Bob Mackin
The senior officer overseeing the B.C. RCMP’s contribution to the FIFA World Cup 26 security team said the Mounties have not set a budget because they are waiting for the 48-nation tournament’s draw.
Vancouver is hosting seven matches next June 13 to July 7 at B.C. Place Stadium and a six-week-long fan festival at Hastings Park. Canada will play twice here. The other national teams are to be announced Dec. 5 at a Washington, D.C. ceremony.
“What I don’t want is to say to the various levels of governments, ‘here’s the budget we need,’ to find out that we’re too low or even too high. I don’t want sticker shock either,” Asst. Commissioner John Brewer said during an interview at the Vancouver International Security Summit on Oct. 17.
“We’re planning for everything, all the different teams and what they bring to it.”
Twenty-eight nations have qualified, including the Islamic Republic of Iran, an ally of Russia and China that Canada designated a state supporter of terrorism in 2012.
Brewer said RCMP Commissioner Mike Duheme is chairing bi-weekly meetings with heads of host cities, the Ontario Provincial Police and B.C. RCMP.
Vancouver Police Department is the host city police and the original 2022 budget called for $73 million in safety and security spending. The federal government provided an initial $116 million in 2024 for core capital and operating costs, but more is expected. Especially for essential federal services.
Former New Westminster and TransLink Police chief Dave Jones is on contract with Vancouver city hall’s FIFA secretariat as the Integrated Safety and Security Unit co-lead.
From dozens to thousands
Brewer heads a unit of 40 right now, which will grow exponentially.
“Because we’re planning for that, the biggest use I will need, we’re certainly into the near-the-thousands, writ large, when it comes to the federal, provincial and municipal side, specialized units coming in that are going to have to support all the different agencies here,” Brewer said.
Skipping the lineup
The geopolitical climate is a major variable that will affect what goes on inside and outside the stadium. But one of Brewer’s security worries is 50 kilometres south of B.C. Place: 0 Avenue. The rural road from Surrey to Abbotsford, next to the Canada/U.S. border.
“People just walk, literally walk, across and that’s a huge concern on the federal side, the Canada border side, the U.S. side, that we’re going to have to deal with,” Brewer said.
Tech talk
Drones, surveillance cameras and artificial intelligence will play important roles in security.
Brewer said a reminder of the need for strong cybersecurity came Oct. 14. An apparent hacking incident resulted in pro-Hamas messages on monitors and public address systems at airports in Kelowna and Victoria.
“We’ve been sounding that alarm for a long time that this was going to happen, or the likelihood was very high,” Brewer said. “And then it happened.”
Pre-game show
Eleven U.S. cities and three in Mexico plus Vancouver and Toronto will host history’s biggest sporting event, which climaxes July 19 in New Jersey.
Vancouver will also host the only FIFA event of the World Cup year involving all 211 member nations.
The 76th FIFA Congress is coming to the Vancouver Convention Centre at the end of April, bringing the world’s top soccer officials together under one roof. Even some heads of state, royalty and their scions.
“It will be a security event because it’s not open to the public,” Brewer said. “There’s a number of internationally protected persons who will be part of that. The B.C. RCMP are working with the local police of jurisdiction, with Vancouver, with the surrounding jurisdictions, because we’re not sure where they’re all going to be staying yet. And then federally, of course, with protective services to ensure that the intel is being shared internationally with all the different groups, but also to make sure that we have the right security footprint to ensure adequate protection.”
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