CANADIAN ANARCHIST MOVEMENT:
A FULL PLATE OF ANTI-OLYMPICS EVENTS:
Here's the latest communique from the Olympic Resistance Network, laying out info about opposition to the upcoming 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver/Whistler. All across Canada and even in the USA there are events, some reported below and some yet to come.
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Meetings, Communiques, Events:
* Reminder, ORN General Meeting (open to all!)- Sunday Dec 13, ORN General Meeting 6pm @ Spartacus Books, 684 E. Hastings
* Reminder, ORN General Meeting (open to all!)- Sunday Dec 13, ORN General Meeting 6pm @ Spartacus Books, 684 E. Hastings
* Join us for flyering; we will have flyers.- Tuesday December 15th from 4:30 - 6:00 pm: flyering at Broadway and Commercial Skytrain Station.
* 2010 Welcoming Committee: Dec 17 Thur 7:00 pm at SFU Harbour Centre, 515 W. Hastings. Meeting to plan a broad-based mobilization on Feb 12, 2010,the day of the Olympic Opening Ceremonies
* VIDEOS: Two recently released Anti Olympic videos:
ORN Communiques:
1) Montreal Release: Protestors disrupt the Olympic Torch Relay
2) Update on Kahnawake Torch Protest
3) ORN: Two Anti-Olympic speaking tours need your support
4) ORN Callout to Extinguish the Olympic Torch!
5) Ottawa Communique: 5 RBCs Vandalized
6) Vancouver Release: Olympic Critic Rejected at US Border
EVENTS (including other cities):
7) Fri Dec 11: Cheam Land Defender Denise Douglas Presentation
8) Sun Dec 13: Community Rally to Stop Olympic Kidnapping Act
9) Kitchener: Series of events against the Olympic Torch Relay
10) Toronto Event: Expose the Olympic Circus! (2 calls)
11) Calgary: Extinguish the Flame!
12) Anti Olympics Events in Portland (Dec 2009 and Jan 2010)
13) Winnipeg: Olympics: Games of Resistance
14) Ottawa: Olympic Torch Protest!
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Il y a une version français de celui-ci à Voix De Faits- Molly
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Press Release: Protestors disrupt the Olympic Torch Relay in Montreal
MONTREAL- December 10 2009- In response to a call sent out by the Olympics Resistance Network in Vancouver, more than two hundred anti-olympics protestors noisily disrupted the celebration of the passage of the Olympic Torch Relay in Montreal. The group, made up of indigenous solidarity activists and other groups and individuals affiliated with the Montreal chapter of Peoples Global Action (PGA), an international anti-capitalist movement, heckled and disrupted for several hours the planned activities of the celebration, despite a massive police presence and a tense atmosphere at Place Jacques-Cartier, in Old Montreal.
The protestors held many banners and placards, and chanted the slogans “No olympics on stolen native land!,” “Shame the flame!”, and “Homes not games.” They also threw thousands of pieces of confetti into the crowd –the confetti had the words: “Why celebrate colonization of native land, gentrification, and corporate subsidies? Shame the flame!” They had a sound system and a marching band played.
Before the flame arrived (an hour late), the police brutally attacked the protestors, forcibly cordoning them off in order to continue the official spectacle. Several protesters were thrown to the ground and insulted, while others were pushed and hit with batons. The Nazi-era Leni Riefenstahl film was shown on the big screen,that the cordoned-off demonstrators were forced to watch while they had shields and batons pointed at them by the police. Despite the police brutality the disruption was a success.
“There is no shortage of reasons to oppose the Torch relay », said Pat Cadorette, one of the organizers. “The Olympics are first and foremost a nationalist and capitalist power play. It is an opportunity for the political and financial elites to capitalize on people’s patriotic fiber and competitive drive. They are always organized by and for rich people, and it is always the more oppressed segments of the population who are negatively impacted by it: indigenous people, the poor, the migrant workers, etc. It is a colonial tradition of forced displacement, social cleansing, environmental devastation and repression. In fact, with regards to the Torch relay itself, it is often forgotten that it was first introduced by the Nazis to promote the Third Reich! The CIO and Olympic sponsors like Coca-Cola and the Royal Bank won’t brag about this, but it is nonetheless a historic fact!”
“At the 2010 Olympic Games in Vancouver and Whistler, the only ones who will profit are the already rich developers and sponsors”, explains as ympathizer of the Olympics Resistance Network. “At the same time, it is $6 billion of public funds that are shoveled into this. They chase the poor from the downtown area to make room for the tourists, they pass new laws to criminalize poverty, they install cameras everywhere, they spend at least a billion on security. At this point, it is illegal to post anti-olympics signs in Vancouver! This is insanity!”
