The Canada pavillion – Stephen Harper should be ashamed

February 5th, 2010

Breathtaking, isn't it?

The situation with regards to the Canadian pavilion – in theory, something that should have been one of the jewels of the Olympics – is a national disgrace.

Now, before I go on, let me say that in general, I am shocked to still see general work and even construction happening across the downtown core at this late stage in the game.  From the Alberta showcase to the tents around BC Place, it seems as though many attractions will be ready to go just in time for the start of the opening ceremonies.

But with regards to the Canadian government’s involvement, the sordid details speak for themselves

  • $10.4-million spent
  • A formal request for proposals only issued on November 3, with the competition closing November 17
  • The contract was given to US company for expediency
  • The “pavilion” is little more than a big tent…without doubt one of the ugliest structures in all of the temporary attractions going up across town
  • Construction will still be continuing with the opening of the Games

I was speaking to one of the Ontario folks who were in town to put the final touches on the Ontario pavillion for example, and was told that their planning began in the spring of 2008.

So why exactly did the government wait until the last minute with regards to their offering to the world?

If we spent over a year constructing our representation in Beijing (which from all accounts was a huge success during the Summer Games), why wouldn’t we do the same for our home turf.

The picture above does not do the pavilion justice in terms of how hard on the eyes it really is.  Walking by it is the only way one can truly experience the shame attached with such a horrendous display designed to represent and encapsulate the best our country has to offer.

Oh, and in typical Harper fashion, its being taken care of by the Americans.

This comment by Minister James Moore’s press aide about says it all:

“”If you want a pavilion ready for February, then there’s no need to start work on it in September.”

I wonder if this is also the case with other issues of “importance” to the Harper government.

I don’t know about you, but on this one, I am truly outraged, regardless of my political bent that most people in political circles (and otherwise) are well aware of.

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FACT OF THE DAY

An article titled Vancouver Politics by Paul Tennant in The Vancouver Book (1976), describes the entry of TEAM onto the civic political scene in 1968. TEAM, wrote Tennant, “sought to be a moderate reform group appealing to persons of all political ideologies.”

On their left was COPE (the Committee of Progressive Electors), also formed in 1968, and on their right was the NPA (the Non-Partisan Association), which had been a power in city politics for nearly four decades, and which “held that the affairs of the city should be run by those with the necessary knowledge and experience, i.e., those with a professional-managerial background, in order to run the city in a business-like way.”

The reformers, on the other hand, “felt that civic decision-making should be open to the public, with leadership coming from a cross-section of the population, and rule going to the working class majority. This group was concerned about land use, they advocated city control, and preferred to structure politics around the neighborhood concept.”

Quote OF THE DAY

“It was very diverse, and we got together by word of mouth. There were professors, business people, labor, lawyers and from all across the city. It was a coalescing of people around the idea we should do something.” – former City Councillor Setty Pendakur on the formation Vancouver’s reform movement and its political manifestation – TEAM – came into being in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s.

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