Sunday, October 11, 2009


CANADIAN ANARCHIST MOVEMENT-BRITISH COLUMBIA:
ANTI-OLYMPIC HAPPENINGS:
Here's the latest on what is going on out on the west coast around the opposition to the upcoming Vancouver/Whistler 2010 Winter Olympics. From thos busy little beavers at the Olympic Resistance Network....
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Upcoming ORN meetings and events:‏
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Upcoming ORN general meetings: (Every 2nd Sunday)
Sunday, Oct. 11, 6pm @ Spartacus Books, 684 E. Hastings (The first meeting of each month includes time for new member orientation and Olympic issues background.)
Sunday, Oct. 25, 6pm and Sunday, Nov. 8, 6pm @ Spartacus Books, 684 E.Hastings
If you are interested in ORN, but unable to attend these meetings, contact olympicresistance@riseup.net for more information about future meetings and our subcommittees (including outreach, fundraising, legal defence,education, media, etc).
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Events in Vancouver (followed by events in Galiano Island,Seattle and Victoria):
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Friday, Oct. 16 (and ongoing Fridays)
National Call To Action Against 2010 Olympic Sponsors: Dirty Money For Dirty Oil
In the lead up to the 2010 Winter Games, host communities have been organizing to expose the impact of the Games on indigenous communities, low-income and homeless populations, public services, and the environment.
While we continue to expose the impact of the Games themselves, anti-Olympic organizers in Vancouver want to make sure that the spotlight is directed at the social and environmental crimes of the corporate sponsors as well.
Some of the sponsors of the 2010 Games are among the most notorious corporate criminals, having devastated communities and environments around the world. These include General Electric, the world’s largest corporation, war profiteer, beneficiary of the 2008 financial bailout in the US and financier of the “ruin of the river” private power projects in BC; and Coca Cola, the corporation responsible for the murder of trade unionists in Latin America, depletion of ground water and destruction of surface water needed by vulnerable communities in India, major profiteer from the commodification of water, and beneficiary of monopoly contracts at schools and universities across the country. Olympic national partner The Royal Bank Canada (RBC) has been identifiedby the Rainforest Action Network as the biggest financiers of the Tar Sands, and has also sponsored Oil Sands Discovery center in Fort McMurray that serves as a propaganda tool for the industry. The Tar Sands are clearly the most environmentally destructive project on the planet, destroying indigenous lands, emitting more Greenhouse Gases than hundreds of countries, poisoning the watershed for the entire Athabasca region.Even the Government of Alberta has now confirmed elevated levels of rare cancers in the downstream Indigenous community of Fort Chipewyan.
TAKING ACTION AT A ROYAL BANK NEAR YOU!
Every Friday at 12 noon - Starting October 16th Beginning in the month of October, we are asking activists to be present at local RBC branches across the country every Friday noon hour with banners and flyers. We hope to have hundreds of actions across the country especially to compliment actions against the launch of the Royal Bank sponsored Olympic Torch Relay in Victoria on Friday October 30th.
>>> FIND A BRANCH NEAR YOU!
Simply google search “the Royal Bank” and the name of your city/town if you are not already aware of a bank near your home or workplace. Be sure to inform us about which branch you will be targeting and we can then ask others to join you or be present at another branch to cover as many locations as we can.
A map of all locations will be updated online.
>>> DOWNLOAD MATERIALS
Leaflets will be available to download by October 9th 2009.
2010 CORPORATE CAMPAIGN
This call to action is being coordinated by organizers in Vancouver that have decided to take focused action against the corporate sponsors of the 2010 Games in support of and in solidarity with the diverse movements in opposition to the Olympic Industry and its impacts. There will be future calls to action against other corporate sponsors. This first call for action against the Royal Bank is endorsed by: Indigenous Environmental Network, Rainforest Action Network, Olympic Resistance Network, Oilsands truth.org and Council of Canadians – BC/Yukon Region. If your organization would like to endorse this call please contact us by email: 2010corporatecampaign@gmail.com
--- Monday, Oct. 19 (series ongoing most Mondays until Dec. 7)
"THE OLYMPIC GAMES IN MYTH AND REALITY"
FREE speakers series of Olympic critics and organisers ongoing most Mondays, 5pm, from Sept. 14 - Dec. 7. Hosted by UBC's Green College. Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=133767310558&ref=ts
The speakers begin at 5pm with time for questions (FREE, open to all, no reservations). Optional dinner with speaker at Green College starts at 6:30pm ($12 for students and $16 for non-students; reserve a spot by noon Sundays at 604-822-0912). Located in the Green College Coach House at 6201 Cecil Green Park Road (north of NW Marine Drive).
For more info email alissawt(at)shaw.ca
- Monday, Oct. 19: "Olympics on unceded Indigenous land.” Gord Hill. Hillis an Indigenous activist, webmaster of no2010.com and a member of the Olympic Resistance Network
- Monday, Oct. 26: "How the Olympics impact the poor and homeless." Laura Track. Track is a lawyer with Pivot Legal Society specializing in housing issues.
