“The Army’s Presence Will Be Obvious” (Montreal 1976)

There was nothing discrete about the surveillance organizers undertook at the 1976 Winter Olympic Games. In the largest Canadian military operation since World War II, 8940 Canadian soldiers guarded the Olympic venues, hotels and transportation hubs in Montreal and the satellite cities of Bromont (equestrian), Kingston (yachting) and Toronto (soccer preliminaries). They worked in close coordination and communication with 1376 officers of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, 1140 from the Quebec Police Force, 533 from the Ontario Provincial Police, 1606 from the Montreal Police Department, 424 from four other municipal police services, and 2910 private security guards. Most of these officers were heavily armed, equipped with the most technologically advanced communication devices and in full uniform. In airports and the various border crossings, customs and immigration officers were on alert, empowered by temporary legislation that gave them the authority to turn anyone without an Olympic identity card or a Canadian passport away at will. Visitors from Middle East countries entering from the United States were required to have special visas. Along extended stretches of the unguarded Canada-United States border, electronic sensors were installed and air, ground and waterway patrols were initiated in the period leading up to and during the Games.