*With apologies to Harpers magazine.

by David Eby

1. Current security budget for the 2010 Olympics? $900m CDN
2. Number of private security guards hired by the Olympic Integrated Security Unit, headed by the RCMP (ISU)? 5,000
3. Number of police officers involved in Olympic security operations with the ISU? 7,000
4. Number of Canadian soldiers involved in Olympic security operations? 4,500
5. Position of “protesters” in a ranked list of security threats prepared by the Federal Olympic Secretariat? First
6. Number of now deactivated Medium Range Acoustic Device sonic crowd control weapons purchased without public disclosure by the Vancouver Police Department in time for the Olympics? 1
7. Number of published Canadian safety tests the weapon had been passed through before purchase and implementation? 0
8. Number of policies introduced governing the use of the weapon before purchase and implementation? 0
9. Number of leaflets that municipalities along the torch run should allow politicians to hand out to members of the public, according to the Vancouver Olympic Organizing Committee? 0
10. Number of times the Integrated Security Unit that heads Olympic security (ISU) has been asked to promise that its undercover officers will not break the law or assume the leadership or influence the direction of anti-Olympic activist organizations? 3
11. Number of times the ISU has made those promises? 0
12. Number of undercover police officers who drove a bus full of activists to a protest launching the Olympic torch run? 1
13. Number of undercover police officers who were passengers on the bus? Unknown
14. Amount of time, in minutes, that American NPR journalist Amy Goodman was detained by Canadian Border Service Agency agents who interrogated her about whether or not her December, 2009 speech to be given in Vancouver contained anti-Olympic sentiments? 90
15. Number of Olympic references Goodman had intended to make in her speech? 0
16. Number of designated protest zones, called “safe assembly areas,” that will be created by the ISU during the Olympic period? Unknown
17. Minimum number of surveillance cameras to be introduced to Vancouver for the Olympics? 950-970
18. Number of non-celebratory signs eligible for Olympic sign license exemptions according to the City of Vancouver Olympic bylaw and administrative report passed in December? 0
19. Amount of notice, in minutes, required by the provincial Miscellaneous Statutes Amendment Act to be given by City officials in Whistler, Richmond and Vancouver during the Olympic period before entering private property to remove graffiti? 0
20. Number of anti-Olympic murals removed from the outside wall of the Crying Room, a private art gallery, as a result of the City of Vancouver using its anti-graffiti bylaw powers? 1
21. Number of negative references Cultural Olympiad artists are permitted to make concerning the Vancouver Olympic Organizing Committee, the Olympics, the Olympic movement, Bell and other Olympic sponsors under the terms of the Cultural Olympiad artist agreement? 0
22. Number of lawyers who have volunteered pro bono assistance to the B.C. Civil Liberties Association to respond to rights violations during the Olympic period? 20
23. Number of legal observers trained by the B.C. Civil Liberties Association who will be in the streets of Vancouver and Whistler to monitor rights and freedoms during the Olympics? 400.

David Eby is Executive Director of the B.C. Civil Liberties Association.

This article was published in the February 2010 issue of BarTalk. © 2010 The Canadian Bar Association. All rights reserved.