


Addressing why makes it hard to
keep advertisers and politicians happy...

Lately, the public rarely knows why? News media often patronize their customers, and underestimate and sometimes even discount that we have access to the internet and other sources of information. It happens in much the same way music industry executives treated their customers in the late 90's ... and look where that got them?

Consider gang violence for instance. When we won the Olympic Bid in 2003 it was a signal to law enforcement to tighten the screws on our illegal drug trade. It took police and politicians a while to collect legacy information from the IOC, and consequently to design and launch a region-specific campaign, but by about mid 2005 the crackdown against drugs, no pun intended, was in full force. Newspapers were jammed with stories about the government working closely with fire departments, Hydro and police agencies in an effort to shut down marijuana grow-ops and meth labs. BC was going to eradicate the illegal drug trade before 2010. There was no time to waste. We are waging clandestine war.

BC often complains that Ottawa never listens, but five days after this article was originally posted Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced tough new measures to manage the illegal drug trade in Canada. Canada's 2010 Olympics is coming and BC's drug problem is now Canada's drug problem.

It's gone federal.

If Gordon Campbell, Larry Campbell, Sam Sullivan and the rest of the political train wreck couldn't do something about it, Ottawa will.

It's a precursor and political version of the military taking over our local police force due to chaotic mismanagement (and not necessarily an emergency), and enforcing martial law and 10 pm curfews - on February 13, 2007 no less. It's happened ... but let's hope it doesn't come to that here.

We literally went overnight from a warm and fuzzy Vansterdam to a police state under siege. Reports of police brutality increased and the public cheered as drug addicts, criminals and the homeless were pushed out of the Downtown Eastside. However, as criminals started moving across the region they spread crime, and the cheers turned to frustration. Crime territories started to shift from the lowest rung on the ladder at the corner of East Hastings and Main, all the way up to Shaughnessy, with mainlines through Hong Kong to Afghanistan poppy fields.

Our HIV and drug problem
went international with a bullet...

Increased street level police pressure put bottom-up stress on drug lords, who in turn began to reclaim or stake new territories, and in doing so, use violence as unarguable incentive. It sounds ridiculous, but it's not really safe to go anywhere in Vancouver day or night. Even the swank Vancouver neighborhood of Shaughnessy, with row upon row of multimillion dollar gated mansions, is not immune to drug related violence. A gang hit occurred on their quiet streets last week (November 3, 2007) that shocked residents to the core. Hong Chao (Raymond) Huang, a reputed kingpin of the Big Circle Boys, one of the most feared Asian gangs in North America, was gunned down and murdered in front of his home. His ten year old daughter called 911 after hearing shots and seeing her father lying in a pool of blood.

Neighbors are terrified, but news media and police keep telling us not to worry because it was a targeted hit and not random violence. Tell that to Montreal residents who saw almost one hundred and fifty people killed in their gang wars several years ago - some innocent children.

Last month also, on October 14, 2007, Robert Dziekanski, a Polish immigrant with all the correct papers in place to move to Canada was killed by Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) officers simply for causing a relatively minor disturbance at our airport - the same airport Olympics athletes and spectators will use. According to reports from witnesses, the frustrated and irate immigrant who had arrived earlier that day on an international flight, and was detained for at least ten hours for no reasonable reason, was tasered by police before an attempt was made to calm him down. Witnesses gasped as the police barged in and shot 50,000 volts of electricity into his body - TWICE. He died almost instantly at the scene while police officers milled around for twelve minutes waiting for paramedics to arrive to begin CPR. Our city is outraged.

Witnesses said the biggest issue regarding immigrant Dziekanski's detention was that no one at the airport spoke Polish, so they couldn't communicate with the man to let him know his elderly mother was waiting just outside the secure immigration area. To make matters worse, police confiscated a video of the taser attack shot by a local resident and they refused to return it. The amateur videographer was forced to launch a lawsuit to get it back, but over a full month later we still didn't know exactly what happened because the police refused to return it.

Police finally released the video almost five weeks later.



The Moral - shoot your video as discretely as possible and post it to YouTube at your first opportunity, or take it to a company like NowPublic.com.

