Legacies of the Games: Did the Olympic Glow Last?

When the idea was born that Vancouver should host the 2010 Winter Olympics, Aboriginal people in Canada were told the Games would provide a long list of legacies, especially for Aboriginal youth. VANOC and B.C. signed agreements with the Four Host First Nations once they were successful in bidding for the Games. Everyone seemed to be optimistic. These Olympics were forever going to help change the dire future most Aboriginal youth face.

British Columbia (B.C.) is the only province in Canada where, with a few small exceptions, no treaties have been signed between the First Nations and the Crown or government. That means Native people have claimed virtually the entire province as their land because they have never signed contracts awarding it to the government. These facts are very important when understanding how the Games were sold to the four nations—Squamish, Lil’wat, Musqueam and Tsleil-Waututh—on whose ancestral land the Games would take place.

“Based on the 2004 Supreme Court Haida Decision, the province must consult and accommodate First Nations when developing in [their] traditional territory in the absence of a treaty” wrote David Luggi, Carrier Sakeni Tribal Council member from northern B.C., on  why First Nations became involved in the Games.

“The Squamish Nation, along with the Lil'wat, agreed to 122 hectares of land allotments in and around Whistler in exchange for their co-operation for the 2010 Olympics. There was also financial compensation from the government to the Four Host First Nations (FHFN) although the term compensation is never used.”

Just days into the Olympics, Chief Shawn Atleo, the elected leader of First Nations people in Canada, spoke of the legacy funds VANOC said was available via the Aboriginal Youth Sport Legacy Fund and the Vancouver 2010 Aboriginal Youth Legacy Program. “We must make sure there is a sport and recreation legacy in B.C. We are talking about $8 million as a legacy for youth.”

Except the $8 million never materialized.

That figure was contingent upon $5 million being added by corporate donations to the $3 million set aside for Aboriginal youth by the province of B.C. The donations did not happen. Legacies Now is the non-profit organization that manages what is left of the funds today. Corporate Response Manager Nicole Mezzorobba said that by January 2011 there was approximately $1.3 million left of the original $3 million. One reason for its depletion is the $350,000.00 VANOC spent to cover some of the costs associated with the Aboriginal component of the opening ceremonies. The fund has also been giving grants to Aboriginal athletes and communities since 2005 — $3 million is not much money to stretch over a long time period.

When these funds are tapped out, they will not be replenished, unlike other elite sport programs, like Own The Podium (OTP), described below.

Another $282,000.00 is in the Vancouver 2010 Aboriginal Youth Legacy Program, which has to cover education, cultural and sustainability projects as well as sport. This is where the $5 million in corporate donations should have gone, but only the following donations were received:

VANOC licensing royalties-$202,664VANOC – Aboriginal Art Auction - $19,030Coke - $10,000Molson - $12,256 (beer company)Suncor - $10,000 (oil company)Nike - $30,000Other donations - $1,500

Before handing the above amounts over to Legacies Now, VANOC took $3015.00 for unexplained “legal fees”.

‘Disneyesque’ promotional material does not reflect realityExtravaganzas like the Olympics often cloud reality. The reality for Aboriginal people in Canada is quite different than what was presented at the Vancouver Games. There is a six times greater chance Aboriginal youth will commit suicide or will have a fatal accident than non-Native people. Violence, unemployment, depression, crowded and dangerous housing, poor nutrition and education, and extreme poverty are day-to-day realities for many in the Aboriginal community.

The 2009 UNICEF report “Aboriginal Health-Leaving No Child Behind” examined inequities in Canada’s health system. It states that federal investments in First Nations health services have not mirrored population growth, and that a number of services routinely provided to other Canadians are under-funded or denied. The report also notes that while there have been improvements in the health of First Nations children in recent years, inequalities persist such as higher infant mortality rates, lower child immunization rates, poorer nutritional status and endemic rates of obesity, diabetes and other chronic diseases.

On the evening of the opening ceremonies, Stewart Phillips, president of the BC Union of Indian Chiefs said, "I can't stand alongside the premier and John Furlong at the grand opening ceremony and give the impression that everything is okay. It's a moral decision. I'd much rather stand with the people who have to endure the tragic dimensions of the poverty imposed on the aboriginal people in this province and the tragic dimensions of that poverty in terms of our high suicide rates and homicides."

"We're deeply concerned about the concerted and aggressive marketing campaign advanced by VANOC which suggests the indigenous people of B.C. and Canada enjoy a very comfortable and high standard of living. The Disneyesque promotional materials suggest a cozy relationship between aboriginal people of the province with all levels of government and it completely ignores the horrific levels of poverty our people endure on a daily basis. If government would act on our constitutional rights, human rights, land use we'd be directly involved and in a position to address these appalling conditions of our people."

The conditions in which Aboriginal people live in Canada are shocking. On the Human Development Index that measures quality of life, they are 48th out of 174 countries, while non-Native Canadians are amongst the top. The Olympics did nothing to change the reality of poverty that Aboriginal people face daily in Canada. Instead of the insulting nickels and dimes that were set aside as the legacy funds above, why could there not have been a mechanism that allowed even 1% of sponsorship, ticket and broadcast dollars to go towards a real fund for Aboriginal youth that might actually make a difference? Let’s look at those numbers.

The Real Money:

The IOC sold the international broadcast rights to the 2010 Vancouver Games and 2012 London Games for $4 billion. They don’t say what percentage the opening ceremonies represent of that number, but it is by far the most lucrative time slot. CTV – the host broadcaster in Canada – paid $90 million for the broadcast rights just to the Vancouver Olympics. Added to this is VANOC’s final financial report that shows revenues of $61.5 million in ticket sales for the opening and closing ceremonies.