According to the Olympics Resistance Network, the Games are taking place on stolen native land in British-Colombia. The vast majority of territory in this province was never formally ceded by treaty, contravening the Royal Proclamation of 1763. Therefore, the private interests that occupy these territories illegally profit from the extraction of natural resources. Ironically, eight years ago, on December 10th 2001, employees from the SunPeaks ski resort were hired by BC Assets & Land developers to demolish the traditional residences and sacred sweatlodges of the Secwepemc people at McGillivary Lake, BC. The RCMP provided supervision and security for the demolition. The Secwepemc have since called for a boycott of Delta Hotels, the hotel chain that was the principal funder of the $40 millionexpansion of the ski resort.
“This is exactly the type of colonial and capitalist expansion that characterizes the Olympic machine,” said Billie Pierre, a Secwepemc activist who participated in today’s demonstration in Montreal. “That’s what the Olympic Games represent: contempt for indigenous peoples, environmental devastation, and forced displacement.”
Information : : blocampmontreal@gmail.com
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UPDATE:
Stuart Myiow, Wolf Clan Representative, Mohawk Traditional Council was released without any charges after 3 hours in custody of the Kahnawake "Peace Keepers". During our PEACEFUL demonstration in opposition to the Olympic Torch Relay in Kahnawake, while acting under the authority of the Women, Stuart was assulted by Landon Meloche, Kahnawake "Peace Keeper" while PEACEFULLY distributing copies of our council's official statement. Prior to the attack, we heard Landon Meloche announce over his scanner “Stuart is rolling in” as Stuart walked in with the children. He then approached myself and my two children and asked us to move down and away from the destination (Karonhianonhnha School) of the torch bearer (about approximately 50 meteres away). I asked him why and he said to protect the students. After I assured him we were acting in accordance with the Great Law of PEACE he left us alone.
Just then PK's were telling Stuart the same. Moments later, Stuart made his way down to where the PK's were had suggested he move. At appoximately 12:14 p.m. Landon Meloche, "PK" attacked Stuart telling him he is under arrest for warrents just before another PK had just gestured Stuart by nodding in agreement that Stuart had been standing in an agreeable distance from the torch bearer.
The Kahnawake “Peace Keepers” released a press release at 4:08 p.m “Local Arrested During Olympic Torch Relay” stating that “Peace Keepers intervened after noticing a local resident approach the Olympic Flamebearer with possible intentions of impending the path of the procession...”
Yet ,“no charges will be laid against Mr. Myiow in connection with the Olympic Torch Relay event”. Our council had agreed prior to today's event that our demonstration would be a PEACEFUL one; not to give in to any aggressive reactions to our support for BC Natives in their defence of our Mother Earth since our concern is more than an Olympic issue, it is an environmental issue. We are in support of our Native sisters and brothers in BC in their defence of the natural wild life habitat on unceeded land.
Peace, Light and Love.
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* No Olympics on Stolen Native Land Speaking Tour
*British Columbia and US West Coast
- Two tours during January 2010
Greetings,
As you may be aware, in February 2010, Vancouver BC will be the host city for the 2010 Winter Olympics. Due to the negative impacts of the Olympics, including homelessness, ecological destruction, huge public debt, and a greatly expanded police state, a movement has arisen to challenge the Olympic industry and expose to the world its true nature. The Olympics Resistance Network is comprised of numerous grassroots groups and individuals and exists as a space to coordinate anti-2010 Olympicsefforts in Vancouver, Coast Salish Territories. 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.
*** ABOUT OUR TWO SPEAKING TOURS ***
Beginning in January 2010, we will travel down through so-called BC -unceded Indigenous lands - as well as the west coast of the US to conduct two separate speaking tours on resistance to the 2010 Olympics,to share our experiences, and to promote the Feb 10-15 anti-colonial & anti-capitalist convergence. The purpose of this letter is to find people/groups in these areas to assist in local organizing of speaking events for our tour.
The events will feature 1-2 speakers from our movement, a short video, with time for questions and discussion. We would also bring materials such as leaflets and Tshirts to distribute and fundraise with. A template poster will be provided if you would like to use it. Specifically, you will be asked to secure a venue for the event and to promote it in your area. Speakers will also be available to do presentations at schools, universities, radios hows, etc., and to answer any inquiries from local media (corporate oralternative). No event is too small or meaningless for us! 1) BC TOUR INFO
In BC, we aim to arrive in towns and communities just prior to the arrival of the Torch in these communities to help build local resistance to the Torch relay. The torch re-enters BC in Golden on Jan 21 and continues through the province until it arrives in Vancouver on Feb 12. For more information on the torch route, check out the interactive map found on http://www.vancouver2010.com/.
We hope to begin the first BC tour on or around January 12th, and proceed east from Vancouver to Merritt, Kelowna, Penticton, Castlegar, arriving inNelson on January 16th. Sunday January 17th we plan to travel through Cranbrook, Invermere, arriving in Golden Tuesday January 19th. Wednesday January 20th to Sunday January 24th: Revelstoke, Salmon, Vernon, Kamloops,and Merritt (if not done on the first leg). A second BC Tour is proposed to begin Monday January 25th go to January 31st, and will include Williams Lake, Prince George, Smithers,Terrace, and Prince Rupert. A third BC Tour would aim to start February 1st in Powell River and then travel to Sechelt, Squamish, Whistler, Lillooet, and Chillawack with the last speaking engagement February 5th.
