[Hpn] Bread Not Circuses - OLYMPIC delegates meet Toronto bid opponents (fwd)

[Tom Boland]

TORONTO activists' CONTACT info & related News Links follow 2 AP articles:

http://newsfinder.arinet.com/fpweb/fp.dll/$stargeneral/htm/x_dv.htm/_ibyx/cg0302
6/_itox/starnet/_svc/news/_Id/706953003/_k/qU7s0Oj5A8k5rW20
FWD  Associated Press - AP Wire Service - March 09 2001

PACKED DAY FOR IOC DELEGATION BEGINS WITH MEETING WITH SOCIAL ACTIVISTS

Editors Note  Dollar amounts are in Canadian dollars 

By The Associated Press

TORONTO (AP) _ After starting its weeklong visit hearing about
all the benefits of handing Toronto the 2008 Summer Olympics, the
IOC technical commission heard the opposite Friday from a group
opposing the bid for the Games.

The Toronto bid committee can only hope a long day of
presentations and venue visits helped erase the memories of the IOC
group's morning meeting with a social activist group called  Bread
Not Circuses _ the same folks who lobbied against the Toronto bid
for the 1996 Summer Olympics that eventually failed.

In 1990, the group sent representatives to Tokyo, where the IOC
held its final vote, to demonstrate. Atlanta was awarded the 1996
Games, and Toronto finished third in voting.

On Friday morning, Bread Not Circuses showed the IOC commission
a video depicting ``Toronto's homeless disaster.''

``This film footage is real and it's just from last month,''
said Cathy Crowe, also from the Toronto Disaster Relief Committee.
``One of the things we wanted to do is expose Toronto's dirty
little secret, which is the homeless disaster.''

The coalition says the city would be better served constructing
affordable housing on the land earmarked for Olympic venues rather
than have billions spent on the Games.

``There seemed to be quite an interest (from the IOC commission)
in the points we were making,'' said Jan Borowy, one of the
founding members of the coalition. ``They took notes throughout.''

Toronto is the third stop on the commission's tour of cities
bidding to hold the 2008 Games. Beijing and Osaka, Japan, were
visited last month. The panel's report will go a long way toward
determining the eventual bid winner. Members remain through Sunday
before departing for Istanbul (March 20 to 25) and Paris (March 28
to April 2).

After visiting Paris, the 14 IOC delegates will write a final
report on the five bid cities. That report will go to the IOC
executive before being sent to the entire IOC membership, which
will gather in Moscow on July 13 to vote on the host city for the
2008 Games.

Received  Id AP101068D3983745 on Mar 09 2001 21:55

http://newsfinder.arinet.com/fpweb/fp.dll/$stargeneral/htm/x_dv.htm/_ibyx/cg0302
6/_itox/starnet/_svc/news/_Id/706921802/_k/1NYQgS445YJYf9vH
FWD  Associated Press - AP Wire Service - March 09 2001

GROUP OPPOSING TORONTO'S BID MEETS WITH IOC EVALUATORS

TORONTO (AP) _ Organizers of Toronto's bid to host the 2008
Olympics set up a meeting Friday between visiting International
Olympic Committee evaluators and a group that opposes holding the
Games here.

The activist group called Bread Not Circuses says land and money
proposed for construction of Olympic facilities should instead go
toward helping the homeless in Toronto.

Its representatives showed the IOC delegation a video on the
city's homeless problem.

``There seemed to be quite an interest (from the IOC commission)
in the points we were making,'' said Jan Borowy, a founding member
of the group. ``They took notes throughout.''

Bid organizers hope the openness they displayed by arranging the
meeting will contrast with the political climate in Beijing,
considered the front-runner among the five finalists. When the IOC
panel visited Beijing in February, police kept a close watch on
dissidents to prevent any opposition displays.

``We gave them a chance to speak,'' Bob Richardson, chief
operating officer of Toronto's bid, said of the Bread Not Circuses
presentation. ``We make no apologies for being a democracy.''

The 17-member evaluation commission is on the third stop of a
tour of the five finalists for the 2008 Games. It previously
studied the bids by Beijing and Osaka, Japan, and goes to Istanbul
and Paris after completing its work in Toronto on Sunday.

Reports by the commission will go to the full IOC, which decides
the winner on July 13.

Bread Not Circuses also opposed Toronto's bid to host the 1996
Games. Some members went to the decision-making IOC meeting in
Tokyo in 1990 to lobby against Toronto, which finished third behind
winner Atlanta and Beijing.

This time, Bread Not Circuses expects to be part of the
evaluation team's final report on the Toronto bid.

``They (the IOC commissioners) said they would take our entire
submission as well as the points we raised in this morning's
meeting and put them in their report,'' Borowy said.

Noting that opinion polls show 80 percent support for hosting
the Games and the bid has the backing of all levels of government,
bid officials said the opposition voice should do little harm.

``I was almost glad that they were there,'' said Marnie McBean,
the three-time Olympic rowing gold medalist who is on the bid
committee. ``We're honest. We know we don't have 100 percent
support. We're not trying to hide anything.''

After meeting with the dissenters, the IOC evaluators received
more reports on the positive aspects of the bid, including an
appearance by Ontario Premier Mike Harris to guarantee the
province's financial commitment.

AP-CS-03-09-01 1816EST
Received  Id AP1010683FB4608C on Mar 09 2001 17:35

END FORWARD

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SEE ALSO

http://www.canoe.ca/TorontoNews/04n4.html
FWD  Toronto Sun - Saturday, March 10, 2001
HOMELESSNESS FOCUS OF TALKS
Anti-poverty activists opposed to the Olympics made their best
attempt to derail the Games in a meeting with IOC members yesterday.

http://news.altavista.com/scripts/editorial.dll?ei=2411948&ern=y
UPDATE 1 - TORONTO PUTS ON A SHOW AS OLYMPIC COMMITTEE ARRIVES
Scott Anderson - 03/08/2001
TORONTO, March 8 (Reuters) - EXCERPT
Flanked by more than 100 boisterous homeless at a downtown
soup kitchen on Thursday, representatives from [Bread Not Circuses]
and Toronto Disaster Relief Coalition spoke out against the games.

http://www.canoe.ca/TorontoNews/37n2.html
FWD  Toronto Sun - February 18, 2001
LESS HYPE, MORE REALITY: WALKER
By BRAD HONYWILL
Toronto's Olympic bid has won accolades worldwide, but in the city there's
a small but indefatigable throng of naysayers.

http://www.google.com/search?q=%22Bread+Not+Circuses+Coalition%22&lr=&safe=off&s
a=G
Bread Not Circuses Coalition - GOOGLE SEARCH results


OLYMNPICS related articles on HPN Newswire:

[Hpn] HOMELESS face EVICTION for Japan OLYMPICS / Nakama-no-kai press release

[Hpn] Fwd: What's TO-Bid 2008 hiding from Toronto's citizens?

[HPN] Fwd: IWD speech
Date: Sat, 04 Mar 2000 17:24:52 -0500
From: Cathy Crowe, RN <crowe@web.net>
Housing Now!
416-703-8482 (117)
416-703-6190 (fax)


http://www.breadnotcircuses.org/home.html
Bread Not Circuses Coalition
c/o P.O. Box 139, 365 Roncesvalles Avenue,
Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M6R 2M8
Telephone: (416) 410-2267
Info: <inquiries@breadnotcircuses.org>

TORONTO homelessness & activist groups & related news sites:
http://www.tao.ca/~ocap/
http://www.interlog.com/~cjazz/june15.htm
http://www.housingagain.web.net
http://www.breadnotcircuses.org/home.html


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