CANADIAN ANARCHIST MOVEMENT:
THE SHADOW OF THE TORCH:
As the Olympic Torch pr rally sputters its way across the country it is being followed by a shadow- the shadow of protest. Here, from the Olympic Resistance Network is a summary of all the things that are happening as the 2010 games draw nearer, not just in BC but across the country and even in the USA.
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Meetings, Communiques, Events:
* Reminder,
* Reminder,
ORN General Meeting (open to all!)- Sunday Dec 6, ORN General Meeting 6pm @ Spartacus Books, 684 E. Hastings * Join us for flyering; we will have flyers and want to spread information about the Feb convergence, so please join us!
- Tuesdays December 8th and 15th from 4:30 - 6:00 pm: flyering at Broadway/Commercial Skytrain Station. Meet 4:30 pm outside Blenz coffeeshop or if late look for people flyering.
ORN Communiques:
1) Release and News Conference: Olympics-related Evictions
2) ORN and no2010 Victoria respond to undercover cop allegations
3) Two Anti-Olympic speaking tours need your support
4) Callout to Extinguish the Olympic Torch!
5) Communique by ORN: Resist 2010 Olympic Games! Get Involved!
6) Statement by Dustin Rivers: VISU Pays a Visit EVENTS (including other cities):
7) Mon Dec. 7: IOC Corruption with Andrew Jennings at UBC
8) Sun Dec 13: Community Rally to Stop Olympic Kidnapping Act
9) Kitchener: Public mobilization against the Olympic Torch Relay
10) Toronto Event: 2010: Year of Resistance by our Indigenous Nations
11) Montreal Events: Extinguish the Flame!
12) Anti Olympics Events in Portland (Dec 2009 and Jan 2010)
13) Winnipeg: Olympics: Games of Resistance
14) Hamilton: Whats wrong with the Olympics
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*TENANTS EVICTED “FOR OWNER’S FAMILY”
–HOUSE NOW ADVERTISED AS OLYMPIC $$$ RENTAL
* *On-Site News Conference*10am this Monday December 7th Meet at Northwest corner of East 11th Ave and St. Catherines St (2 blocks east of Fraser; then a short walk to the house) *Speakers*
Two Evicted Tenants – names provided on-site ,Joseph Jones (Olympic Resistance Network), Laura Track (Pivot Legal Society), Rider Cooey (Citywide Housing Coalition)
Evicted tenants of an eight-unit East Vancouver house say the owner told them and the BC Residential Tenancy Branch that the entire house will be needed for family members. But the tenants have discovered the house is being offered online as an Olympic rental
– the actual advertisement and rental rate will be available on-site. At the start of each tenancy, the owner required leases that end 31 January 2010, providing various excuses and assuring tenants they would be able to extend their leases. But at the end of November, tenants got two-month eviction notices saying the owner requires the house “for landlord or landlord’s immediate family,” in apparent compliance with the BC Residential Tenancy Act. The house is now being advertised online for February-March 2010 rental at tens of thousands of dollars
– the ad and exact figure available on-site. The owner has told tenants they will be welcome to return to their rooms in April 2010 !
MEDIA ADVISORY
for Monday, 7 December at 10 am 5 December 2009
– Contact Joseph Jones 604-433-2764 / Backup: Rider Cooey 604-872-1382
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Backgrounder by one of the evictees, a graduate student in Criminology at SFU. She will speak at the on-site news conference.
*Catching the Spirit”: How I Am Being Evicted for the Olympics*
" Recently I have been able to confirm that I am being evicted because my landlord wants to empty the place I live in to cash in on the Olympics. According to an advertisement found online, she intends to rent the entire East Vancouver / Mount-Pleasant area character house (where I pay $580/month to rent 1 of 8 bedrooms) to make tens of thousands of dollars during February-March. Lacking this concrete proof, my eviction would have been technically legal, despite the promises of VANOC and the city of Vancouver to protect people like me from losing our homes to Olympics profiteering.
When I originally rented the room, as a student with limited renting experience, I knew very little about tenant rights, and had never had a problem with a landlord in the past. I thought it was kind of weird that she wanted a 7 month lease, but I signed it anyway because she said she wanted stability and low turnover among the people renting the house, and she wanted to make sure that tenants would stay for relatively long periods of time. Back then, 7 months was the minimum commitment that she would accept. When I questioned the fact that my lease ended so close to the Olympics (January 31, 2010), she said it was just a minimum commitment, and that she also wanted to make sure that tenants stayed through the holiday season because many tenants had left at that time in the past. I stated that I would want to stay longer, and asked if she would extend the lease provided there were no problems. She said yes, and that there was no reason not to. I accepted that response and signed the lease, beginning my tenancy on July 1, 2009.