*** Please note this schedule is flexible and has a tentative start, it will be finalizedbased on those who respond.
2) US WEST COAST TOUR INFO
In the US, we hope to begin the tour in Bellingham, Wa., on or around January 8, and proceed south from there (along the I-5), to include Seattle (Jan 9), Tacoma (Jan 10), Olympia (Jan 11), Portland (Jan 12- 13), Eugene (Jan 15), San Francisco Bay Area (Jan 16-17), Los Angeles (Jan 19) & Santa Cruz (Jan 20). We estimate one city/town per day, depending on the number of speaking engagements arranged in each. Please note this schedule is flexible and a tentative start, it will be finalized based on those who respond.
*** SUPPORT THE SPEAKING TOURS ***
If you can help out with this, please respond by December 18th (ideally) so we can begin planning the route, travel time, etc. Thank you in advance and we look forward to your response! The tour email is ORN.tour@gmail.com. Please forward all correspondence regarding the tour to that email address.
About Olympic Resistance Network:
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UPDATED CALL FOR CROSS-CANADA MOBILIZING: EXTINGUISH THE OLYMPIC TORCH!
From October 31 2009 - February 12 2010, the Olympic Torch Relay "A Path of Northern Lights" will be traveling across Canada. The Olympic Resistance Network, based in Vancouver Unceded Coast Salish Territories, is calling on and encouraging our allies to coordinate efforts in over 2000 communities to oppose and resist the Torch Relay. On October 31, over 400 people gathered to oppose the Torch Relay launch in Victoria. An Anti-Olympics Festival and Zombie March, organized by No2010 Victoria, succeeded in disrupting the relay. Security personnel were forced to extinguish the torch, load it in a van, and reroute it in order to reach the Legislature. (Visit http://no2010victoria.net/ orhttp://olympicresistance.net/ for videos)
WHY ORGANIZE AGAINST THE TORCH?
The Olympic torch is a propaganda tool that promotes gentrification, repression and environmental destruction. The origins of the Torch Relay lie in the dark history of the 1936 Games in Berlin, where it was devised as a means to spread Nazi fascism and to promote the Third Reich. (See Globe and Mail article here: http://no2010.com/node/1113)
The 2010 Olympic Torch Relay is a $25 million publicity stunt to promote the Olympic Brand, particularly its top sponsors. The Royal Bank of Canada and Coca Cola are the main sponsors of the 2010 Torch relay. RBC is the top financier of the environmentally devastating Alberta Tar Sands, while Coca Cola has been responsible for health degradation as part of the junkfood industry, massive depletion of groundwater and toxic waste pollution in India, and involved in hiring paramilitary groups to violently repress union organizers in Colombia.
It is becoming increasingly evident that far from being simply about sport, the 2010 Olympics is rooted in displacement, corporate greed, militarization, and repression. While Olympic corporate sponsors are getting bailed out, Indigenous lands are being stolen, more people are becoming homeless, thousands are losing their jobs and access to public services, the environment is being destroyed, and civil liberties are being eroded as over a billion dollars are being sunk into security and surveillance measures. While people suffer consequences, the public money invested by the city of Vancouver, the city of Whistler, the B.C. government and the Canadian government is now nearing $7 billion.
WHAT CAN I DO?
This Torch Relay will be the longest in-country relay in Olympic history, giving us the chance to make some anti-Olympic history! You might be opposing the Torch due to the rally call No Olympics on Stolen Native Land! Remember the Torch does not represent a sacred fire, it is a destructive force. Or you might be protesting the Torch because of the impacts of its corporate sponsors on your community, such as the link between the RBC and Alberta Tar Sands. Or you are generally concerned about the overall negative impacts of the Games such as homelessness, misdirected public spending, attacks on civil liberties, and the general oppression and repression it represents.
There are many reasons and many ways to oppose the Torch, so whatever your reason might be, get out there and be visible! Create a leaflet and make some placards, and you and your group can protest along the Torch route and hand out information to those along the sidelines. You can lead a march to disrupt and detour the relay, as Victoria organizers successfully did without arrests. Setup a blockade through your community and stop the torch from going through and spreading its false propaganda. Hold educational events prior to and after the Torch going through to spread awareness about the impacts of the Olympics (you can contact olympicresistance@riseup.net for educational materials to assist in this). Do whatever makes the most sense for your context; most important is that you organize something!
==> If you are organizing an event or action in your city, town, or community please email us the details at olympicresistance@riseup.net so we can compile the information and build strength and unity in our efforts by having this information available on our website.