- Monday, Nov. 2: "Olympic security and civil liberties: A lasting legacy." David Eby. Eby is the Acting Executive Director of the BC Civil Liberties Association.
- Monday, Nov. 16: "The myth of the Green Games." Harjap Grewal and Dustin Johnson. Grewal, Council of Canadians, is a member of No One is Illegal, and the Olympic Resistance Network. Johnson is an Indigenous activist.
- Monday, Nov. 30: "Understanding the Olympics as part of corporate culture." Garth Mullins. Mullins is a Vancouver-based social justice activist and member of the Olympic Resistance Network.
- Monday, Dec. 7: "IOC Corruption: Would you take these people home to meet your loved ones?" Andrew Jennings. Mr. Jennings is the author of three books on the IOC.
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Tuesday, October 20 AMAZAY: A film about water
Tuesday October 20th @ 6:30 pm SFU Harbour Center - 515 West Hastings Street - Room 7000$5 By Donation (no one turned away). AMAZAY: A film about water (Vancouver Premiere) In 1968, the creation of the WAC Bennett Dam amassed the world’s largest artificial lake, the Williston Reservoir. The rising waters flooded the Sekani from their homelands and resulted in the destruction of the lower half of their watershed. In 2003 Northgate Minerals proposed to dump 750 million tones of acid tailings into a pristine lake.The Tse Keh Nay said no.
The battle forAmazay Lake began… The Tse Keh Nay - the Takla Lake, Tsay Keh Dene and Kwadacha First Nations– fought through a flawed environmental assessment process for 5 years. This is their story. Film will be followed a presentation by Loretta Williams, from theTsilhqot’in National Government, about their own campaign to protect Teztan Biny (Fish Lake) from the proposed Prosperity Mine. Similar to the Northgate Minerals proposal for Amazay Lake, Taseko Mines Ltd. is also proposing the use of Teztan Biny as a tailings lake, a practice that since 2002 has been supported by controversial changes to the Fisheries Act under Schedule 2. In 2006, two lakes in Newfoundland were approved for destruction and many other lakes in BC, and across the country, are threatened by this loop hole provided by the federal government for the mining industry. The Tsilhqot’in Nation have filed a writ in B.C. Supreme Court claiming their Aboriginal right to fish. The claim, if successful, will prevent Taseko Mines Ltd. from developing its proposed Prosperity Project, 125 km southwest of Williams Lake. The Governments of BC and Canada will most likely appeal a title case decision right to the Supreme Court of Canada and the Tsilhqot’in will need your support!
This event is organized and sponsored by the Council of Canadians and the Wilderness Committee. For more information please emailhgrewal@canadians.org or call 604 340 2455.
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Wednesday, Oct. 21 2010 Welcoming Committee – organising meeting to plan a mass demo for the opening ceremonies of the 2010 Winter Games on February 12, 2010 Wednesday, October 21, 7-9 pm @ SFU Harbour Centre (515 West Hastings Street) 1315 Scotiabank Lecture Room
This is the second meeting of a coalition/group to plan a broad-based public mobilization for Feb 12, 2010, the date of opening ceremonies of the 2010 Winter Olympics. The basis of unity, action plan, and specifics are up to those who choose to participate in the 2010 Welcoming Committee.The goal is to invite a wide range of activists (Indigenous, social justice, labour, environmental, anti-poverty, civil libertarian, community, women’s groups and individuals) to build a broad and accessible protest presence. If you are unable to attend but are interested in being involved, please email us your contact information at 2010welcoming@resist.ca so we can add you to the organizing list.
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Friday, October 23 Anti-Olympics Extravaganza!
The Vancouver-Whistler 2010 Winter Olympics are just around the corner. It’s time to take some action!
* Friday October 23, 2009 6:30 pm
** Rhizome Café, 317 East Broadway
1) Get informed: Sudbury-based sociologist and author GARY KINSMAN speaks on national security and queer resistance to the Olympics, LINDSAY BOMBERRY (Onondaga Nation, Eel clan of the Haudenosaune Confederacy League of Peace) will talk about Indigenous opposition to the Olympics.
2) Get inspired: Local multi-talented Nuxalk and Cayuga emcee JB THE FIRST LADY and others share their skills and get you pumped for resistance.
3) Get expressive: Share your thoughts about the Olympics and its effects at the Anti-Olympics Speaker’s Corner. The Olympic Resistance NetworkMedia Committee and the Vancouver Media Co-op will be recording your opinions, rants, and ideas.
4) Get to action: Take part in the Anti-Olympics treasure hunt. Grab a bagfull of materials and head to the streets to document and express your opposition to the games.
