Olympics in 2010

SCMers from across Canada have gathered in Vancouver to demonstrate at the Vancouver 2010 Olympics.

Click photo to view 2010 Olympics photos

While the world watches Canada as it hosts the Olympics in 2010, human rights, environmental and Indigenous groups have raised serious concerns about the impact of the games and security forces on civil liberties, the environment and indigenous rights. SCM has joined this movement, and members from four different SCM local units are in Vancouver for a week of action and learning.

You can follow our Facebook and Twitter feed during the week, as well as SCM’s Movement Blog for updates every few days on what is going on in Vancouver. Also, SCM Ottawa members have their own Team Awesome Vancouver 2010 blog

In February 2009, SCM’s General Board – the movement’s elected student leadership – decided to endorse a campaign challenging the Olympics and in particular their impact on Indigenous rights and civil liberties. We issued a solidarity statement raising these concerns and vowing to continue applying pressure to clean up the games and stand up for freedom of speech.

So we find ourselves, one year later, watching closely as the Vancouver games unfold – some of us in Vancouver itself being witnesses for social justice and nonviolence.

Some important documents to understanding SCM’s position:

SCM Solidarity Statement on the 2010 Olympics
SCM @ UBC Resolution on the Olympics
SCM Solidarity Statement on Red Tent Homelessness Campaign
SCM Canada Draft Resolution on Indigenous Rights

Frequently Asked Questions
(not official policy of SCM)

Why is SCM against the Olympics?
SCM does not oppose sports or the Olympics altogether. Read our Solidarity Statement to find out our reasons – everything from Indigenous rights to civil liberties. We are critiquing the way the Olympics have been organized, and the social problems being swept under the rug.

I support the Olympics and feel it’s wrong to waste time protesting in Vancouver
Many people support the Olympics, including SCM members and alumni. Some are even planning to attend sporting events. While it is everyone’s right to enjoy such an event, the ‘shadow’ side of Canada is being whitewashed so the world can be shown a “perfect” country. The reality is quite different – mass evictions, heavy-handed policing and surveillance, Indigenous rights violated. We simply hope to highlight these concerns, and have the equal right to be witnesses on the issues that SCM has always tackled.

What is the theological position behind SCM’s stance?
SCM @ UBC – our hosts in Vancouver – have developed an excellent Resolution which outlines the Biblical rationale behind the homelessness and economic justice demonstrations around the Olympics.

Some scriptural starting points:

  • Isaiah 1:16-17 (NRSV) reads, “Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your doings from beneath my eyes; cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, rescue the oppressed, defend the orphan, plead for the widow.”
  • Isaiah 65:22 (NRSV) reads, “They shall not build and another inhabit; they shall not plant and another eat; for like the days of a tree shall the days of my people be, and my chosen shall long enjoy the work of their hands.”
  • Romans 12:21 (NRSV) reads, “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”
  • Ephesians 1:1-3 (NRSV) reads “I therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit and the bond of peace.”

How can I support this movement?

Check out the website links to the right to sign petitions, donate to legal defense of demonstrators, or support economic justice and legal rights of Vancouver’s poor people.

SCM has sent five members from Eastern Canada to Vancouver, where we are visiting with activists, participating in teach-in summits, demonstrations, and faith events to learn more about the issues of economic justice. SCM Canada gratefully accepts donations – no matter how big or small – to support our pilgrimage to Vancouver. We issue a tax receipt for gifts over $10. Visit our Support SCM webpage to find out more.