Category — 2010 Olympic Games

Last week’s Innovative Research poll on 2010 Games public opinion, summarized here, tells us little we couldn’t have surmised on our own:

• the four-in-ten British Columbians who never wanted the Games never changed their minds;
• those who were undecided going into the Games had the time of their lives;
• elsewhere in Canada the mood was more positive;
• by the end, almost everyone was having a good time.

Unavailable in the public opinion analysis I’ve seen, and certainly not commissioned by the city given its budget constraints, are answers to questions like these:

• did you find the transportation shift good, bad, indifferent? Will it change your commuting? Are you more likely to walk, cycle or take public transit?
• for downtown residents: during that wild, crazy time in the downtown were you a) using earplugs and praying it for to end? b) tolerating it because the Olympics are a once-in-a-lifetime event? c) pleasantly surprised at how much fun you found at your doorstep? or d) keen to see the city bring it on whenever possible?
• for residents and civil libertarians concerned about the bylaws: did you find the additional closed circuit TV obtrusive? How do you assess VPD management of demonstrations? Are the two issues linked? How did the city handle ambush marketing? Litter? Information?

The city moved outside the envelope in every respect for that 14-day period. What did people really find the best? What should not be repeated?

Just a new willingness to experiment would be a great Olympic legacy on its own.

In the latest issue of Business in Vancouver, my take on a missed Olympic legacy: an improved labour relations climate.

Three hundred members of UNITE-HERE Local 40 have reached agreement with YVR contractor HMS Host, ending a strike/lockout that began last week.

The agreement means they will be on the job when almost 40,000 visitors try to leave town after the Closing Ceremonies. Both sides expressed satisfaction with the settlement, which reduces the threat that union members won’t be able to access new jobs at YVR concessions when some existing restaurants close.

From the Rev. Gary Paterson, the minister at St. Andrew’s Wesley United Church, this remarkable sermon on transfiguration, sports replacing religion and the mystery of Olympic spirit: “something bigger than the hustle and bustle and protecting the borders, a dream . . . ”

From an initial scepticism and ambivalence, Paterson found himself changing his perspective at the torch relay and then at the opening ceremonies: “You could feel the hunger in those 60,000 people, to go higher, to be more, to be better than we normally than we are. It was a mountain top peak moment, when people said it isn’t impossible.”

Paterson, partner of councillor Tim Stevenson, would definitely own the pulpit in a preaching Olympics.