New Media

Hoping to see the Olympic cauldron up close and take in the scenery of the most beautiful waterfront spot in all of Vancouver, I roamed alongside thousands of people with exactly the same idea. Thanks to an unhelpful security fence all along the waterfront, none of us quite made it to our objective.

VANOC says the fence is there to provide security for the convention center and the Games’ international broadcast centre. All they’re doing is needlessly irritating visitors and locals by keeping them back from what ought to be a major venue for celebrations and for enjoying this city’s spectacular scenery.

The tragedy is that this stupidity carried out in the name of security is entirely unnecessary. VANOC could easily provide security for the convention center while allowing public access to this area by simply placing the fence perpendicular to its current deployment, aligned against the western entrance to the building. Besides, the malcontents involved in anti-Olympics protests are clearly incapable of mounting any mischief more threatening than knocking over some newspaper boxes and smashing in a store window. For this, VANOC is pleased to frustrate the photo opportunities of tens of thousands of tourists and all of the proud locals?

So much for showcasing our Olympic city. Here’s a reminder of what the people are missing beyond the chain-link fence, from photos taken when this public space was first completed with hundreds of millions of taxpayers dollars.

How to Make Enemies and Irritate Visitors at the Vancouver Olympics

A video of security guards in Seattle standing still while a robbery victim suffers a savage beating has gone viral.

I’d like to be able to say that Vancouver’s transportation security had a better record. Sadly, the don’t. Remember this?

Ravinder Sidhu said he was beaten and robbed late on the night of July 15 in a well-lit area at Surrey Central Station. Sidhu said the attacker left him bruised after stealing his watch and gifts for his six-year-old son.

“I had to get up, call the security people from the red phone which is in the secured area, and then somebody came to my aid,” said Sidhu.

“What if I had been knocked unconscious or I got stabbed? I wouldn’t be able to pick up the red phone,” he said.

And don’t forget, tourists. Pay your fare for skytrain or get Tasered.