Contact me if you don't know what to do with it. It is not a good idea to take it to police or mainstream media in Vancouver, because as you now know, they have great incentive to bury information that negatively impacts the 2010 Olympics.

Many people here accuse the RCMP of a cover-up.

This issue is compounded by the fact that our local police forces investigate themselves, and do not use independent third parties to investigate incidents or alleged wrongdoing.




Is this an Olympics related tragedy?

Sure it is, especially when you consider that everything law enforcement agencies do from the moment we won the Bid is considered a test in preparation for the Games in 2010. Basically, and it happens like this in all Olympics regions, law enforcement is practicing for the big event, and this was a live test scenario gone bad. If this is an indication of how they will manage Olympics tourists, we are all in trouble.

If you're still not convinced it's Olympics related, also consider the following. Our new Vancouver Police Chief, Jim Chu, will soon launch the Violence Suppression Team, and according to Chu, the team will be "getting in the faces of gangsters." Tough talk to be sure, but it is frighteningly reminiscent of the bravado expressed by George Bush regarding his war on terrorists.

Our local police have now vowed to start a war against gangsters and crime, which means until the war is won, which could take decades based on the experience in the U.S., Citizens and visitors, including tourists to our region will be caught in the crossfire.

Maybe VANOC can sell flak jackets emblazoned with 2010 Olympics logos.

British Columbia's Attorney-General, Wally Opal, also stated, as reported by the Vancouver Sun on November 8, 2007, "... perhaps taking the same approach as we have to terrorism would work with gangsters ..."

Talk like this from our civic leaders only means one thing, they are desperate, which means it will only get worse, and it may never get better. Growing marijuana and manufacturing illegal drugs in BC is our biggest cash crop. Gangsters, like terrorists, will not give up their hard won territories without a bloody, violent fight, the likes of which we are already experiencing. It is like asking Columbia to give up cocaine.

Thankfully, one good sign is that BC's Solicitor General, John Les, is now open to consider a regional police force. It isn't going to be easy to tame wild west crime in this province, so hopefully his softening on this issue also extends to more cooperation with federal law enforcement as well as the Canadian Military.

As any hunter knows, an injured animal is extremely dangerous. If you don't kill it clean, a wounded grizzly quickly becomes a rampaging nightmare. The last thing we need is for law enforcement to make the situation any worse than they already have. Poking a wasp nest with a sharp stick always has dire consequences for everyone in the vicinity. Go big, or go home. The only thing that counts are results. If civic leaders screw this up like they did the homeless issue, we are all in for a wild ride towards the 2010 Olympics. Going off halfcocked will only result in more innocent people being murdered.

The gangster issue is so serious in Vancouver that even our Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, has weighed in by saying, respective of curtailing the flow of guns across our borders, that, "I don't think the public wants to see buck-passing on this ..." Ya think?


If there is one piece of advice you should heed in Vancouver it is this;

Do not place yourself in a position where you have any type of interaction with the police. Don't even ask them for directions, and above all, stay out of trouble. Even minor infractions could cause you life threatening harm. Even though, according to witnesses, the police never even spoke once to the Polish man in his native tongue before he was killed, it is still good advice that you immediately comply with all police instructions and orders. The man was tasered on sight in a relatively busy airport, so just imagine what could happen when you're alone in your car or on the street.

Granted, this is the Wild West, but even that is a little too much for most residents here to accept.


Why is it important to connect gangster violence to the Olympics?

The reason is simple. If you don't know what is happening around you it will be incredibly difficult to figure out how you and your company fit into the bigger picture.

For example, and we've addressed this issue at OlyBLOG for years, private security companies are scrambling to stay one step ahead of the bad guys. Security companies cannot hire and train people fast enough. In fact laws recently changed here in order to make it easier to fast track security personnel through the system and to license new recruits. Unfortunately, local news media never broached this subject in a timely manner when they knew full well that it would grow into the chaos we see today. Why should they? An informed public would negatively impact their profit. Their allegiance is to Olympics organizations, not our community.


