Photographs from the 2009 Poverty Olympics

Poverty Olympics Athlete’s Village

Poverty Olympics Athlete’s VillageThanks to Hendrik, Phoenix, James, Diane, Blackbird, Jean, Rolf and Wendy for this PSA about accomodations for the athlete’s in Sunday’s Poverty Olympics.

Deep poverty in a rich country: Vancouver Poverty Olympic sports to highlight Canada’s dismal record on poverty

Instead of speed skating, an imitation Canadian Prime Minister and Premier will demonstrate how they “skate around poverty.”  Poverty Olympic athletes who are homeless or live in tiny hotel rooms with cockroaches and bedbugs in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, will climb over “housing hurdles” in an attempt to find decent housing in a city where virtually [...]

Press Release for Poverty Olympics 2009

Hello reporters.  Want to have some fun?  With a little message snuck in?   You’re invited to come to the Second Annual Poverty Olympics on Feb. 8th in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside.
At the Poverty Olympics Downtown Eastside residents and friends will use their creativity and sense of humour to show that the coming Olympic Games are [...]

Cost of Olympic services and facilities compared to ending poverty

Costs of Olympic related services and facilities (January 2009)
Venues:                                 $600M
Program spending:                   $125M
Security:                                $400M-$1B
2 Olympic Villages:                    $1.261B
Sea to Sky Highway:                 $775M
Trade and Convention Centre:    $883M
RAV line:                                        $2B
TOTAL:                                           $6.044 Billion to $6.644 Billion
How billions spent on Olympics could reduce poverty and homelessness
Amount spent on Olympic related services and facilities:  $6.044 Billion (low estimate)
Number of social housing units this [...]

Olympic commitments versus what happened

The Inner-city Inclusive Housing Table (ICI) was appointed by the provincial government to make recommendations to all levels of government and VANOC about how to meet the Olympic sustainability commitments. It was made up of business, government and community representatives. The ICI made 23 unanimous recommendations. Five of them and what action has been taken, [...]

Poverty Olympics Social Index

• Number of people Greater Vancouver Food Banks helps feed a week = 9000 (i)
Estimated cost of Vancouver and Whistler Olympic Villages = $ 1.261 billion (ii): Number of families that could be fed nutritiously for five years on this amount = 29, 393 (iii)
• Number of single parent, 2 children families on welfare in BC = [...]

Olympic Rhetoric Exposed

In a letter dated 21 January, 2008, the Organising Committee for the Poverty Olympics in Vancouver wrote to Jacques Rogge and Members of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). In the letter, the committee highlighted the ‘world-class’ levels of poverty and homelessness in Vancouver and British Columbia (e.g., 10-15,000 people homeless in the province, the highest [...]