Basic torch route
Dec 12, 2009 - Jan 4, 2010: through Ontario: Ottawa, Pikwàkanagàn, Akwesasne, Kingston, Tyendinaga, Peterborough, Toronto, Hamilton, St. Catharines, Six Nations, Brantford, Oneida, Leamington, Windsor, Sarnia, London, Stratford, Kitchener, Waterloo, Guelph, Barrie, Huntsville, Temiskaming, Sudbury, Sault Ste. Marie, Red Rock FN, Kenora, and others.
Jan 5 - Jan 20, 2010: through Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta: Winnipeg, Sioux Valley Dakota, Regina, Moose Jaw, Swift Current, Saskatoon, Prince Albert, Moosomin FN, Edmonton, Wetaskiwin, Red Deer, Medicine Hat, Lethbridge, Calgary, Canada Olympic Park, Stoney Nation, and more.
Jan 21 - Feb 11, 2010: through BC: Golden, Cranbrook, Nelson, Trail, Osoyoos FN, Penticton, Kelowna, Vernon, Revelstoke, Salmon Arm, Kamloops, 100 Mile House, Williams Lake, Prince George, Smithers, Gitanmaax, Fort St. John, Terrace, Bella Bella, Powell River, Sechelt, Squamish, Whistler,Lil'wat, Merritt, Fraser Valley, Lower Mainland and others.
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For Immediate Release Ottawa, Dec. 8, 2009 No Olympics On Stolen Native Land!
Starting February 12 the winter Olympics will take place in occupied British Colombia. To date most Indigenous Nations in British Colombia haven't entered into treaties with the British Crown or the Canadian government. This means that, according to International Law, most of British Colombia is illegally occupied by the Canadian state. The history of corporate profiteering from the theft of Indigenous lands and the genocide of Indigenous Peoples is a long one. It is inextricably linked with the colonization of Turtle Island (North America), and, in fact, of the vast majority of the globe.
A perfect example of this profiteering from colonization is the Hudson's Bay Company, with its history as one of the main agents of colonization in British Colombia and its sponsorship of the 2010 Olympics. The Olympics are being used to further the ongoing colonization step by step; for example, the destruction of sacred mountain environments for the profit of various corporations and the pleasure of skiers and tourists. The Royal Bank of Canada is also a sponsor of the 2010 Olympics. We say fuck RBC. Due to their sponsorship of the Olympics, and the fact that they are generally heinous, we vandalized 5 RBCs in Ottawa, smashing one of their branches windows in the early morning. RBCs in Ottawa have been repeatedly targeted with property damage, and we felt that we should also do our bit. We know that this action is just a drop in the bucket, but we also know that enough drops will fill that bucket up! So let's get to it folks! Soonest begun, soonest done. (A little Molly aside here. I, of course, disapprove of such childish vandalism. It diverts attention from real political action. Opposition to things such as the Olympics should try and reach out to the unconvinced, rather than giving a portrayal of the opposition as half-baked adventurists trying to get their adrenalin rush by night)
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OLYMPIC CRITIC DETAINED, QUESTIONED, AND REJECTED AT USA BORDER
- For immediate public release
- Thursday, December 10, 2009 Critics of the 2010 Olympic Winter Games (being held in Vancouver and Whistler, British Columbia, Canada) continue to be subject to police harassment and intimidation, including another activist detained and questioned at the Pacific (Truck) Crossing border station and denied entry to the USA on Thursday, December 10, 2009.
Marla Renn, a member of the Olympic Resistance Network (ORN), was travelling to Portland, Oregon to speak on the negative impacts of the 2010 Games. Renn was scheduled to speak at educational events at Mt. Hood Community College, Reed College, Portland State University, and the Red and Black Cafe. She was held for over six hours as both Canadian and US border guards interrogated her about the subject of her speech, her contacts in Portland, and her political activities. She was previously denied entry for a Seattle speaking event on the grounds that ten anti-Olympic shirts were unauthorised commercial merchandise, but the shirts were found after she had already been questioned on political issues. Likewise, the excuse for rejecting her this time (lack of employment since her graduation in August) was brought up after her planned speech and political activities were addressed by border guards.
Renn was targeted for immediate questioning at the US border. She was photographed and fingerprinted, her property was searched, her cell phone was taken and accessed, and her documents (even the book she was reading) photocopied. She was warned that any attempt to enter the US within the next six months may result in two years imprisonment.
At the Canadian side of the border, she was again searched and questioned extensively on the Portland events, her speech, and attempts to build anti-Olympic support in the USA. “Continued harassment of peaceful organisers and speakers by the police and border guards show that their real objective is to silence dissent and not to protect the public,” says Renn.
