There is no shortage of potential issues of protest in Vancouver and beyond – a lack of support for homelessness, mental illness and addiction, the missing and murdered women of the downtown eastside, a dearth of affordable housing, an increasing gap between the rich and poor in Canada; all of these problems come quickly to mind.

As many have noted, some of the funding that has gone towards the winter Olympics might have been usefully diverted to address these more pressing issues. That did not happen, however, and so here we are in the first week of Vancouver 2010. What to do?

My response is that it’s time to join the party. None of our issues of concern are going to disappear from the political agenda, and raising them now as part of an anti-Olympic agenda –- confronting the dedication, effort and joy of athletic excellence – seems to be little more than a display of misplaced anger or sulky self-indulgence.

More important, will anyone be convinced by those who made it impossible for Canadian veterans to view the passage of the Olympic torch, or by those who wore masks and balaclavas as they paraded through the streets? These weren’t people interested in constructive social change; their behaviour alienated the overwhelming majority. We read that “native warriors” and “anti-capitalists” are asked to unite in a “street march to clog the arteries of capitalism”. Do these people deserve the label of protesters? They can’t seem to move beyond tired and tiresome slogans.

The protests that are making sense and receiving some support are not those addressing the presence of the Olympics, but the specific problems noted above – the missing and murdered women of the downtown eastside, and homelessness and addiction. They try not to disrupt the celebration of Olympic pride, but rather to draw attention to the problems that we must begin to face after the party is over.

I suggest we enjoy the ride, and applaud the competitors, maybe even take a little pride in our country. Who could not be enchanted by the joy of Alexandre Bilodeau and his brother Frederic, celebrating at Cypress Mountain? By the constant interchanges and affection among competitors from countries as diverse as we could possibly imagine? These are two weeks in which we can celebrate diversity and athletic excellence, and hopefully, in a constructive and a thoughtful way, also tell the world a little bit more about the challenges that we face.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 16th, 2010 at 12:22 pm and is filed under Politics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.