2010 Olympics: one step forward for Big Brother?

Perhaps it was just a matter of time. Canada is after all part of the British Common Wealth and hence share the same head of state as Great Britain. It therefor makes sense for her to follow in the footsteps of Great Britain. As we all know, Britain is turning in to a police state with surveillance cameras in every corner to guard every step their citizens are taking.

Terrorists might of course be lurking in any corner, and the Olympics would be an ideal event for those terrorists to attack us. So it only makes sense to increase security for such an event, right? The problem though is that once they have installed the cameras, what is the guarantee that they will be taken down? It might be tempting to just leave the security cameras where they are. After all, the infrastructure will be in place. And if history can provide any guidance, my guess is that the cameras will continue to be used even when the Olympics are long over with. After all, the cameras were kept running in Sydney after the 2000 Olympics.

So it doesn't come to any greater surprise that Vancouver officials and police aren't being clear about whether or not security cameras for the 2010 Winter Olympics will be permanent.

Perhaps the Queen, although her powers are allegedly largely ceremonial would be more than happy to be able to keep a watchful eye on what her people are up to on the other side of the Ocean.

This issue was covered in The Province