Tell Olympic sponsors to take a stand on discrimination against women

To: CEO's, Olympic Sponsors

In a letter sent last week, Vancouver COPE city councilors David Cadman and Ellen Woodsworth, called on Olympic sponsors to pressure the IOC to allow women ski jumpers to compete in the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympic Games.

It is the COPE councillors hope that while the courts might not be able to enforce the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms to protect the rights of the female ski jumpers corporate sponsors might be able to leverage their power to pressure the IOC.

Last week, the letter was sent to worldwide Olympic sponsors (which include Coca Cola and Visa) and national Olympic sponsors (which include The Hudsons Bay Company and Petro Canada ). The letter is also being sent to Olympic supporters and suppliers (which include media sponsors and Air Canada).

The entire letter is copied below. As of today, November 27, none of the CEO's have responded.

The signatories have signed on below to tell Olympic sponsors to act responsibly or they'll act -- with their voice and with their consumer dollars!

www.cope.bc.ca

Note: the letter below has some changes from the one originally sent to the CEOs however, the differences are minor and the intent remains the same.

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Information: Rachel Marcuse, [email protected]


Dear Olympic sponsors,

As you are likely aware, 14 international female ski jumpers have gone to court in British Columbia requesting that female ski jumpers be allowed to compete in the 2010 Winter Olympics. Justice Fenlon, who made the British Columbia Supreme Court ruling, acknowledged that the failure to run a female ski jumpers event is substantively discriminatory, as discrimination is defined under s.15 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The BC Court of Appeal concluded that the responsibility for determining which events would run at the 2010 Olympics lies with the IOC and therefore outside the realm of the Canadian Charter.

VANOC and the City of Vancouver have both endorsed female ski jumpers' call for equal participation in the 2010 Olympics. VANOC has also stated that if instructed to include the women's participation in the upcoming Olympics, it would do so.

We ask you to approach the IOC to request that women be allowed to participate as equals in all Olympic events. As a corporate sponsor committed to excellence, you may be interested to know that the current jump record for the small hill at the Whistler Olympic facility is held by a woman. We request that you act quickly to help redress this discrimination, which contravenes international human rights law, Canadian law and City of Vancouver policy by discriminating against women -- who make up over 50 per cent of your consumer base.

We urge you to communicate forthrightly with the IOC and make clear that you cannot support discrimination against women under your corporate sponsorship.

Sincerely,

David Cadman and Ellen Woodsworth

Vancouver city councillors

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