“UBC is not part of Vancouver,” said Michelle Aucoin, UBC’s 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Secretariat, in response to The Ubyssey’s inquiry on how UBC will be affected by a proposed provincial bill that will allow municipalities of Vancouver, Richmond and Whistler with temporary enforcement powers to enter residences and seize anti-Olympic signs within 24-hour notice.

The pending legislation is contained in the omnibus bylaw called Bill 13, which also includes the amendment to permit fines for sign and bylaw violations of up to $10,000 per day and imprisonment for up to six months. According to Aucoin, UBC students living on campus will not have to worry about having their residences charged into by the police for having anti-Olympic signs, since UBC falls outside the outlined perimeter.

“This legislation does not affect UBC students living on campus. It is only directed to residences in Vancouver, Richmond and Whistler, and UBC does not fall under these categories,” said Aucoin. The University Endowment Lands Act separates UBC from the City of Vancouver and also keeps UBC an unincorporated entity, where no mayor or municipal government exists.

Aucoin also said that there will not be any changes to UBC security measures during the Olympic and Paralympic Games—with one exception.

“UBC Thunderbird Arena and its back fields are being fenced and those areas will be controlled by the Vancouver 2010 Integrated Security Unit…outside of that security perimeter will continue to be protected by UBC RCMP and Campus Security,” she said.

But UBC Professor Chris Shaw says that the root of the problem is not geographical. “[The] city is gaining the right to enter private property and infringe your rights of freedom,” said Shaw. “If we let this one pass once, the Charter becomes a piece of paper that we can violate all the time, whenever we encounter a similar situation.”

Last Wednesday, Shaw and a UBC student filed a lawsuit against an Olympic bylaw restricting advertising and signs during the 2010 Games. “The Charter is not an IOC’s economic law, it’s the law for all citizens of Canada,” he said.

Some students are also worried about the university and VANOC’s economic relation. “I support civil liberty, but I just find it weird to have one Olympic venue location (UBC) that will allow public displays of anti-Olympic signs while everywhere else in Vancouver and Richmond will be enforced,” said Peter Kim, a second-year Commerce student at UBC.

“I mean, the university is under an economic contract with VANOC as well. I don’t know how much the university will be able to protect us during the actual Olympic period,” he said.

“There is definitely going to be an impact to serve as a host, but we are hoping to mitigate the negative impacts by keeping things running in the same way as much as possible,” said Aucoin.

The AMS is currently developing their stance on the issue.

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