As a long-time community activist and a member of the Olympic Resistance Network, Cara Fisher wasn't too surprised police wanted to talk to her about Olympic protest plans.
But the methods allegedly used by the RCMP-led Integrated Security Unit to contact Ms. Fisher and other anti-Games protesters have prompted concerns by the B.C. Civil Liberties Association and a threat by activists yesterday to take legal action against the ISU if tactics persist.
They have told of being followed by police, accosted at SkyTrain stations, approached near their workplace and visited at their homes with no advance warning.
They also complained that neighbours and parents have been badgered for information.
In her case, Ms. Fisher said police went to a diner in her neighbourhood and told proprietors they needed to find her because she had been a witness to an accident. "I was not a witness to any accident," she said.
Police also "woke up" her neighbours, without identifying themselves, to try to find out exactly where she lived, according to Ms. Fisher.
While police have every right to contact her, "disrupting my neighbours, being in plain clothes, going to local businesses looking for me when I have no link to those businesses is intimidating, both to them and to me," she declared.
She was among activists gathered in front of the Olympic countdown clock in the pouring rain to denounce actions by the ISU, which is responsible for providing security at the 2010 Winter Games.
They were joined by BCCLA executive director David Eby. "We are very concerned the tactics we are seeing will result in a chill on free speech," he said. "Tactics that might cause people to think twice about speaking out about the Olympics are completely inappropriate."
Lawyer Jason Gratl, on behalf of a dozen anti-Olympic activists, their names blacked out in the letter, has written to ISU head Bud Mercer,accusing police of subjecting his clients to "abusive language, and unlawful harassment."
Calling it an infringement of the right to free expression, Mr. Gratl demanded the ISU's "abusive and unlawful conduct" end immediately.
Activist Garth Mullins said they will pursue the matter in the courts if ISU harassment tactics continue, "because it is a direct violation of free speech and the right to dissent."
Mr. Eby said the activists may have a case. "Some of the tactics described to us cross the line from information-gathering and contact-building to harassment and intimidation ... and that crosses the line in terms of respecting the constitutional rights of people speaking out against the Olympics."
ISU spokesman Corporal Bert Paquet said he was surprised by the allegations in the Olympic opponents' letter, but promised they will be looked into.
"We're not denying we are talking to people and gathering intelligence ... to ensure that people have a right to enjoy the Olympic celebration in a safe manner," Cpl. Paquet said. "That's part of the reason we are trying to engage in communication with those people, to see if they are a threat to the safety of the Games, or they are not."
If ISU agents are found to have done something "in the wrong way," then their actions will be reviewed, he added.
Some members of the Olympic Resistance Network have vowed in the past to disrupt the Games, contending that peaceful, legal protests accomplish little.