What are Safe Assembly Areas?
The Inner City Inclusively (ICI) Commitments Statement, developed by a community advisory group working with the Vancouver 2010 Bid Corporation, was presented to the International Olympic Committee with Vancouver’s bid for the 2010 Winter Games. The commitments were endorsed by the Government of Canada, the Province of BC, the City of Vancouver, the 2010 Bid Corporation (and later, VANOC), and are supported by the Vancouver 2010 Integrated Security Unit (V2010 ISU). One of the ICI commitments is to provide for lawful, democratic protest that is protected by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The V2010 ISU is further guided by the recommendations in the Hughes Report, a report prepared after a public inquiry into the 1997 APEC Conference held in Vancouver, BC. In the report, Hughes recommends a “generous opportunity will be afforded for peaceful protests to see and be seen in their protest activities by guests to the event.” Safe Assembly Areas allow for this opportunity.
