With the 10th anniversary of Vancouver hosting the 2010 Winter Olympics upon us, we are looking back at some of the stories that were making the news in the Courier during those 17 days in February.
This story was originally published March 3, 2010
Mayor Gregor Robertson was as ubiquitous as a mayor hosting an Olympic Games should be. He did the foreign media rounds, waved the Olympic flag at the closing ceremony and even partied with Hollywood vixen Pamela Anderson.
Maybe that hookup had something to do with Mr. Mayor rocking a drum kit at the city’s live site in Yaletown; Anderson’s ex is drummer Tommy Lee of Motley Crue fame. But I digress.
What were Robertson’s councillors up to for the past two weeks, particularly those who voted in 2003 against hosting the Games?
COPE Coun. Ellen Woodsworth was exhausted when your faithful scribe caught up with her Monday morning. Her two weeks included, in no particular order, a hunger strike, attending a protest outside the Vancouver Art Gallery, visiting pavilions, strolling a packed Granville Street and taking in performances such as Quantum Bhangra.
“The Cultural Olympiad for me was just outstanding,” she said.
She watched a lot of sports, too. But she did that at home and at the city’s live sites, which had huge screens for the masses to enjoy the Games. Unlike the rest of council, Woodsworth and colleague David Cadman declined any of the tickets the city purchased for the Games’ events.
The highlight for her was seeing the Canadian women’s hockey team win the gold medal. There was no doubt, as evidenced in her voice, that Woodsworth had a good time the past two weeks. But she was disappointed the opening and closing ceremonies “were not inclusive of our diversity, let alone the country.”
So, was it all worth it?
“Was it worth it? I think, at this point, you can’t say.”
Vision Vancouver Coun. Kerry Jang spent a lot of time with a delegation from Vancouver’s sister city from Guangzhou, China. That included going to the opening ceremony with the delegation and the first game of the Canadian women’s hockey team.
Jang also took in the Canadian men’s hockey game against Norway as a guest of SUCCESS and hosted staff of EasyPark at a curling match. Jang is council’s liaison on EasyPark’s board.
He watched bobsleigh at Whistler as guests of the resort community’s city council and did the media rounds answering questions about the city’s homeless problem.
“I talked about it a lot,” he said, “and I was very blunt about it. I was never told that we were spinning them a tale.”
Jang noted he declined two tickets to a sporting event from developer Millennium, which was responsible for building the Olympic Village.
“I just heard there were two tickets waiting for me but I didn’t look into what it was for,” he said.
So was it all worth it?
“Yes, on certain levels. In some ways you kind of underestimate the value of good publicity for a place. But I still feel that money [for the Games] could have been spent somewhere else. I’ve always maintained that.”
Like Woodsworth, Jang voted in the city’s 2003 plebiscite against hosting the Winter Games.
“Once it was voted on, and it was a majority that wanted the Games, I accepted it and I’m doing my best to get the most out of it. I was really glad everything was so well run and that goes a long way.”