In his book Patriot Hearts, VANOC CEO John Furlong writes that corporate sponsorship for the Vancouver Olympics totaled $750 million (CAN) in cash, goods and services:

• General Motors: $67 million including 6,000 vehicles.
• Bell Canada (telecommunications firm): $90 million for the Games, $15 million for Own The Podium, and goods and services to total $200 million.
• VANOC signed 70 corporate sponsors at varying amounts and received 15-20% of the IOC’s sponsorship money. After the financial meltdown of 2008 hit, the IOC added another $50 million. The IOC’s “global envelope” to VANOC totaled $550 million in cash, goods and services according to the final VANOC financial statement.
• B.C. and Canadian governments: $187.8 million.
• City of Vancouver undertook most of the costs of the Athlete’s Village and many services for many millions of dollars.

Sponsorship dollars alone would have provided $7.5 million in funds, goods and services for Aboriginal youth if VANOC had committed 1% to build a real legacy from the Games. Interestingly, they did use a considerable amount of sponsorship funds to build “Own The Podium” (OTP), the program that was to put an unprecedented amount of Canadian athletes in the medals.

VANOC, the Canadian Olympic Committee and the federal government initiated OTP which contributed $110 million over five years towards elite Canadian winter sports and athletes. Approximately half of that amount came from Vancouver Olympic sponsors after VANOC pleaded the case: Canadian athletes needed to be on the podium in order to convince other Canadians that the cost of the Games was worth it.

Immediately after the Olympics, the federal government decided to continue the fund. This year it is topped up to $22 million for winter sports and $36 million for summer sports annually. This is in addition to the tens of millions of dollars in government and sponsorship money high-performance sport already receives. No one begrudges athletes receiving the support they deserve, but these numbers make a mockery of the lack of funding given to Aboriginal sport.

It was recently announced that $3 million would go towards the North American Indigenous Games—an All-Aboriginal sporting event that pulls thousands of young people from the Mexican border to the Arctic Circle.

Compared to OTP’s $110 million for the Vancouver Olympics, and the funds expected by the time the Sochi Games roll around, $3 million is a cruel joke. The joke becomes even crueler when the $35 million spent by VANOC to bid on the 2010 Games is added to the equation. VANOC CEO John Furlong is now chair of the Advisory Board to OTP.

The federal government also paid for Sport For Life (S4L)’s plans to be drawn up for every Olympic sport in Canada, so young people could benefit from each sport’s “Long Term Athlete Development Program (LTAD).” Consultant Richard Way, who wrote many of the programs, admits there are no plans for Aboriginal people in any of the documents, and that a separate plan would have to be written, but no funds have been made available.

VANOC also promised a Virtual Aboriginal Sports Hall of Fame as an Olympic legacy. Like the $5 million in corporate sponsorship that never arrived, it never materialized. The hall would have given Aboriginal people virtual access to the stories of great Aboriginal athletes, coaches and sport builders in Canada.

The Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport’s Annual Report on sport’s ethical issues, the Ottawa-based and federally financed organization, whose motto is “Protect, Advocate, Activate” does not mention this fact. Aboriginal youth are listed once in a note saying that $1.89 million in foundation monies to be distributed over the next 4 years across Canada will prioritize “Aboriginal youth, new Canadians and low income families.” If Aboriginal youth receive one-third of this funding 25 cents will go to each child over four years.

Where Are the Programs and Facilities for Aboriginal Youth?

Legacies Now has no jurisdiction over facility legacies, so it cannot advocate on behalf of First Nations youth who may want to access the Nordic ski and biathlon trails at Whistler Olympic Park (WOP) on Squamish and Lil’wat traditional lands, or the Thunderbird Arena beside the Musqueam First Nation at the University of British Columbia. The very organization set up to work on their behalf is conveniently silent, and there are no First Nation programs operating in the facility legacies.

“We don’t have anything specifically for Aboriginal people. If there’s some legacy agreement I should know of here, then I’m sure I’ll be made aware of it” says Mike Ikeda, Thunderbird facilities manager, who added he didn’t want “anything negative to be written.”

WOP offers schools a great deal on lessons, trail pass and Nordic ski rental equipment for $15.00 per student. Each area elementary school comes twice, including Mt. Currie and Stawamus, which are First Nation. But if the kids take to skiing they are on their own as the third time they use this package it will cost $56.00, and they must find transportation to the remote trails as there is no public transit.

“We have no agreements with the First Nations in terms of programs” says Lyndsay Durno, WOP facilities manager. Yet the November 22, 2002 agreement between the Squamish and Lil’wat (Nations Membership) and the Vancouver bid corporation (Bidco) signed by Premier Gordon Campbell predicts a far different story.

Under “Shared Ownership of New Athletic Facilities” the province and Bidco agreed that, “The Nations Membership role in these facilities through the Legacies Society will support opportunities for Aboriginal athletes to train in world class sports facilities, with other world class athletes for world class events.”

What WOP did do this year is host the P’ayakentsut cross-country ski race, which is Squamish for “A place to train oneself physically.” Staff at WOP say they did not work with the Squamish on this event. It is easy to use First Nation words, even if the only connection to that nation is the land you are using; it is much harder to commit to Aboriginal youth so hope and a deep sense of belonging replace suicide and despair.