Nanaimo Olympics Press Release

Exemplar

November 22, 2018

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) is proud to announce, in cooperation with

the Snuneymuxw First Nation, and the the City of Nanaimo, that Nanaimo will host the

2020 Summer Olympics. These games will mark an unprecedented level of involvement

by the local indigenous population in both planning and execution of the upcoming

games. Since the City of Nanaimo is located on the traditional and unseeded territory of

the Snuneymuxw First Nation, the Nanaimo Olympic Planning Committee has been

working in cooperation with the Nation in order to ethically ensure proper representation

and involvement of the Indigenous population. These games will build off Canada’s

recent Olympic games which were hosted by Vancouver and Whistler in 2010 which

marked a new level of Indigenous involvement. The games did, however, fall under heavy

criticism for what could be considered the miss-representation, appropriation, and

ultimately, exploitation of the local Indigenous population. In light of this, both the IOC

and the City of Nanaimo have been working tirelessly in cooperation with the

Snuneymuxw First Nation to ensure the 2020 Nanaimo Summer Olympics make history

for the unprecedented level of involvement and representation of a local Indigenous

population.