By Andrew Bates, CUP Western Bureau Chief
KELOWNA, B.C. (CUP) — “There’s nothing I can possibly do as one person to stop the Olympics from happening,” said Kim Larson, a UBC Okanagan student who protested the torch relay in Kelowna a month ago.
“I wanted the people who went … to see the torch to think about the people who might have to sleep in that park that night.”
Larson is one of a growing number of protesters of Olympic events that are getting involved for the first time, according to Chris Shaw, a leading anti-games protester and temporary spokesperson for the Olympic Resistance Network.
“There’s a lot of people showing up and talking about showing up who have never held a protest in their life,” Shaw told the Canadian University Press. “The Olympics have done that thing they claim they are very good at; they’ve united a lot of people.”
Larson, who is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in social work, doesn’t identify as an activist. “I am one of those people who has sat around drinking coffee with people, and said, ‘you know what sucks about the world?’
“I often share my opinions, but I never do anything about it.”
“The newcomers are not the traditional leftist groups that you would associate with this sort of protest,” said Shaw, a professor of ophthalmology and visual sciences at UBC Vancouver.
According to Shaw, the Olympic protest movement includes everyone from taxpayers’ advocates to businesspeople to simply interested citizens. “There are some single moms and single dads,” he said. “We have soccer moms and soccer dads.”
He said that this leads to some surprises when it comes to the protesters that arrive. “Some people are showing up for reasons that are more fiscal than poverty related,” he said. “There are … Russians who are coming out to protest the (2014 Olympic) Sochi Games. I have no idea what their politics are.”
The public image of protesters varies, Shaw said. “There are a lot of people who follow the mainstream media (portrayal) that all of the protesters are bunch of black-clad, hoodie wearing, face-scarved hooligans who are intent on breaking windows and creating mayhem. I don’t think I fit into the black-hoodie brick-throwing type, but the police would like to pretend that we all do.”
Protesters have been cast as the party creating conflict, according to David Jefferess, assistant professor of cultural studies at UBC Okanagan. “From the media representation, the focus is on the event of the disruption, and not necessarily the context, not necessarily … the way the protesters figure within the conflict.”
Larson said she is proud of the Olympics, but wants to raise awareness of homelessness in Vancouver and abroad. She’s doing a practicum for her degree at the Kelowna Drop-In and Information Centre, which helps the homeless and other individuals in her community. It may have to shut its doors at the end of March, however, due to funding cuts.
At the Kelowna torch relay celebration, Larson brought a sign that read, “Is this flame keeping the homeless warm?” and held it up right in front of the stage.
“There was about a chorus of fifty people telling me in not a nice way to take my sign down,” she said. “The police even came by and asked if I would like to move to the back.” According to Larson, they did not pressure her when she refused.
Shaw maintains that it is the issues that are bringing people together. “They’re doing that for a variety of reasons … A lot of people just don’t like how things have gone,” he said. “They didn’t sign up for this.”
Larson is happy with her protest, despite the disapproving looks. She found that a lot of people, including Kelowna mayor Sharon Shepherd, came up to talk to her and discuss those issues.
“A few homeless people that are clients of the Drop-In Centre came to talk to me, and that was the most touching thing,” she said. “Then (B.C. premier) Gordon Campbell drove by, and gave me a big disapproving look as he was in his limo and read what my sign said … so that was funny.”
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