MEDIA RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 15, 2009

Council of Canadians launches Olympic sign campaign

VANCOUVER – The Council of Canadians launched a new campaign today by staking signs on the lawn of City Hall to denounce Coca Cola, a worldwide sponsor of the 2010 Winter Olympics.  The signs have been released while concerns remain about the suppression of free speech and the right to protest following the City of Vancouver's recent removal of an anti-Olympic mural and the approval of bylaws that do not allow city licenses for Olympic signs that aren’t “celebratory”.

"While we respect and admire the Olympic athletes we are encouraging an open and frank public discussion on the impact of the Games both as they are taking place and over the long term," said Bob Ages, National Board Member of the Council of Canadians. "Our concerns go beyond the threats to civil liberties. As the future of the planet hangs in the balance in Copenhagen we hope Canadians will be inspired to think about the Olympic Games within the bigger picture."

Since 1928, the Olympics have provided Coca-Cola with a highly publicized forum to promote its products and the company plans to heavily advertise its new "PlantBottle" bottled water as an environmentally-friendly product during the 2010 Winter Olympic.  The bottle is primarily plastic and Council of Canadians suggests that the marketing of the new bottle is a greenwashing campaign that hides more significant issues related to the companies practices such as ground water depletion, bottled water waste and the commodification of water.

"Activists have been campaigning against Coca Cola for links to the murder of trade union activists in Latin America, alarming levels of ground water depletion needed by communities in India and for the monopoly contracts the brand has on university campuses across the country," explained Carleen Pickard, Director of Organizing with the Council of Canadians. "As an organization we have been working to prevent the commodification of water and protect water as a human right while Coca Cola has been profiting from sales of bottled water which often is nothing more than tap water that is paid for by the public." 

Coca-Cola plans to sell 7.5 million beverages at the Winter Olympic Games and recycling rates across the country show that some 50 to 80 percent of plastic water bottles end up as litter or in landfills. Furthermore, the production of a single litre of Dasani water requires 3 to 5 litres of water and producing a litre of Coke requires 2.5 litres of water.  This is in addition to the fossil fuels required for production and transportation.

"These environmental impacts of Coca Cola and other Olympic sponsors must not be ignored while they attempt to market themselves as green corporations to the world.  We are encouraging the public to prominently display our 'Don't play Games with public water' sign in your window, on your lawn, or in a public space,” said Bob Ages.

On December 3rd the City of Vancouver revised their original bylaw changes that the city suggests will only apply to commercial signs.  Critics continue to raise concerns that the bylaws will suppress free speech and limit the right to protest.  “The supporters of the Council of Canadians who post these signs in their windows or on their lawns near Olympic venues can reasonably expect notice from the City to remove them under the City’s existing sign bylaw,” said David Eby, Executive Director of the BC Civil Liberties Association. “Despite fixing some parts of the Olympic bylaw, the City has refused to back away from unconstitutional promises to the IOC that the City won’t allow political messages near venues, and pledged to use existing bylaws to keep that promise.”

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Media Inquiries - Harjap Grewal (Council of Canadians): 604 340 2455;