In September, when one of my housemates moved out and we had to fill the room, we realized she was advertising it as available for only a 5 month lease. I then conferred with my other housemates, and we all realized that our leases ended on January 31, just ahead of the Olympics. At that point webecame suspicious about the timing, and we emailed our landlord to query the timing and raise our concern that she might not extend the leases as originally promised (to all of us). She responded to say that in fact she was not going to extend our leases and that she was going to (in her words) “honour the terms of the original lease” and make us leave on January 31. This, she said, was not because of the Olympics, but because she was pregnant and her family was going to be coming from Bulgaria for that month to assist her with the pregnancy and they needed the house for everyone to live in. She justified this by saying that we were welcome to leave at any time, and that she felt we had enough notice to find another place to live. However, none of us wanted to leave, nor did we have the time, energy ormoney to arrange alternative arrangements in the middle of a rainy Vancouver fall. Beyond that, she extended an offer to let us move back in April 2010 if we wanted to.
We investigated and discovered the laws protecting people from being evicted for the Olympics only work if one can prove the landlord’s intent. The likelihood of that seemed pretty remote. At the end of November we received our two-month notice of eviction, with the box “for use of landlord and/or landlord’s immediate family” checked as the reason we had to leave. Two days later, still believing that there was nothing we could do, my housemate was searching the internet and found the advertisement our landlord had posted to rent the house for the Olympics.
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This evictee will be one of the speakers at the press conference, 10am Monday, 7 December 2009.
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OLYMPIC RESISTANCE NETWORK RESPONDS TO POLICE ALLEGATIONS OF UNDERCOVER COP DRIVING PROTEST BUS TO VICTORIA
December 3, Vancouver Coast Salish Territories
- According to reports by 24 hours news, on Monday Victoria Police chief Jamie Graham alleged that an undercover police officer was driving a bus organized by the Olympic Resistance Network to transport protesters to Victoria for an anti-Olympic Torch Relay protest on October 30.
Graham stated "You knew that the protesters weren't that organized when on the ferry on the way over they all rented a bus, they all came over on a bus, and there was a cop driving the bus." In response, the Olympic Resistance Network is making the following statement:
"This latest revelation of police infiltration and surveillance reinforces the notion of an Olympic police state that anti-Olympic activists have long been warning about. Infiltration tactics, with ongoing harassment of activists and a $1 billion police, security and military budget including high-tech equipment like the LRAD sonic gun and close circuit TV cameras, have created a chilly climate for the right to protest and the protection of basic civil liberties.
Our organization and our activities are public. With allies in Victoria we organized a successful and disruptive protest with over 400 people. While the police will increase their surveillance activities and their attempts to divide us, we are seeing increasing resistance across the country with additional protests planned against the Torch relay in Quebec and Ontario. We encourage more residents who are enraged and affected by the impact of the Games to get involved and to express their right to dissent against this five ring circus of oppression."
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No2010 Victoria challenges police chief to a debate about spies andcivil liberties
A Victoria group opposed to the 2010 Olympics is challenging police chief Jamie Graham to a public debate about secret police tactics and civil liberties. Graham's recent statements that police infiltrated agroup traveling by bus to Victoria raise new concerns about the legality of police conduct.
"These officers can play spy games and make jokes about it, but we are serious about civil liberties and social justice," said No 2010 Victoria spokesperson Zoe Blunt. "The police have pledged to protect and serve a corporate-sponsored sporting event, and they are spending millions to harass social justice advocates and indigenous rights activists and anti-poverty groups. That is not acceptable."
"Now that he's raised the subject of possible illegal police operations, we are challenging him to explain his statements anddefend the tactics he's bragging about, if he can," Blunt said.
On Monday, November 31, Graham told a group of security conference attendees that police had infiltrated a group attending an anti-Olympics rally and march on October 30th, 2009. "You knew that the protesters weren't that organized when on the ferry on the way over they all rented a bus, they all came over on a bus, and there was a cop driving the bus!” Graham told the 12th Vancouver International Security Conference on Monday.
For months, members of No2010 Victoria and the Vancouver Olympic Resistance Network have been warning the public about police violation of civil liberties. Harassment by security police, bylaws banning signs and purchases of military-grade crowd-control equipment have mainly served to alienate the public and shine a light on police abuses. Olympic critics across Canada have spoken out against the Games not only as a colossal waste of public resources, but also for the social costs they will bring to the region.
“We've been open and out-spoken in rallying support for indigenous rights, an end to homelessness, and environmental justice on growing social issues that can be directly attributed to the Olympics,” said Blunt. “Now we’re facing an overzealous security engaging in undercover operations.” Most recently, American news host and producer of “Democracy Now” Amy Goodman was detained at the Canadian border on November 25th and questioned if she was going to criticize the Olympics at a speech that day in Vancouver. The incident has focused world attention on potential 2010 police abuses. "The public can decide for themselves if such actions are a good useof resources or if the authorities are out of line," Blunt said. “We want an open debate on the issue.”
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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 Olympics efforts 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, radioshows, 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 in Nelson 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, itwill be finalized based on those who respond.
2) US WESTCOAST 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. (SeeGlobe 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. Set up 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
Nov 16 - Nov 28, 2009: through Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Islands, and New Brunswick: Sydney, Whycocomagh, Port Hawkesbury, Truro, Paq'tnkek, Antigonish, Halifax, Bear River FN, Lunenburg, Charlottetown, Moncton, Sussex, Saint John, Fredericton, Esgenoôpetitj, Grand Falls, and others.
