In 1976, the Olympics came to Montreal. For many, the Olympics was a time of celebration and national pride, but for 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. There were two particular causes taken up by the LDH during the Olympics which occupied much of the group’s work in 1976. The first was designed to deal with 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 League estimated there was a shortage of 25 000 living units during the Olympics. In conjunction with the United Way, the League 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 Commission and only 2 having successfully managed to speak to someone on the phone. On average landlords were raising rent by 20 percent and 200 of the calls alone came from the elderly, welfare recipient and single parents). Meanwhile, the LDH’s new housing committee organized protests against the destruction of low income housing and called upon the city and landlords to improve housing conditions, including a march of 150 residents demanding heat, hot water and potable water in their homes. When the city cut off water to 30 residents unable to pay their bills, the committee called on the city to restore this basic necessity being denied working class residents of Montreal unable to pay water taxes. The city responded by sending housing inspectors and cistern trucks.

The Olympics also caused a minor stir after a series of firings from the committee organizing the Olympics (Comité Organisateur des Jeux Olympiques). These firings resulted from RCMP reports labelling particular individuals as security risks. None of those fired were given reasons or explanations; they were simply dismissed. 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. Initially the Human Rights Commission refused the League’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 League, 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.