(ATR) Members of the press want access to VANOC board meetings while public protests draw attention to Vancouver poverty and First Nations' grievances; others are unhappy with the cut in hockey preliminaries.

Meetings of VANOC have been closed to the public. (Bob Mackin/ATR)

VANOC Board Stays Closed

VANOC's board of directors bowed to media pressure Tuesday and directed management to study how it can become "more transparent."

In a hastily called news conference, VANOC chair Jack Poole said there was a "good, healthy discussion" on whether to allow reporters into board meetings for the 2010 Winter Olympics organization. Poole refused to release minutes of the meeting but a list of the 35 attendees follows this article.

Poole said he expects recommendations from management by the next meeting on May 16.

Board meetings for the 2002 Salt Lake City organizing committee were open to the public.

Poole said the March 13 agenda included finance, personnel, management activities, security, risk management and venue construction.

Poole said the Games' budget and business plan were unanimously approved and will be forwarded to Ottawa and Victoria for approval. A publication date is unknown. CEO John Furlong has backtracked from his previous statements that the Games would cost $1.7 billion to operate.

"I think we need to let the partners see the numbers first before any other comment on what they actually are," Furlong said.

Last September, B.C.'s acting auditor-general Arn van Iersel said the Games and related projects are costing taxpayers $2.5 billion.


Incredible Shrinking Hockey Tournament

Vancouver's 2010 men's Olympic hockey tournament keeps getting smaller.

Last spring, VANOC successfully proposed using National Hockey League''s narrower ice surface instead of the international standard.

Now Vancouver's 12-team tournament will consist of 30 games instead of 38.

International Ice Hockey Federation president Rene Fasel said NHL and NHL Players' Association felt the tournament had too many games in such a short period.

Fasel said IIHF's council would consider the proposal later this month although the deal is considered all but done.

"We have to be reasonable and say we love the game, we protect the players and we do a schedule or formula that''s good for everybody," said Fasel, who also chairs the 2010 Coordination Commission.

General Motors Place will host 28 games. The remaining pair will be played at the new University of B.C. Winter Sports Centre. Face-off times will be noon, 4:30 p.m. and 9 p.m. Fasel said the shorter schedule means only two games will overlap.

"VANOC was not so happy we'd reduce the number of games from 38 to 30," Fasel said. "All the games, in a very short time, will be sold out."

Meanwhile, Fasel said the site of the women's gold medal and semifinal matches is uncertain. He's hoping those games would happen at GM Place instead of UBC.


The Three Ps of 2010

Politicians, police and protesters dominated Monday's ceremony marking three years until the 2010 Winter Paralympics open.

Mayor Sam Sullivan officiated over the floodlighting of the Olympic and Paralympic flags at Vancouver city hall. The Olympic flag replaced the one stolen March 6 by radical aboriginals.

Sullivan said Vancouver is the first host city where both flags are "flying together, equal respect, equal pride for our athletes" at city hall.

Vancouver Police Chief Jamie Graham watched as an estimated 100 officers patrolled city hall. The riot squad and mounted squad watched from the periphery as more than 100 aboriginal and anti-poverty protesters used noisemakers in a bid to drown out the proceedings. Barriers were erected around city hall's north lawn. Police searched citizens and even told some that they were entering private property. Two people were arrested for breach of peace.

Earlier in the day, the Omega countdown clock was sprayed with the message "Free Betty" in reference to the elderly Olympic highway protester jailed 10 months for contempt of court. The clock is supposed to be under 24-hour watch by security guards, but the contractor wasn''t on duty when the incident happened.

The company that built Omega's gift to Vancouver said vandals are wasting their time. Anti-graffiti coating means messages can be wiped off the stainless steel, tempered glass and western red cedar sculpture.

"Whatever they pretty much try to do to it, it can be cleaned up or it can be fixed," said EEC Industries general manager Stephen Buckley.


Souvenirs! Get Your 2010 Souvenirs!

Green, white and blue are the colors of the VANOC nation, with some minor variations.

That's what retail buyers saw when they attended the Vancouver Gift Show March 11-13 at B.C. Place Stadium. VANOC licensees displayed their wares and cut deals for T-shirts, toques, ball caps, coffee mugs, lapel pins and more.

"We have the ability to sell it to virtually anybody else who's an authorized and approved retailer," said Wilson International vice-president of sales and marketing Ian Huntley. "We get to reach everybody else, it's a great market for us."

The new wave of 2010 goods was designed to correspond with the Games'' west coast look with green representing mountains, blue the ocean and white for snow interspersed with images of pictographs and animal and tree silhouettes.

Canadian/American pin joint venture Artiss Aminco expects to make as many as 700 different pin styles for public sale through 2010, said Aminco chief operating officer Adrian De Groot. It already has 124 varieties, including ones with Easter and St. Patrick's Day themes. There is a Paralympic set for the first time, consisting of nine pins that go beyond the basic logo.

The Winter Games' 1,000-day countdown pins for the May 19 milestone are expected to be big sellers.

Until recently, VANOC sponsor HBC had the monopoly on 2010 souvenirs. Fashon critics blasted the merchandise on sale at the company''s Bay and Zellers stores as dull and lacking Canadian content.


New Practice Rink for 2010?

Port Moody, a suburb northeast of Vancouver, unveiled its new $26.2 million Petro-Canada Ice Centre March 13.

The renovated and expanded facility features an NHL-size rink and an international-size rink. City of Port Moody communications adviser Barb Pocock said it's a proposed training venue for Olympic hockey, sledge hockey, short-track speed skating and figure skating.

VANOC-sponsor Petro-Canada, which has a Port Moody refinery, paid $800,000 for title sponsorship. The project received a $1 million federal/provincial infrastructure grant. Port Moody taxpayers paid the rest.


VANOC Executive Board Meeting Attendees

Directors present:

• Jack Poole, chair
• Peter Brown, Government of Canada appointee
• Michael Chambers, Canadian Olympic Committee
• Charmaine Crooks via teleconference, COC
• Ken Dobell, Government of B.C.
• Barrett Fisher, Resort Municipality of Whistler
• Jacques Gauthier, Canada
• Jim Godfrey, Whistler
• Rusty Goepel, B.C.
• Gibby Jacob, Squamish Nation
• Patrick Jarvis via teleconference, Canadian Paralympic Committee
• Jeff Mooney, City of Vancouver
• Richard Pound, COC
• Judy Rogers, Vancouver
• Chris Rudge, COC
• Walter Sieber, COC
• Carol Stephenson, Canada

Directors absent:

• Michael Phelps, COC
• Beckie Scott, COC
• Rick Turner, B.C.

Partners present:

• Jeff Garrad, B.C. Olympic Secretariat
• Dave Robinson, federal Olympic secretariat
• Dave Rudberg, Vancouver
• Rob Toller, Canada

Staff present:

• John Furlong, chief executive
• Ken Bagshaw, chief legal officer
• Dorothy Byrne, corporate secretary
• Ward Chapin, chief information officer
• Dave Cobb, executive vice-president, revenue, marketing and communications
• Dan Doyle, EVP, construction
• David Guscott, EVP, corporate strategy and government relations
• Ron Holton, VP risk management and assurance services
• John McLaughlin, VP comptroller
• Rex McLennan, chief financial officer
• Cathy Priestner-Allinger, EVP sport, venues, technology
• Renee Smith-Valade, VP communications
• Donna Wilson, EVP, human resources, sustainability, international client services
• Terry Wright, EVP, service operations and ceremonies

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