Recently, journalist Amy Goodman (of Democracy Now) was travelling to speak in Vancouver and was detained and questioned about her speech as border guards assumed she would be criticizing the Olympics. Professor Chris Shaw, also of ORN, was detained and questioned at the UK border when travelling to speak on Olympic issues at an academic conference. Other activists have been questioned and even rejected at the Canada-USA border. Across Canada, political organisers have been subject to harassment, surveillance and questioning about anti-Olympic activism. People’s housing, academic work and employment have been jeopardized by police visits. Even family members, friends, neighbours and co-workers (people not involved in political activity) have been contacted by police. The targets of these investigations are community members involved in open public organising, with publicly accessible groups, meetings, events, and websites. Combined with the efforts of the City of Vancouver and Olympic officials to deny free expression by restricting political displays in public space, the intent is clearly to silence public criticism and traditional protest methods, such as political signs, speaking events,marches, and rallies.
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Friday, Dec. 11, 7:00pm
1284 East 12th Avenue (corner Clark)
Coast Salish Territories
Defending the Land!
With land defender Denise Douglas from Cheam Nation.
Denise will be speaking about her and her community's decade-long fight against Department of Fisheries as part of their ongoing struggle for land and sovereignty. Denise has an upcoming court date in Chilliwack that she will be providing an update about and seeking court support for. Background info on Cheam:
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Community March to Stop the 'Olympic Kidnap the Homeless' Act
The 'Assistance' to Shelter Act Must Be Stopped!
A coalition of DTES community groups and allies including CCAP, Streams of Justice, IOCC, Van Act and DTES Power of Women Group are hosting a march against the Olympic Kidnapping Act which allows police to detain and use force on homeless people to compel them into shelters. *Rally to Stop the 'Olympic Kidnapping Act*
SUNDAY DECEMBER 13 @ 3:30 PM-5:00PM
POLICE STATION (312 MAIN STREET, AT CORDOVA)
Come one, come all!
* Earlier press release:
DTES GROUPS DENOUNCE BC ASSISTANCE TO SHELTER ACT AS OLYMPIC KIDNAPPING ACT
November 24 2009, Vancouver - A coalition of DTES community groups are hosting a press conference to launch a campaign against what they are calling the Olympic Kidnapping Act. They are calling the Act, which allows police to detain and use force on homeless people to compel them into shelters, fundamentally undemocratic, unjust, and unconstitutional. In response to the government's claim that this Act helps the homeless, homeless people such as Cee refuse to be forcefully apprehended. I can look after myself; I've been doing it for years, states Cee.
According to Stella August, member of Downtown Eastside Women Centre Power to Women group: This Kidnapping Act creates a state of fear in the DTES.We are angered at the hypocrisy of a government that closes down emergency shelters, while allowing police to forcefully displace homeless people against their will. We have already witnessed waves of police crackdowns over the past year; we are not foolish enough to believe that this is another coincidence leading up to the Games.
During the 1996 Olympics,approximately 9000 homeless people in Atlanta were arrested in the months leading up to the Games and shunted up to 300 kilometres out of the city. We think that Mayor Gregor Robertson, as Chair of the Police Board, should make clear that he will refuse to enforce this unconstitutional Act. Is this part of his Eliminate Homelessness by 2015 strategy; just disappear the poor, states Wendy Pederson of Carnegie Community Action Project. Shelter providers such as Atira Womens Resource Society, First United Church, Lookout Emergency Aid Society, PHS Community Service Society, as well as the Canadian Mental Health Association have all also publically expressed their significant and grave concerns with the Act.
According to Laura Track, housing campaign lawyer with Pivot Legal Society who is planning a legal challenge to this Act, The Minister knows this is an unconstitutional law; this is a cynical strategy by the Liberal government to force poor people off the streets for the Olympics before courts strike the legislation down, which will unfortunately take months if not years.
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"No Olympics on Stolen Native Land"
AW@L and the KW Community Centre for Social Justice bring you a month of anti-Olympic action and education!! Events in December:
1) • 12th – Direct Action at RBC on the Global Day of Action against Climate Change at the Public Square in Uptown Waterloo at Noon. Because December 12 is not only the Global Day of Action against Climate Change (which coincides with the international Climate Change talks in Copenhagen), it is also the day that the Olympic Torch Relay enters Ontario. On December 12 there will actions taken against climate change propagators around the world. There will also be a protest in Ottawa against the Olympic Torch Relay. RBC is one of the leading financiers ofthe Tar Sands—one of the most environmentally destructive projects on earth and one of the reasons for Canada’s shameful international environmental reputation. RBC is also a primary sponsor of the 2010 Vancouver-Whistler Olympics, which both RBC and Canada are using to “greenwash” their image before the Canadian and international audiences. Join us on the Global Day of Action against Climate Change to help educate the public, and to tell RBC that we will not let them use the Olympics to greenwash their corporate brand—not while they are, in fact, one of Canada’s worst climate criminals. We will have banners, speeches, and will be distributing flyers.
2) • 18th – Info Night featuring Olympic Resistance Network speaking tour at the KW Community Centre for Social Justice, 63 Courtland Ave E, at Benton from 7 - 9pm.
