The RCMP Integrated Security Unit (ISU) will soon be arriving on the UBC campus as part of additional security for the Olympics. Before that day, over 300 students are hoping to be trained as legal observers.

Based on a joint partnership with the BC Civil Liberties Association (BCCLA) and the Student Legal Fund Society (SLFS), the Legal Observer program will train students, faculty and staff to watch for and report on inappropriate and unlawful interactions between security forces and students on campus. Training is happening on campus all through December, with follow-up sessions in January.

Trained observers will populate UBC venues and areas of protest for possible confrontation. By reporting on any unlawful behaviour conducted by security forces on campus including random searches, the Legal Observer program intends to keep individuals in positions of power accountable for their actions.

“Given that previous mega-events at UBC—such as APEC—have resulted in some serious negative outcomes. We are trying to prevent these situations during the Olympic Games,” explained Stefanie Ratjen, former AMS VP External and the program director of BCCLA Olympic Preparedness. She reminded the time when four students who were participating in an anti-APEC protest were arrested by the RCMP in November 1997. “We want to keep authority accountable,” she said.

Every participant in training must first sign a waiver outlining the possible risks involved.

But Ratjen asserts that the signatory is mainly for just-in-case scenarios. “These risks stem from the fact that we don’t know what is going to happen,” said Ratjen. “But the program is voluntary, and participants will not be placed in dangerous or uncomfortable situations against their will.”

Ed Durgan, a PhD candidate long-involved in the student movement and a participant of the program, said that while he felt a bit apprehensive about signing a waiver, he is confident that the benefits of the program outweigh the risks.

“Being told that you are going to be in these places where civil rights are basically being suspended, and there is going to be a small chance to be injured or killed,” he said. “It was definitely a reality check.

“But the risks are worth it. It’s going to be an effective way to be part of what happens during the Olympics.”

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