[mobglob-discuss] Open Letter to the IOC

[Bella]

For immediate release
June 29

OPEN LETTER TO THE IOC:

In the next few days, you will be asked to choose the host 
city for the 2010 Winter Olympic Games. The choice you make will have
an enormous impact on the future host city and on the IOC.

We are a group of concerned British Columbians who have 
opposed bringing the 2010 Games to Vancouver/ Whistler.  Our opposition
arises in the certain knowledge that the Games will cost the people of
British Columbia a vast 
amount of money that we cannot afford at this time. Not 
only will the cost be onerous, the financial requirements will
foreclose other economic and social opportunities that we might have
chosen.  The Games will come at the expense of health care and
education and will damage the increasingly fragile social safety net
that British Columbians and Canadians cherish.

Please do not attempt to tell us that the Games make money 
for host cities or states.  We have devoted much research into the
issue and know that such assertions are simply false and self-serving. 
However, we recognize that the Games make enormous profits for the
local Bid Corporations and the special interests they represent.  And,
of course, the Games make money for the IOC.  In our view, a view
increasingly shared by many of our fellow British Columbians, the
transfer of vast sums of public money for private gain as in almost
every Olympic Games is a financial scam of incredible proportions. 
That the IOC is a willing part of this process demeans the original
principles of the modern Olympic Games.

Please allow me to take this opportunity to tell you of our 
future plans in the mischance that you chose Vancouver. First, we will
expose each and every conflict of interest involving members of the
Vancouver/Whistler Bid Corp as 
they emerge in the coming years.  A cursory glance at the 
document attached will provide you with a notion of the dimensions of
the coming scandals and we are convinced that a Vancouver Games will be
most scandal-ridden in Olympic history.  And, rest assured, we will
link these conflicts not only to the responsible Bid Corp members, to
politicians who will directly benefit, as well as to members of the IOC
who have financial ties to 
Vancouver Bid Corp members or organizations.

For example, our research has revealed the crucial role 
that Hong Kong businessman Li Ka Shing and his foreign and local
collaborators have played in mega projects associated with the 2008
Toronto Bid, with the future Beijing Summer Games, and now with
Vancouver's bid.  We are aware that Li Ka Shing and his associates are
connected at numerous levels with the hierarchy of the IOC.  These
items -and others like them- will become part of our ongoing expose as
we educate the people of British Columbia about the true 
nature of the IOC as a modern multinational corporation 
whose interests appear to be more devoted to financial profits than
sports and athletes.
  
And, as we educate locally, we will educate internationally 
so that the citizens of other countries will see the Games for what
they have become: special interests using the Olympics for private gain
at public expense.

Politically, we will continue to oppose the Games at each 
opportunity and believe that the Games will become a major issue in
future provincial elections.  While the Olympic plebiscite held in
Vancouver resulted in a greater number of 'yes' votes, this outcome was
achieved only by massive 
outlays of public funds on behalf of the Bid.  In spite of 
saturation advertising by the Bid Corp, the 'no' side with no budget
took almost 36% of the vote and our numbers continue to grow.  Outside
of Vancouver, the vast 
majority of British Columbians reject the 2010 Games if the 
public is forced to pay for them.

You may be aware that British Columbia's current government 
is on its way to being the most unpopular government in our history. 
We will have 2 provincial elections between now and 2010 and a very
different government may be in power when the Games come.  The
reception the IOC 'family' 
receives at that time may well reflect the disgust that 
average British Columbians will feel if their well being has been
sacrificed to special interests, especially if the IOC is viewed as
being an active party to those interests.

For these reasons, we urge you to vote against giving the 
2010 Games to Vancouver.  The choice in your hands may well determine
the future well being of both our province, as well as the reputation
of the IOC.  We hope you make the right decision.


For NO GAMES 2010 Coalition

Christopher A. Shaw, Ph.D
Associate Professor
Research Pavilion
828 W. 10th Ave.
Vancouver, British Columbia
Canada, V5Z 1L8
tel: 604-875-4111 (ext. 68375)
Fax: 604-875-4376
e-mail: csshawlab at hotmail.com


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