3) • 22nd – Movie night featuring “Five Ring Circus: The True Costs of the Vancouver Olympics” followed by a live radio event featuring a panel discussion with AW@L Radio co-hosts Dan Kellar and Alex Hundert, and members of KW ARA that will be broadcast live on community radio and on internet.
Where:
KW Community Centre for Social Justice, 63 Courtland Ave E, Kitchener.
When:
7pm, Tuesday December 22nd
4) • 27th – Public Mobilization against the Olympic Torch Relay *
“No Olympics on Stolen Native Land”
* **A public mobilization against the Olympic Torch Relay ***
AW@L and friends from across the region are sending an open invitation for a participatory public event to coincide with the arrival of the 2010 Olympic Torch Relay in Kitchener on Sunday, December 27.
WHAT:
A family friendly rally, march and demonstration against the 2010 Vancouver-Whistler Olympics. We intend to create a festive atmosphere that is safe and inviting for activists as well as families. Our goal is to educate and to deliver a message. We will start with interactive events, free hot coffee and food at a rally at the entrance to Victoria Park in downtown Kitchener featuring speakers from the Olympic Resistance Network-Ontario (ORNO) as well as prominent Six Nations youth activists.Then we will all march to City Hall for a public demonstration during the Olympic Torch Celebration.
WHEN:
Sunday December 27, 4-8pm.
WHERE: Rally at the Victoria Park Clock Tower, downtown Kitchener, off Gaukel Street.
WHY:
In response to callouts from the Olympic Resistance Network (ORN) and the Native Youth Movement (NYM), AW@L—a community-based direct action group, along with some of our allies are teaming up to co-host a peaceful rally during the Olympic Torch Celebration. We invite all of our friends and allies from across the region to converge in Kitchener in order to send the message to VANOC and to Canada that they can neither whitewash the ongoing colonization of First Nations, nor can they greenwash this country’s abysmal environmental record. We will use their Olympic circusas an opportunity to shine the international spotlight where it belongs, on the truth.
We are calling for this gathering because VANOC, Canada and the Olympics’ sponsors are trying to use the Olympics and the world media spotlight they bring to cast Canada’s international image in a certain light; as a “post-apology” country where the State’s relationship with First Nations is positive and progressive. But this official presentation is a tragic farce. The truth is that this country’s relationship with Indigenous Peoples is shameful. Canada is one of only three countries that has not signed the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.The Residential Schools Truth and Reconciliation Commission collapsed. Our land claims process is so backed up that at the current rate active claims will not be solved for more than another two centuries. Canada and the provinces have repeatedly and endemically violated treaty after treaty. The Vancouver-Whistler 2010 Winter Olympic Games are taking place on unceded Territories of the Coast Salish people. Kitchener is on the Haldimand Tract, which is part of the Grand River Territory, which is Six Nations Land.
Kitchener-Waterloo, like Vancouver-Whistler, is stolen land. VANOC, Canada and Olympics’ sponsors are trying to use the Olympics to cast themselves as “green” global citizens, when in fact that is a sham. Canada as well as the Royal Bank of Canada (one of the Olympics’ and the Torch Relay’s primary sponsors) have been identified by major Environmental NGO’s as among the world’s worst climate change offenders. Canada has made the least progress of all developed countries on our Kyoto Protocol commitments, and Canada has been one of the most disruptive and uncooperative countries when it comes to international climate change talks. Canada’s Tar Sands collectively comprise one of the most environmentally destructive projects on earth, and RBC is the leading financier of Tar Sands projects, which like many environmentally destructive projects has a disproportionate impact on Indigenous communities. In the Vancouver-Whistler corridor, the environmental impact of the 2010 Games is incalculable.
VANOC, the City of Vancouver, Torch Relay host cities and Olympic sponsors are trying to use the Olympics to make themselves appear socially responsible to their constituent communities. This is yet another lie. In Vancouver, in preparation for the 2010 Games, neighbourhoods have been brutally gentrified, drastically increasing homelessness and the marginalization of the urban poor. And to make matters worse, new bylaws have been passed in Vancouver that essentially criminalize homelessness and poverty. In Torch Relay host cities, as on the West Coast, public funds are being diverted to pay for a corporate party; while in Kitchener the City’s New Years eve budget is being redirected to pay for VANOC’sTorch Celebration at City Hall, in Vancouver over six billion dollars of taxpayer money is being used to pay for the 2010 Corporate Circus.
The 2010 Olympics are ushering in a new era of militarization and police repression. Activists across the country have been routinely harassed by CSIS and the RCMP in the lead up to the Olympic Games. During the games, new high-tech weaponry has been purchased for use against protesters and American military personnel are being brought in to help police the crowds. The security budget for the games is going to total over 1 billion dollars — during a financial crisis, no less. So, as long as you are willing to abide by reasonable standards of “family friendly” behaviour, we urge everyone to attend this educational and festive public rally, march and demonstration against the 2010 Olympics.