Here's an excerpt from my book,
Leverage Olympic Momentum;

The local Olympic committee meets with the top three security companies in their region and begins exploring interests and services. It won't take long for the three companies to realize that it will be harder to supply a workforce for the event than they anticipated. Top companies get to the top because they are organized. They also recognize when one of their clients is organizationally challenged. The security company that 'wins' understands they will be responsible to provide a service that delivers as contracted. If they feel they will be unable to deliver due to financial restraint or logistics challenges they will be extremely hesitant to put the reputation of their company on the line and open themselves to liability, lawsuits, or bad publicity. All companies have to carefully consider risk and how it will affect their position within the community over the long term. Top security firms often discover the risk does not outweigh the financial reward, level of prestige, or visibility. Security companies also recognize that as the Olympic event draws closer their services are going to be increasingly valued by current and new clients. When they consider all the ramifications it becomes difficult to get onboard with what from a distance at first looked like a slam-dunk.

So … the top three companies decide to take a pass and instead service their regular and growing customer list - which is growing because everyone in town is getting nervous with the impending excitement and attention. The top three security companies have more work than they can handle, plus, if they are smart, they sit in the wings prepared to offer organizational and 'last minute' services to the Olympics during crisis situations. In fact they might have even explored some type of pre-negotiation in this regard, but if they are cautious they will not commit too far in advance. One reason many security companies hesitate to get directly involved is because they eventually realize they have to make their employee list available through a central labour pool, and this pool is available to their competitors. The top three security companies will not want to share their most valuable resource with each other. Security is a human resource industry. Hardware plays a role, but not as much as warm bodies. Top security companies have extensive training standards and often train internally. They invest hundreds of thousands, if not millions of dollars in their staff and they have no intention of jeopardizing their investment over a chaotic, poorly organized, seventeen day sporting event that will blow in and out of town and flatten them in its wake. This is by far the greatest risk.

A single security company, even in the largest metropolitan area cannot possibly supply all the staff needed to properly service an Olympic event. The top three companies will not even be able to supply everyone needed. In fact even if you combine all the trained staff at all the security companies, big or small, you still would not have enough people to service the event. Security staff has to be pooled from current active workers in the entire region, plus, and this is a BIG PLUS, new workers have to be found, interviewed, hired, and trained. These new prospects can come from hundreds and possibly even thousands of miles away. The challenge is daunting. It's also important to consider the political implications of being an Olympic security supplier. The top companies in the region often indirectly establish municipal licensing regulations. They train their employees, and through this training maintain competitive advantage over the industry. Small companies cannot afford comprehensive training facilities and the capital needed to get recruits up to speed. Municipalities create licensing standards in conjunction with the top companies in the region. In other words, politicians and security companies work together to decide exactly what skills and accreditation is needed for specific license levels. You can't just fast track a recruit through two hours of training, give them a uniform, and expect them to manage high-level security situations. Many companies are moderated through government licensing, including security. Company number four is likely so far down the list they do not have a large roster of trained employees. In fact they might not have any staff licensed at the highest level. Top companies number one, two, and three use exhaustive licensing requirements to maintain their competitive edge in the market. They can literally keep small companies at bay. Company number four has the most to gain by becoming an Olympic supplier simply because it will have access to licensed security staff through the labour pool. Quite often licensed staff at the top three companies will put their names in the pool independently hoping to pick up what they erroneously perceive to be a prestigious freelance part-time gig at the Games. Some even do it anonymously due to non-compete agreements with their current employers. The point is, they are in the system, and company number four, and possibly all the other low-level security companies who want to supply the Olympics have access to them.

