CBC reports that, “Hundreds of protesters interrupted the Olympic torch relay through downtown Victoria on Friday night.”
The “presenting partner” sponsors of the Torch Relay are Coca-Cola and the Royal Bank of Canada.
“As the torch and its entourage were heading toward a celebration at the B.C. legislature, it appeared they would be intercepted by a raucus demonstration of anti-Olympic activists. Organizers and security forces quickly packed the torchbearers into vehicles and moved around the demonstration. It’s not certain if the flame remained lit during the unexpected detour.”
“Several hundred protesters had blocked Victoria city streets for hours and later demonstrated noisily during a celebratory stage show in the rain in front of the legislature.”
“Police were planning to build what authorities called ‘safe assembly zones,’ but the protesters said they didn’t plan to stay put. …Police say that’s fine, unless protests turn violent.”
An Innovative Research Group poll recently found that 42 percent of British Columbians think the Olympics are a mistake. 36 per cent said they wouldn’t know if the Games were a mistake until after they were over.
The Globe and Mail also reports today that, “Several members of the Olympic 2010 torch-relay team received their H1N1 shots earlier this week, ahead of pregnant women, health-care workers, children and others in high-risk groups, a spokesman for the BC Centre for Disease Control confirmed yesterday.”
The CBC article is at http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-columbia/story/2009/10/29/bc-olympic-flame-island-arrival.html.