Bring warm clothes and things like banners, placards, costumes, noisemakers, and oh yeah... lots of energy. This event is less than a month a way, so there is much to do. If you would like to help out in any way, please contact No2010@peaceculture.org .That’s the same email to query if you want more info. We will have point people in Six Nations, Hamilton, Brantford, Guelph, Stratford, Toronto and London to coordinate carpooling, so if you need a ride, or have room for people in one, please let us know.
See you in the streets!
AW@L Olympic Resistance Committee
AW@L’s website is http://peaceculture.org/
Contact for more info: No2010@peaceculture.org
For more info on the Olympics visit
No2010.com
OlympicResistance.net
No2010Victoria.net
Peaceculture.org
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Expose the Olympic Circus!
Block the Olympics Torch!
- a massive street circus you don't want to miss -
DETAILS OF MARCH IN HONOR OF HARRIET NAHANEE FOLLOWS
Pull out your brightest (and warmest) threads!
Put on your shiniest (and fastest) shoes and wheels!
17 December 2009 5:15pm
North East Corner of University and College
WELCOME the OLYMPIC TORCH in STYLE.
The Olympics Torch is about colonial theft of indigenous land, corporate profit grabbing, ecological destruction, militarization and migrant exploitation.
We say: NO OLYMPICS ON STOLEN NATIVE LAND!
Take up the fight for Indigenous Sovereignty! Migrant Justice! Climate Justice! Income Equality! ((Wondering why we must block the torch? Read here:
Dress up as your favourite rejected Olympics mascot Sassy the Stolen Ceremony, Bitie the Bed Bug, Dean the Deforester, Gary the Green Washer. Bring music, food and friends. If you are not from Toronto and wondering if you should come, you SHOULD. Toronto is seeing massive cuts to housing, social services, and increased attacks on poor, migrant, unemployed and underemployed communities. It is also hosting the 2010 G8/20 Leaders Summit and the 2015 Pan-Am Games, all projects to attack people's sovereignty and self-determination. All attacks that we resist. Olympic Resitance is part of that struggle.
COME to the Costume/Prop/Silk Screening/Banner making day:
Dec 13 (2-6pm).
100 Devonshire Place
– email torchblock@gmail.com
For more info, visit no2010.com and http://olympicresistance.net/
On facebook:
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March in Honour of Harriet Nahanee to Resist the Olympic Torch
SEE LINK:
On December 17th, in Toronto (Mississauga Territory) Indigenous women will march in the streets in honour of Harriet Nahanee, the Pacheedaht elder and activist who died as a result of being jailed for refusing to apologize for resisting the olympics. Her death gave birth to a movement, and sounded the call for thousands to join in what is becoming a uniting struggle against colonialism, fascism, injustice, poverty, land grabs in urban centres and in sovereign territories, civil rights violations, and violence against women. When women become empowered, a struggle becomes a movement. When Indigenous peoples unite, movements gain momentum. When Indigenous womenare empowered in unity, the human narrative changes course.
So here's the plan: This is a call for Indigenous women, and supporters to come out on December 17th, 5:15pm at the northeast corner of College and University, to honour her resistance with a peaceful convergence on the olympic torch as it is "celebrated" by the city of Toronto. Wear the colour red: the colour Harriet wore on the day she was arrested, and one of the four sacred colours which represents Indigenous peoples. Bring a picture of Harriet (you can print one out) or a picture of any woman who has sufferd violence for her political actions, or just for being a woman. We stand in solidarity with the many marches which protest violence against women, especially the "Women's Memorial March" that is held annually in the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver each year on February 14th to honour abused, missing or murdered women, and which even now, is being threatened and harassed by VANOC and the City of Vancouver, because it coincides with the olympics. We stand in solidarity with Mapuche women in Chile, fighting to resist the destructive takeover of their traditional land by EU-Chile free trade agreements, political prisoners, hunger strikers, our sisters in struggle. We stand in solidarity with the youth of Six Nations, the traditional peoples of the unceded and unsurrendered St'at'imc nation, Secwepemc youth fighting the Sun Peaks Resort development on their sacred mountain, Skwelkwek’welt, the Algonquins of Barriere Lake and Sharbot Lake, the Zapatistas, and all other Indigenous peoples all over the world resisting the rape of our mother earth, and the land and water sustaining us.
