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What is our Olympic Committee doing?
A man who has thrown in his lot with the separatists doesn't deserve to be
our flag-bearer

Hugh Adami
Ottawa Citizen; CanWest News Service


Wednesday, July 21, 2004


So shoot me if I sound like Don Cherry, but why on earth is the Canadian
Olympic Committee, allowing an admitted separatist, Nicolas Gill, to carry
Canada's flag for the opening ceremonies of the Summer Olympics?

Are we just supposed to shrug our shoulders and think, 'No big deal'? Or
should we tell Canadian Olympic officials to wait a minute, think about what
a stupid thing they've done and pick someone else? There are many worthy
candidates.

Of course, doing that will make the story hotter, and commentators will
point out numerous times leading up to the Games, and during the opening
ceremonies and as competition unfolds, that Gill was replaced by the new
flag-bearer because Canadians were enraged at the thought of this
Montrealer, who voted for Quebec sovereignty in 1995, waving the Maple Leaf
in Athens. The change in flag-bearers, they'll say, created an even bigger
rift between Quebecers and the rest of the country. (Hint: Pick another
Quebecer who doesn't want to break up Canada.)

Too bad how much media controversy this creates. Get him out of there. The
Gill story will not go away, regardless, not with less than a month to go
before the Olympics.

To allow Gill to remain flag-bearer would be a thoughtless and arrogant
thing to do to Canada, regardless of what Dave Bedford, Canada's chef de
mission to the Games, says.

"I don't have a concern in the slightest about him,'' he said. "I don't
believe politics has any place in sports.''

Bedford may believe that, but he certainly can't stop it from taking hold.
The fact is that politics has always interfered in sport, in one way or
another, especially the Olympics. When it does, you try to correct the
problem it has created. Unfortunately, hate as a byproduct of politics has
played a significant role as well. The 1972 Munich Olympics are a horrific
example.

Gill's credentials as an athlete are impressive. He is Canada's (or would he
like to say Quebec's?) most successful judoka of all time, and his victories
have bestowed honour on Canada, too. He is also the product of a system in
which he has benefited greatly, yet he decided to throw in his lot with
Quebec sovereigntists during the 1995 referendum.

Can he, in all conscience, carry the Canadian flag, considering what he did
in 1995? Doesn't it seem a bit hypocritical to be in the limelight under
such circumstances? Or is the lure of being at centre stage too great, even
if he has to carry the Maple Leaf rather than his beloved Fleur-de-lis?

Get him out of there. Our flag means something and we shouldn't be screwing
around with it.

© The Edmonton Journal 2004