CANADIAN ANARCHIST MOVEMENT-VICTORIA:

TEACH-IN AGAINST THE OLYMPICS:

It's less than a year until the 2010 Vancouver/Whistler Winter Olympics. As the financial difficulties and logistical nightgmare mounts opposition to the show continues to grow. Coming up on March 21, a teach-in devoted to questioning the Olympics, out in the city of Victoria, the capital of British Columbia. Here's the announcement from the No 2010 Victoria website.

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NETWORKS OF DISSENT:ANTI-OLYMPICS TEACH-IN:
MARCH 21, 2009

11am to 5pm

755 Pandora Street,

Victoria, Coast Salish Territories
THE OLYMPIC TORCH RELAY WILL BEGIN IN VICTORIA!!
HELP BUILD OUR MOVEMENTS FOR JUSTICE AND DIGNITY!!
COME TO A DAY OF WORKSHOPS AND DISCUSSION ON ISSUES, STRATEGIES AND ACTION!!
As the 2010 Olympic Winter Games approach, opposition and resistance are rising. On the mainland, the Olympics have already resulted in infrastructure development on unceded Native land, environmental destruction, gentrification in downtown Vancouver, increased funding for "security" forces and unethical labour practices. These issues are intensifying against a backdrop of escalating public debt. But the issues at stake on the mainland also touch communities on Vancouver Island – before, during and after the Olympic Games. With the torch relay beginning in Victoria on October 30, it's time for our movements to come together, organize our opposition, and make our voices heard!

You are invited to a day of workshops focused on building coordinated campaigns and actions in Victoria.

SCHEDULE ==> NETWORKS OF DISSENT: AN ANTI-OLYMPIC TEACH-IN:
Opening and Welcome

11:00 – 11:30 am

Remarks by No 2010 Victoria

11:30 – 11:45 am
WORKSHOP SLOT A:

11:45 am – 12:45 pm
==> Workshop 1
Ecodefense and the Law of the Land * Zoe Blunt

Not a legal rights workshop, but a look at how development and colonization destroy the natural world and our communities. We examine the challenges of defending the land and ways to leverage more pressure on the powers-that-be. The Law of the Land says those who "own" the land make the laws, and vice versa.

==> Workshop 2
Dealing with Impacts of Housing and Homelessness in Victoria * David Turner -The Committee to End Homelessness

The impacts of displacement of housing and tenants in Vancouver leading up to the Olympic Games are recognized. This is a brainstorming session to plan strategies to reduce such impacts in Victoria.

==> Workshop 3
Decolonization and Land Restitution * Details coming soon!

FREE COMMUNITY LUNCH

12:45 – 1:30 pm

WORKSHOP SLOT B

1:30 am – 2:30 pm

==> Workshop 1
Local Legacies of Our Colonial Inheritances * Serena Kataoka

The 2010 Olympics has been bought and sold on “legacies” at the cost of accepting our inheritances. This workshop will explore how we can assume response-ability for our colonial inheritances, such as Victoria, BC... and the world. Might we make other legacies possible?

==> Workshop 2
Health Care Workers fighting for justice: The General Strike and Beyond * Marilyn Rust and Bob Wilson - Hospital Employees’ Union

After the Gordon Campbell's government decimated BC's public sector Hospital Employee Union members stood up and fought back, despite the labour movement, and sometimes their own leadership, trying to stop them. Come and here stories from the front lines of the general strike that was and the one that will be in March 2010.

==> Workshop 3
Harm Reduction Victoria * Details coming soon!
WORKSHOP SLOT A

2:45 – 3:45 pm

==> Workshop 1
Minstrels of Bremen: Tentcities and the local impact of 2010 * Rose Henry, Trish Palichuk and Nathaniel Uhlman - Temporary Autonomous Shelter Committee (TASC)

Reflections on Seattle's tentcities as a model for resistance and solidarity by the homeless and their allies against the impact of the Olympic Games.

==> Workshop 2
SOLID: Society of Living Intravenous Drug Users * Details coming soon!
==> Workshop 3
PEERS: Prostitutes Empowerment Education and Resource Society * Details coming soon!
CLOSING PLENARY

4:00 – 5:00 pm
==> Building local alliances in opposition to the 2010 Games and Torch Relay
* Presenters from all 9 workshops

A plenary of people involved in a diversity of local movements will come together to share ideas for action as the Torch Relay and Games draw near. Share your ideas and leave the teach-in inspired!