Come join us on December 17th, at the northeast corner of College and University in Toronto, at 5:15pm. Wear something red (and warm!) and bring a picture. Banners, signs, drums, etc. welcome. Peaceful protest only, children and families are welcome. Video call-out is here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZZ0ZV_XoJY
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Monday, January 18, 2010 Olympic Plaza, Calgary, AB
From October 31 2009 - February 12 2010, the Olympic Torch Relay of Northern Lights will be traveling across Canada. The Olympic Resistance Network, based in Vancouver Unceded Coast Salish Territories, is calling on and encouraging our allies to coordinate efforts in over 2000 communities to oppose and resist the Torch Relay. The origins of the Torch Relay lie in the dark history of the 1936 Games in Berlin, where it was devised as a means to spread Nazi fascism and to promote the Third Reich. The Royal Bank of Canada and Coca Cola are the main sponsors of the 2010 Torch relay. RBC is the top financier of the environmentally devastating Alberta Tar Sands, while Coca Cola has been responsible for health degradation as part of the junk food industry, massive depletion of groundwater and toxic waste pollution in India, and involved in hiring paramilitary groups to violently repress union organizers in Colombia. It is becoming increasingly evident that far from being simply about sport, the 2010 Olympics is rooted in displacement, corporate greed, militarization, and repression. While Olympic corporate sponsors are getting bailed out, Indigenous lands are being stolen, more people are becoming homeless, thousands are losing their jobs and access to public services, the environment is being destroyed, and civil liberties are being eroded as over a billion dollars are being sunk into security and surveillance measures.
This Torch Relay will be the longest in-country relay in Olympic history,giving us the chance to make some anti-Olympic history! You might be opposing the Torch due to the rally call No Olympics on Stolen Native Land! Remember the Torch does not represent a sacred fire, it is a destructive force. Or you might be protesting the Torch because of the impacts of its corporate sponsors on your community, such as the link between the RBC and Alberta Tar Sands. Or you are generally concerned about the overall negative impacts of the Games such as homelessness, misdirected public spending, attacks on civil liberties, and the general oppression and repression it represents. Many corporations that participate in human rights and enviromental abuses also endorse the Olympics, many banks, and oil companies invested in the tars sands also participate. The organizing is starting now. If you want to get involved in Calgary please contact me: terisong@riseup.net . If you are organizing a seperate event and want it listed via the email group you can contact myself or any other organizer and I am sure they'd be willing to help.
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Anti Olympic Events in Portland
==> December 11th *2-4pm*
Portland State University
Native American Center
The Center is located at the southern tip of the PSU campus on SW Jackson Street between Broadway and Park. 1825 SW Broadway Portland, OR 97201-3256
*6pm*
Red and Black Cafe 400 SE 12th Ave
Portland, OR 97214
==> Jan 3, 2010 2010 Olympic Resistance "Stolen lives, Stolen land"
January 3rd @ Portland State University
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Please circulate widely.you are invited to partake in an evening of Olympic education and resistance.
The Olympics: Games of Resistance
Tuesday, December 15th
8PM-10:30
Rudolf Rocker Cultural Centre
3rd floor 91 Albert St.
Free Event - donations for papers welcome
Event:-Launch of the 2009 Dominion Paper's major print issue on the Vancouver Olympics-Screening of the film Five Ring Circus: The Untold Story of the Vancouver 2010 Games, dir. Conrad Schmidt, 76 mins. - limited number of DVDs available for purchase at event
.-Discussion of the torch relay and the Olympics' fascist history. The Olympic Games in Vancouver this coming February have become a circus of corporate money, police surveillance, exploitation of native images and peoples, an elite global celebration on unceded native lands, a civil liberties nightmare, a real estate boom at the expense of local communities, a multi-billion tax-payer debt, an ecological devastation, and a greenwashing opportunity for the corporate sponsors, many of whom are heavily invested in the Alberta Tar Sands. Come out and learn more.
Please forward widely
Embedded Links:
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Saturday, December 12, 2009
2:00pm - 3:00pm
Ottawa City Hall
b/w Laurier and Lisgar, Elgin and the canal
Come raise your voice with:
- Olympics Resistance Ottawa- Common Cause Ottawa
- IPSMO (Indigenous Peoples Solidarity Movement Ottawa)
* Top ten reasons to resist the Olympics:
A bit about the torch relay:
- The Olympic torch relay was an invention of the Nazis in Germany for the 1936 summer Olympics held in Berlin. It proved to be a propagandist's dream, igniting nationalistic fever and pride in a receptive public. Not to be outdone in propagandandic posturing, the relay was renamed 'Relay of Peace' for the next summer Olympic games held in London in 1948.
A bit about the Olympics:
- The Olympic games are a multi-billion dollar industry backed by real estate, construction, hotel, tourism and media corporations, and powerful elites working hand in hand with government officials and the International Olympic Committee (IOC). While public pressure is unlikely to stop the 2010 Games from occupying Vancouver, critical resistance is needed to expose deceptions about the Games’ impact and purposes, voice our dissent to the world, and strengthen social movement solidarity.
3 comments:
Get a life! For god sakes if you are going to protest have the guts to show your faces. Don't hide behind bandana'a that is cowardly!
Guys you are really cool looking in those masks. However there are more important things in our world. You'd better think about how to help poor people or those who lack water. And you are welcome to my blog on Personal Effectiveness and my friend's one about going green. Both have some useful tips and advice.
Your style is really unique compared to other folks I have read stuff from. Thanks for doing this.
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