5) Share your actions: Come to Rhizome in November (details to come soon!) to collect prizes from the treasure hunt, make a collage of your actions and watch the video from the anti-olympics speaker's corner.
The Olympics are not going away. The devastating effects are here. But we can still very loudly say: *No Olympics on Stolen Native Land!*
Organized by No One Is Illegal Vancouver. For more information, email noii-van@resist.ca or call 778-833-4484.
-------- Events in Galiano Island: ---
Saturday, Oct. 17 * Not in Our Backyard...Or is it?
We detest the Olympics!
* Saturday Oct. 17th on Galiano Island at The South Hall
presentations and workshops -- 1-6pm
by donation
member of the Olympic Resistance Network will be speaking
live music -- 6pm-12am $10 or donation, no one refused
Featuring: Dubin Hood
Venganza de Cochino
Fuck NoRy
dylan GLonny
---------- Events in Seattle: ----
Weekend of Oct. 17-18 ORN @ Seattle Anarchist Bookfair
Seattle Anarchist Book Fair - October 17-18 2009
Underground Events Center
2407 1st Ave (between Battery St & Wall St)
Seattle, WA 98121
-------- Events in Victoria: ---
Friday, Oct. 30 ANTI-OLYMPIC TORCH RELAY KICKOFF
The Canada-wide Olympic Torch Relay officially begins in Victoria, Lekwungen and WSANEC Territories, on October 30th and the Anti-Olympic Festival will be there to greet it. Join us in the spirit of creative resistance to ongoing colonization, cut-backs in social services, environmental destruction, the privatization of public space, the quashing of free speech, and the corporate spectacle.
==> PROGRAM INFORMATION FOR FRI OCT 30TH <==
1. Early: The exact location, route and time of the torch kickoff is still a mystery, but officials have said that the torch will be lit in downtown Victoria and paraded around Victoria until later in the day. Exact details will be released closer to the date.
2. 2:00pm, Anti-Olympics festival of resistance in "Spirit Square" (formerly known as Centennial Square) downtown Victoria on Pandora between Government and Blanshard.
3. 4:30pm: "Zombie March" In memoriam of Olympics past, hosted by the Anti-Olympics festival. Depature from Spirit/Centennial Square. People are encouraged to bring scary costumes, or just costumes!
4. 5:30pm: The Torch will be blessed during an officially planned ceremony at the Legislature buildings. Does your group want to get a message to the world on October 30th? Over a thousand media people can't be wrong. Get in on the fun! Organize a friendly competition, step up to the soapbox, take over a ring of the Five Ring Circus! Music, art and theatre especially welcome. Join us, don't sit this one out!
For updates as they become available keep your eyes on:http://no2010victoria.net/ and http://olympicresistance.net/
==> TRANSPORTATION INFORMATION FOR FRI OCT 30TH <==
People are encouraged to arrive in Victoria as early as they can on Oct 30. If you can go the night before and have somewhere to stay you are encouraged to do this.
* Transit from Vancouver to Victoria: http://tripplanning.translink.ca
Take the Canada Line southbound to Bridgeport Station (25 min) Transfer to the bus "620 Tsawwassen ferry terminal" (to make 1st ferry board at 5:55am) Buy a walk on ticket for the ferry going to Swartz Bay. Go to www.bcferries.com for schedules and fares. The 1st ferry is 7:00am. After arriving in Swartz Bay, there is a bus stop right in front of the ferry terminal, where you’ll catch the "No. 70 Downtown/Airport" bus. The cost is $2.75. If you catch the first ferry you will arrive at 9:30 am.
==> CAN YOU HELP? <==
1) No2010 Victoria is working on providing billeting and people are encouraged to go over the night before (Thurs Oct 29th) but room is limited.
* If you know folks that can provide sleeping spaces in Victoria please contact no2010victoria@gmail.com
2) Olympic Resistance Network - Vancouver, Coast Salish Territories is working to coordinate some transportation pooling (for those with special equipment needs) on the night of Thurs October 29th and the morning of October 30th.
* Anyone who can give a ride on the night of the 29th or very early in the morning of the 30th please contact Marla at: marlarenn@gmail.com
Hosted by: No2010 Victoria
This invitation brought to you by the Olympic Resistance Network
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Olympic Resistance Network:
ABOUT THE OLYMPIC RESISTANCE NETWORK
The Olympic Resistance Network is primarily based in Vancouver, Coast Salish Territories and exists as a space to coordinate anti-2010 Olympics efforts. In doing so, we act in solidarity with other communities across'BC' - particularly indigenous communities who have been defending their land against the onslaught of the Olympics since the bid itself. Our organizing is largely being done under the slogan of "No Olympics on Stolen Native Land," while creating an opportunity for all anti-capitalist, indigenous, anti-poverty, labour, migrant justice, environmental justice, anti-war, and anti-colonial activists to come together to confront this two-week circus and the oppression it represents.
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