Am I the only one surprised that in a city where you walk the streets, and many are non-white that they rolled out 13 white people?
The flag bears etc. were also at least middle-aged! - what about all the young people who were not representated by this tiny part of the Games?
I was actually at the Opening Ceremony (and the first few days of the Games) in Vancouver. I understand what you are saying, and the unrepresentative aspects were not confined to race. However, this impression is not really representative of the wider games. I agree that it is a shame that the TV viewers experience lacked in-your-face-skin-colour-inclusiveness. Attendees get a more "skin colour inclusive" impression as the 2010 Olympics is truly a multi-cultural, celebration that Vancouver has thrown itself into with all its heart and soul. These hearts come in all skin colours, and I am very proud to say that I am an almost-a-new-Canadian.
I don't known if it is even possible, but none of the three main productions/presentations give a true taste of what modern Canada is like (in my experience) - the immigration presentation was clearly illustrative of white European immigrants at Pier 21in the early 20th century and earlier. I loved the celtic influenced music, but it doesn't reflect much of my daily experience in Canada nor of immigration patterns/experience in the city it was being performed in. The prairie section was interesting, but how many Canadians actually walk to the end of their street and out on to the prairie in 2010? The typical Canadian lives in an urban area. Finally, the modern Canada section was thought-provoking, and I didn't dislike it - but it didn't really tell the world much about Canada... It was also true that there strikingly wasn't much French spoken - even many public announcements in the venues etc. were only in English, even though many of the visitors who don't understand English would understand French. We were there in the early days of the games, so maybe that will change because it might be a violation of some Federal law.
The conclusion I came to was that the Opening Ceremony would not have been produced that way if it occurred in Toronto. However, it is happening in Vancouver. I never heard a single Vancouverite remark on the colour of the flag bearers etc. (they do complain about not being able to get tickets and the closing of certain streets in Downtown Vancouver.) Maybe Vancouverites have managed to move past skin colour, and that is a good, healthy thing... Does every big event in Canada have to constantly re-return to the visually obvious point that Canadians aren't all the same colour and that they speak different languages?
At the same time:
There has been a huge effort to involve the other host nations (two First Nations groups, Innuit, and Metis) I learned a huge amount about these cultures. As part of the Cultural Olympic celebrations there are a large number of "houses" hosted by various countries and organisations. Arguably, the most successful one is the Northern House which presented artifacts from the Northern Territories, inspirationally curated and staffed by Youth Ambassadors from the Northern Territories/Provinces. These young people were a credit to their communities and Canada.
Finally, the Olympic volunteers, who visitors constantly come in contact with, are amazing and represent every race and creed (and presumably sexual orientation, but I didn't feel the need to ask
). Most are from the area, but I met volunteers from the GTA also. They are friendly, helpful and efficiently jollied people along in crowded lines in the pouring rain and through onerous security checks at the entrance to everything. The volunteers are the true human face to the games and because of them, visitors leave with nothing but a positive impression of Vancouver and Canada.
The organisers of the Games in general are putting on a fabulously organised event, and any Canadian there can't help but feel proud to be Canadian. The whole thing is so cool!
-AmJ
