[R-G] CSIS monitors potential for violent anti-Olympic demonstrations

[Anthony Fenton]

> CSIS warily monitors potential for violent anti-Olympic demonstrations
> 11 hours ago
>
> OTTAWA - Canada's spy agency is warily eyeing the possibility of  
> violent
> protests against the 2010 Winter Olympics in British Columbia.
>
> The annual report of Canadian Security Intelligence Service  
> director Jim
> Judd signals the agency is actively gauging the prospect that
> demonstrations could turn ugly as opponents voice social and economic
> concerns about the Vancouver Games.
>
> The heavily censored 27-page CSIS report notes "the upcoming 2010  
> Winter
> Olympics may lead to protests with the potential for violence."
>
> The passage is part of a section of the report dealing with the  
> activities
> of CSIS's Asia, Europe and Americas Branch, noting that in the  
> Americas
> the service's "domestic and secessionist investigations" include,  
> among
> other concerns, white supremacism and Sikh and Tamil extremism - all
> longstanding interests of CSIS.
>
> The top secret document, dated July 25 of last year, was delivered  
> by hand
> to Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day.
>
> A declassified version stripped of sensitive security material was
> recently obtained by The Canadian Press under the Access to  
> Information
> Act.
>
> An array of activists, from aboriginal groups to anti-poverty  
> fighters,
> oppose the Winter Games, fearing the impact of the mega-event on
> Vancouver's poor, the environment and the B.C. balance sheet.
>
> Spokesmen for an anti-Olympics group and a civil liberties  
> organization
> said the CSIS document raises questions about how far the intelligence
> service will go in monitoring Games opponents.
>
> "We're more than a little worried about the potential for  
> infiltration of
> non-profit societies and legitimate protest groups," said lawyer Jason
> Gratl, president of the B.C. Civil Liberties Association.
>
> CSIS spokeswoman Manon Berube said the service's mandate for the  
> Winter
> Olympics is to assist law-enforcement and intelligence partners in
> ensuring the Games are incident-free. "And we have a wide range of
> contacts at the domestic and international levels in helping us to  
> fulfil
> that mandate."
>
> She said the intelligence service would work with the RCMP and other
> federal agencies to help the Canadian Olympic Committee "in  
> evaluating and
> monitoring threats to Canadians and Canadian interests in relation  
> to the
> 2010 Olympics.
>
> "CSIS threat assessments will be shared with the appropriate  
> government
> department as required."
>
> Berube refused to be more specific. "I can't be giving any details  
> about
> our operations."
>
> Critics acknowledge the complex task authorities face in keeping a  
> handle
> on genuine threats to safety as the Games draw closer.
>
> "If someone has a grudge and wants to make a statement, there's no  
> better
> place to do it," said Chris Shaw, spokesman for Games watchdog group
> 2010watch. "I do think there are legitimate concerns about security."
>
> But critics also warn against trampling on the constitutionally  
> guaranteed
> right to express dissent.
>
> Shaw says security agencies and police should focus on threats from  
> the
> truly dangerous, not groups like his, whose members run a website,  
> picket
> events and hand out leaflets.
>
> "No one is talking anything violent here. We're talking about  
> making our
> voices heard and protesting the Olympics," Shaw said.
>
> "If they're spending too much time worrying about the domestic threats
> that are annoying but not really violent - that aren't really putting
> anyone at risk besides embarrassment - and taking resources away from
> dealing with things that actually might get people killed, then  
> they're
> making a big mistake."
>
> The depth of concern that security agencies can have for protesters at
> large international events became abundantly clear after the  
> gathering of
> leaders from Canada, the United States and Mexico last summer in
> Montebello, Que.
>
> The Quebec provincial police eventually admitted three officers  
> disguised
> as masked protesters, including one clutching a rock, were among the
> demonstrators.
>
> Gratl served as counsel for Vancouver's Downtown Eastside Residents
> Association after Vancouver police executed a search warrant at the
> group's office last March, investigating the disappearance of an  
> Olympic
> flag from city hall. The association denies any role in the theft.
>
> Gratl considers the Games a challenge for both the authorities and the
> agencies that are supposed to keep an eye on them.
>
> "CSIS belongs at the Olympics because there are going to be
> internationally protected persons, diplomats, foreign politicians,  
> even
> Olympic athletes from countries against which other groups have an  
> axe to
> grind," Gratl said.
>
> "It's obviously a situation that calls for tight security."
>
> "But as tight as the security will be for the Olympics, oversight  
> of our
> security agencies should be even tighter."
>