TURIN, Italy – The line yesterday afternoon outside the British Columbia house extended to the end of its decorative wooden bridge. People are pleading with the bouncer to get in, even though he has repeatedly told them the place is closed to the public for the day. This is strange, because there is no food served here in the afternoon – as there is in many of the other national pavilions at these Winter Games – and, oddly enough for Canada,no beer either. In fact, there isn’t really much at all going on during the day.

Instead, the obvious explanation for the crowd in front of the house is the massive message outside,spelled out in big white letters like the one in the Hollywood hills. It reads: “Vancouver 2010.” A group of maple-leaf wearing fans are playing a pick-up game of street hockey in front of it, threatening to send a wrist-shot between the ‘2’ and the ‘0’.

The national pavilions in this Olympic host city pursue one of two goals: either to provide an exclusive playground for their athletes and sponsors in a VIP-only environment, or else to promote their local culture to the masses. The Canadians do throw their share of private bashes, but their purpose here is more populist: to introduce Vancouver to an Italian and international public who otherwise might not be able to find it on a map.

Unfortunately, there isn’t very much to be learned about the Olympics once inside the BC pavilion. Visitors aren’t given any idea of how the city plans to spend its projected $580 million budget. But merely from the flavor of the British Columbia promotional material on offer, one gets the impression the show four years from now will look very different from the one here in Turin.

Turin opted for a flashy image of an innovative industrial city; Flames shooting out of speed skaters helmets in the opening ceremony – that sort of thing. As a people who like to be known for their sensual fashions and amorous advances, the Italians made sure the costumes were sexy and the theme was racy: “Passion lives here.”

If passion lives anywhere in Canada, it likely won’t turn up in Vancouver in the same Solid-Gold-like outfits.

“It’s going to be a more politically correct Olympics than we’ve seen so far,” Kate Colley Lo, manager for media relations at Tourism Vancouver and one of the representatives at the pavilion, said.

In all, Canada sent a task force of some 80 people to learn from Turin’s example, to see what works and what doesn’t. The city is literally flooded with red-and-white jackets, and the delegation isn’t exactly trying to keep a low profile. The log cabin, sitting in the middle of an otherwise Baroque square, looks like a backpack-toting environmentalist perusing a lingerie shop.

The logs used to construct it, Colley Lo pointed out, were taken from the woods near Prince George, BC. The cabin was a gift to the city, which means it will remain in Piazza Valdo Fusi until either the mayor has it removed or the beetle-infested wood rots away on its own.

“The focus was to make sure that all the products were local,” she said.

They have also gone to great lengths to make sure that “local” doesn’t conjure a purely Anglo image. At the house’s soirees, the cuisine is Asian-fusion, a nod to Vancouver’s huge population from China and the subcontinent, along with more traditional British Columbian salmon. Even the representatives try to appear as multicultural as possible. In addition to two square-jawed Mounties, there are three chiefs from local native tribes on the premise.

In all, visitors are presented with the feeling of a kinder, gentler Winter Games. “Come Play With Us” will be the slogan, John Furlong, the head of the Vancouver organizing committee, announced yesterday.

It should have read, “Play nice, but play hard.” Make no mistake: The Canadians are in this for the prizes. Despite the hockey team’s early quarterfinal exit on Wednesday, they have racked up a record number of medals and stand in third place in the overall tally.The Canadians have launched a campaign called “Own the Podium.” Funded by both government and private money, the aim is to create a team that will actually win the most medals.

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The cultural houses set up here by participating nations, are, literally, the talk of the town. Walk down the streets of Turin at the cocktail hour and you will hear snippets of Italian conversations commenting on how much merchandise was at the Russian house, or how much fun they had at the Dutch house the night before.

It is hard to pinpoint, though, exactly what the purpose of the houses is. According to the Turin Olympic Committee, they are meant to offer their own countrymen a sort of cultural embassy, while bringing their own culture – and sponsor’s products – to the multinational mob of fans.

In reality, though, many of the houses prefer to cater to VIPs only and are otherwise off limits to everyday fans. After all, the Russians didn’t break export laws to bring Beluga caviar to curling fanatics from Minnesota.

The Americans also reserve their Budweiser-fueled shindigs for high-ranking guests exclusively. Otherwise, the former yacht club on the banks of the Po is in a state of total lockdown. As a blue-passported American citizen, your only chance of passing through the guarded iron gates without an invitation is if you have a contact on one of the teams or with a sponsor. And even then, security is tight. Italian guards with hand-held radios and sunglasses ask you what business you have coming here.

“Our athlete had to come in and get us personally, while there were three groups of young women waiting outside,” recounted Whitney Childers from Boise, Idaho. “They’re the popular house, especially for women who want to get in to see a star.”

The same aura of secrecy surrounds the Japanese house, which is tucked away in the Oriental Bar of the Turin Palace Hotel. Guests are served tea, soy biscuits and miso soup in a suitably Asiatic environment, though you wouldn’t know this unless you are on Japan’s A-list of businessmen and starlets.

But Canadians are treated to a few more perks of citizenship. Just about anyone with a maple leaf sewed onto a backpack is treated to beer and breakfast daily at the Canada House, as well as a free 20-euro phone card.

jmoretti@nysun.com