Excerptcize

This Monday’s Metro Vancouver featured a report on an anti-Olympic mural that has been repainted outside a Downtown Eastside art gallery.

SEAN KOLENKO/FOR METRO VANCOUVER

The original removal of this mural in November has been cited by civil rights activists as proof that freedom of expression will be curtailed during the games; City Councillor Greoff Meggs maintains the removal was a mistake made in good faith that is not “representative of  how we want to protect civil rights during the Games. And we’ve been adamant that we do.”

David Eby, the executive director for the BC Civil Liberties Association expressed hopes that the city would treat anti-Olympic messages the same as pro-Olympic ones. If Counc. Meggs assertions at the recent public forum on security and civil rights during the games prove to be true then this should be the case. I have previously said that these games should be judged on their actual implementation, not by supposition on possibilities. The November removal of the mural, or this article in the Globe and Mail certainly left the city and VANOC looking like their claims that freedom of expression would not be curtailed look questionable. Should this mural remain up going forward, it will provide some needed credibility to Counc. Meggs claims.

My own mural would look a little more like this:

however that’s just me. The artist’s point is well taken and most certainly should not be removed from view. Metro’s article points out this space has been used for display since 2003 without incident. Hopefully the temporary removal was just that, temporary.

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