Montreal Olympics

In 1976, the Olympics came to Montreal. For many, the Olympics was a time of celebration and national pride. For r the RCMP it represented a major threat to national security and a potential target for terrorists. Thus the Olympics came to Montreal and with it increased government repression. The Ligue des droits de l'homme (LDH) played a key role in helping citizens deal with the impact of the Olympics. The group focussed its efforts on two issues in particular. The first was a response to the housing crisis caused by a massive surge in visitors to the city and skyrocketing rental costs. Individuals and families with low incomes were kicked out of their homes so that ambitious landlords could profit off the games, creating a minor housing crisis in the city. In one press release, the LDH estimated there was a shortage of 25 000 living units during the Olympics. In conjunction with the United Way, the LDH set up a call centre to inform renters of their rights and attempted to help them find temporary lodging during the Olympics. Operation Housing-Crisis received 560 calls from angry residents within a period of two months, 68 percent of whom were frustrated with the government agency responsible for housing and (only two people having successfully managed to speak to someone on the phone). Landlords were raising rent by an average 20 percent; 200 of the calls came from the elderly, welfare recipient and single parents.

The Olympics also caused a minor stir after the committee organizing the Olympics (Comité Organisateur des Jeux Olympiques) fired several individuals for their political affiliations. None of those fired were given reasons or explanations; they were simply dismissed (the RCMP labeled them security risks). It soon became clear, however, that the individuals in question were fired for their political opinions, in direct violation of the Quebec Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms. François Cyr and Sylvie Cameron were militant members of the Revolutionary Marxist Group; Carol Cohen was an organizer for the Young Socialists; and Stuart Russell was a militant for the Young Socialists and the Ligue socialiste ouvrière as well as the Comtié Homosexuel Anti-Répression. The Human Rights Commission initially refused the LDH’s overtures for an investigation because certain parts of the Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms were not yet operative. Eventually, after continued pressure from the LDH, the commission attempted to investigate the matter only to be turned back by the federal Solicitor General, Francis Fox, who used the broad discretionary powers of his office to refuse providing information on the RCMP for reasons of national security.

In a report produced by the LDH on the extent of police repression during the Olympics, the LDH noted a reduction in 20 percent in crime due to the increased police presence during the games. RCMP officials assumed organized crime would attempt to profit off the games and sought to undermine their efforts with a strong police presence. At the same time, prisoners in Montreal found it harder to get conditional or temporary release during the events; homeless people were quietly removed from the streets and given longer sentences than usual; residential neighbourhoods of racial minorities became to target of police interrogation and harassment; and many tourists found it harder to enter the country and were being turned away at the border for not having enough money or having too much to be considered a tourist. Moreover, the police were selective in their arrests. A group of Iranian students legally distributing tracts to people at the games condemning the Shah of Iran were arrested by the RCMP and detained while a group of Iranians demonstrating in front of the Soviet embassy and burning a Soviet flag were left untouched.

The Montreal Olympics was, despite its massive bill, a huge success. Yet, behind the scenes, it also symbolized the threat to individual rights posed by national security regulations. The term national security is vague and ill-defined, and opens the door to extensive potential rights abuses by the state.