Corruption comes in many forms… influence peddling, insider trading, cushy bonuses, pilfering, fixed contracts, big lies, dishonored promises. It comes as no surprise then to read in today’s Vancouver SUN that the elected government of B.C. continues to find creative ways to shovel fresh bales of our money into the 2010 Olympics incinerator. We now learn that ICBC, the vehicle licensing monopoly, has decided to become an “Official Supporter” of the 2010 Winter Games. ICBC’s fee to play in the Games? “15 – 50 million in cash and/or services”. The precise amount is currently a secret. This means that a whole raft of ICBC executives will be getting free Olympics tickets. You don’t believe it? Than how else explain why only 70% of Olmpics tickets will be offered for sale to the public? There are so many crooks lining up for free tickets that 30% are being held back to pass out to Olympics “Supporters” and “Friends of the Games”. How many suckers who pay hundreds of dollars for their seats will appreciate that the happy fellow sitting next to you got in for free?
Since “history repeats itself,” I thought I should read a little about the highly corrupt 1976 Montreal Olympics, to get a leg up on the RCMP investigations which will begin in 2010. The best book on the subject was THE BILLION DOLLAR GAME : Jean Drapeau and the 1976 Olympics, written by Nick Auf der Maur. Amazing to tell, but this book isn’t profiled on the Internet. Yesterday I bought a copy of my own. The book is an eye opener, and possibly an indication of the scope of the scandal which will follow Vancouver’s 2010 Games. The most interesting chapter covers OPERATION HERMES, a series of more than 40 police raids on the construction companies building the venues. The Olympics Village contract went to a figure involved with the Mafia in Quebec, but the dictatorial mayor of Montreal, in concert with Quebec justice officials used their influence to prevent any criminal charges being laid before the Olympic Games had been staged.
The principle Mafia figure involved in 1970s Olympics construction was Guiseppe (Joe) Zappia, a fellow with one foot in construction, another in politics and both hands on the cash. Incredibly, Zappia was in so tight with Quebec’s political elite that he accompanied Quebec Premier Robert Bourassa’s delegation to meetings with the Shah of Iran in October 1975. They flew on separate planes of course, but Zappia was there in Teheran. Quebec companies, already bloated with Montreal boodle, were salivating over the contract to build the Olympic Village for the proposed 1984 Teheran Games.
Since “history repeats itself,” I thought I should read a little about the highly corrupt 1976 Montreal Olympics, to get a leg up on the RCMP investigations which will begin in 2010. The best book on the subject was THE BILLION DOLLAR GAME : Jean Drapeau and the 1976 Olympics, written by Nick Auf der Maur. Amazing to tell, but this book isn’t profiled on the Internet. Yesterday I bought a copy of my own. The book is an eye opener, and possibly an indication of the scope of the scandal which will follow Vancouver’s 2010 Games. The most interesting chapter covers OPERATION HERMES, a series of more than 40 police raids on the construction companies building the venues. The Olympics Village contract went to a figure involved with the Mafia in Quebec, but the dictatorial mayor of Montreal, in concert with Quebec justice officials used their influence to prevent any criminal charges being laid before the Olympic Games had been staged.
The principle Mafia figure involved in 1970s Olympics construction was Guiseppe (Joe) Zappia, a fellow with one foot in construction, another in politics and both hands on the cash. Incredibly, Zappia was in so tight with Quebec’s political elite that he accompanied Quebec Premier Robert Bourassa’s delegation to meetings with the Shah of Iran in October 1975. They flew on separate planes of course, but Zappia was there in Teheran. Quebec companies, already bloated with Montreal boodle, were salivating over the contract to build the Olympic Village for the proposed 1984 Teheran Games.
When the RCMP and Quebec police investigations got too hot Joe Zappia did what many crooks do – he became a political candidate. In 1976 he became a contender for the leadership of the federal Progressive Conservative Party. (This tactic is a time honoured tradition out here in B.C., especially in the South Asian and Chinese communities. Not so much among the local Italians, unless I’m mistaken.) The Tories were stunned and had to work fast to keep Zappia out of the race. Auf der Maur’s book was published in 1976 but a few journalists continued to dog Zappia, who has always maintained his position in the Cosa Nostra. He was finally charged with Olympics construction fraud but the case dragged on till 1988 when he was acquitted “after two key witnesses died before testifying at his trial”. Reclaiming his Canadian passport, Zappia moved back to Italy and set up a new construction company. What else? At the age of 80 he was still at it. In 2005 he was arrested by the Italian police, charged with money laundering in relation to a $7 billion dollar public works project – the new bridge to link Sicily to the Italian mainland.
That's a history lesson. Get ready for the news.
Are the Olympics corrupt? Well, if you consider kicking thousands (?) of people out of their homes and laying off at least as many people from their jobs to accommodate big business cash grabs and implement new and often lasting security measures$$$ then HELL YES. (Armed guards on B.C. Ferries? Strengthening of the U.S./Canada border?North American Union?)
ReplyDeleteI should clarify... I am commenting both on events that took place before, during and after the Beijing Olympics, while the second part (ie funneling of public funds into the hands of big private business and such) refers to at least the majority of Olympic events held in the past and of course, in the present and future. Think otherwise? Despite living in the information age, we (even as Canadians) are terribly under-informed. I personally am sure of one thing- the corporations involved in running such events do it for PROFIT... and the records show that human rights always come after gold medals.
ReplyDeletecheck out Zeitgeist, Endgame and other political documentaries... draw your own conclusions, but it seems to me the Olympics could be far more malevolent that the average citizen could possibly wish to acknowledge. It's so much easier to get drawn in to the whole charade, and why not? They're the Olympics! And they're coming to Vancouver! And even though it's hundreds of millions of our (the taxpayers) dollars funding the whole thing, very few of us will even be able to afford tickets. That much is FACT.
Are the Olympics corrupt? Well, if you consider kicking thousands (?) of people out of their homes and laying off at least as many people from their jobs to accommodate big business cash grabs and implement new and often lasting security measures$$$ then HELL YES. (Armed guards on B.C. Ferries? Strengthening of the U.S./Canada border?North American Union?)
ReplyDelete