The Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (VANOC) says it has no intention of withdrawing a controversial clause from its contracts for artists who are participating in the Cultural Olympiad.

The B.C. Civil Liberties Association is calling on VANOC to pull what the association calls a "propaganda clause" after its existence was revealed in Wednesday's Globe and Mail.

The clause reads: "The artist shall at all times refrain from making any negative or derogatory remarks respecting VANOC, the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games, the Olympic movement generally, Bell and/or other sponsors associated with VANOC."

BCCLA President Robert Holmes says the clause is unacceptable, given VANOC's use of public money and collaboration with government in staging the Olympics. But he made the call with little hope, he said, that VANOC would remove it.

"My guess is that we will get some kind of a blandishment from VANOC saying that they have no intention of censoring anybody and then they will go ahead and try to accomplish what they can using their financial position ... and try and get their way when nobody's watching."

In a written statement, VANOC's vice-president of culture and celebrations, Burke Taylor, said the Olympiad artists are "encouraged to make bold artistic statements and we have always made room for critical discourse, intelligent debate and informed discussion within the selected works.

"This clause in the artist agreement is about respect and how the selected artists relate to the Cultural Olympiad funding partners who are making it possible to present the artists' work in the first place."