Company number four might not have the staff, but they have operational experience. The risk for them is lower when they balance it against all they have to gain when the Olympics leave town. Smart companies in the number four position know if they take the risk they can grow their company exponentially in a few short years. All they have to do is manage a system in partnership with the local Olympic committee. Unfortunately, it's not as easy as most think. What they probably won't realize until later in negotiations is that Olympic organizations will not hand over the very complicated operation of 'training and logistics' to a smaller company. That lucrative and relatively risk-free contract will go to one of the bigger companies in the area or to an international company. The smaller supplier will only be responsible for the almost-impossible task of supplying bodies, but not for training. Olympic organizations also have a history of not paying suppliers on time and of not signing contracts in a timely manner. Contractors live up to their end of the deal, but due to organizational difficulties often beyond the control of Olympic organizations, they often operate in limbo with little support. Company number four doesn't just wake up one day to discover they are over their head. They put their faith in the Olympic institution and only slowly get themselves into financial quicksand. It starts out with a modest investment of maybe $40,000, which in a couple of months grows to $60,000 and then maybe $100,000 by the end of the year. When would you bail and eat your losses? $60,000? 100,000? Remember, you initially trusted and based your decisions on the good name of the Olympic organization. Not to mention they are also pleading with you to give them a little more time to work out the kinks in their new operation. The opportunity is still exciting and you dip even deeper into your pockets because you are sure everything will work out in the end.

end of excerpt ...

If you want the whole 2010 story, please read my book.



CanWest Cheap Shot ...
Vancouver Courier Fingers Rather





This political cartoon by Geoff Olson is a feeble attempt by The Courier to discredit former 60 Minutes icon and now HDTV Host, Dan Rather.


Sister paper, The Vancouver Sun is an official and paid Olympics booster, so consequently, anything bad written about Vancouver reflects directly on the 2010 Olympics, which, indirectly, also negatively impacts the financial statement of CanWest. If you recall, they just recently signed an agreement that makes them an official paid booster of the Games, and ... they also recently let go and phased out a group of news people across Canada - including Vancouver.

Competition is fierce in the news industry and times are tough for soldiers in Afghanistan and in media trenches.

In times of stress people shoot from the hip. And occasionally, when someone doesn't have a valid argument they attack personally in an effort to undermine your credibility. It's sticks and stones mentality based on character assassination and is nothing short of bullying when a powerful media company resorts to this unethical tactic.

CanWest, preparing for the worst, decided to make Rather look desperate in an effort to fool Vancouverites into thinking he's chasing a story that isn't valid. According to the cartoon, CanWest and The Courier think the homeless situation in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside is a joke.

This inhumane attitude is exactly what we've been referring to regarding CanWest for the last few years. I'm surprised The Courier fell into this trap. They seem a bit smarter over there, but now it seems necessary illusion has lept across party divisions yet once again. Pretty slick, and a good example of why media consolidation is so dangerous. Who would have expected that the trusted Courier would so easily flip off our homeless, especially considering that they are a publisher with a reputation for touchy feely homey historical pithy features on the homepage every week.

All these years, I thought those Kudos & Kvetches characters at
The Courier were genuinely concerned about our community. Fool me once.

Local mainstream news media, until recently, has for the most part ignored Vancouver's problems for way too many years, and now that someone with international credentials has taken an interest, CanWest is backpedaling like crazy to make good. Too late. Where were you when we needed you? Run all the feel-good articles you want, and all the mm thick Olympics exposés you can muster, but you should have stepped up years ago when the real estate industry hired you to hype the condo frenzy and artificially inflate land prices that helped create this mess. No one can afford to live here except the filthy rich, in part thanks to you selling double-spread full color condo ads to greedy developers, and not balancing it with responsible editorial in a timely manner.

Even 2010 Olympics broadcaster CTV.ca got it right when they reported, "Dan Rather, former anchor and managing editor of CBS Evening News, discusses the future of news as he joins other panelists during the National Association of Broadcasters convention in Las Vegas."


Do I want Dan Rather to report negatively about Vancouver?

Of course not, but if it means local politicians and news media will finally pay attention to the chaos in this city then let's hear what he has to say. Ridiculing or censoring Rather is ridiculous. Interestingly, a few weeks ago The Courier ran a feature about the political cartoon era, and how it has all but vanished. Maybe cartoons like this is the reason.

Like drinking and driving, or smoking, it's not cool or funny anymore.

If he gets this story right, Rather could be the best thing that ever happened to the residents of BC and the 2010 Olympics.

Hopefully, he won't simply take a superficial shot at it though,
and create more problems. We'll' see ...



Talk to us before you talk to them ...
LeverageOlympicMomentum.com - the book







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