Nov 29 - Dec 11, 2009: through Quebec: Rimouski, Baie-Comeau, Les Escoumins, Saguenay, Lévis, Saint-Georges, Black Lake, Victoriaville, Sherbrooke, Drummondville, Trois-Rivières, Longueuil, Kahnawá:ke ,Beaconsfield, Mont-Tremblant, Montréal, Laval, Gatineau, and others 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, FortSt. John, Terrace, Bella Bella, Powell River, Sechelt, Squamish, Whistler, Lil'wat, Merritt, Fraser Valley, Lower Mainland and others.
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- please forward widely -
RESIST THE 2010 OLYMPIC GAMES!
Communique by Olympics Resistance Network
November 2009
- The 2010 Winter Olympics, taking place on unceded Indigenous land, are only three short months away. This city is becoming a militarized zone, attacks on the poor are continuing with the proposed Assistance to Shelter Act, draconian bylaws are suppressing basic freedom of speech, and public funds continue to bailout Olympic projects and corporate sponsors while workers are being forced with back-to-work legislation. If you hate the Olympics for all those reasons and more, we encourage you to get involved!
===> GET INVOLVED <===
1) Sign-up for our low-traffic list (1-2 emails per week) to stay updated on upcoming events, meetings, and actions. Please emailolympicresistance@riseup.net and ask to be added to our announcement list.
2) Check out http://www.no2010.com/ for your daily dose of Olympic related news.
3) Host an anti-Olympic educational on your campus or at your next conference. Or invite a speaker to your next meeting to discuss what your group can do. We are able to provide educational materials including films, speakers, as well as resistance art, tshirts, comics, buttons, stickers and more!
4) Get involved in the Olympic Resistance Network or other anti-Olympic groups in your neighbourhood or campus. The ORN has regular General Meetings on alternating Sundays as well as many committees and projects you can get involved in such as Outreach, Alternative Media, Legal Support, Youth Resistance, and more.
5) If you are located outside the Lower Mainland and are interested in or already are organizing against the Olympics, we strongly encourage you to get in touch (olympicresistance@riseup.net ) with your location and basic public contact information (email/phone). We get lots of requests from people looking to connect with other Olympic dissidents in their town/community especially to take action against the Torch.
6) All out for for the Feb 10-15 Anti-Olympic Convergence! Building on the call by Indigenous defenders at the Indigenous Peoples Gathering in Senora, Mexico in October 2007, we will be working to coordinate the logistics to host an anti-Olympic convergence. The basic plan thus far is a Conference and People's Summit on Feb 10-11, a large family-friendly public mobilization on Feb 12, and autonomous days of action on Feb 13 and Feb 15. On Feb 14th, we will be standing with the 19th Annual Women's Memorial March to honour all the missing and murdered and women in the DTES (this is not an anti-Olympic protest).
===> CONTACT INFORMATION <===
Email: olympicresistance@riseup.net
==> ABOUT US <===
Far from being simply about ‘sport’, the history of the Olympics is one rooted in displacement, corporate greed, fascism, repression, and violence. Only the political and corporate elite – from real estate developers to Olympic sponsors - have anything to gain from the Olympics industry. The negative effects of the upcoming Winter Games are clear: expansion of sport tourism and resource extraction on unceded Indigenous lands; homelessness and gentrification of poor neighborhoods; increasing privatization of public services; union busting through imposed contracts and exploitative conditions for migrant labour; a ballooning $1 billion security apparatus with an attack on basic civil liberties; misdirected $7 billion public spending and public debt; and unprecedented destruction of the environment.
In light of this, the Olympic Resistance Network 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, housing rights, environmental justice, anti-war, civil libertarians, and anti colonial activists to come together to confront this two-week circus and the oppression it represents. We look forward to working together across our diverse experiences and movements, while sharing a common understanding including an anti-colonial and anti-capitalist analysis; respect for diversity of tactics and strategies; an anti-oppression understanding and solidarity with those most directly affected; and organizational philosophy based on decentralization and autonomy within a coordinated and accountable structure. We support the international resolution passed by over 1500 Indigenous delegates at the Intercontinental Indigenous Peoples Gathering in Sonora, Mexico to “boycott the 2010 Olympic Games” based on Resolution #2 of the Gathering which states “We reject the 2010 Winter Olympics on sacred and stolen territory of Turtle Island–Vancouver, Canada”. Based on this, we are working towards a global anti-capitalist and anti-colonial convergence from February 10th-15th 2010, while undertaking additional actions and educational efforts on an ongoing basis.
No Olympics on Stolen Native Land!
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2010 Vancouver Olympics Integrated Security Unit Pays Me A Visit
Around 4 weeks ago, two copes named Cst. Kirk Rattray and Intellegence Investigator Jordan McLellan visited my home on the reserve. The “Integrated Security Unit” (ISU) is led by the RCMP and consists of members of the RCMP, Vancouver Police Department, West Vancouver Police Department and the Canadian Forces. They have been approaching activists and critics of the 2010 Winter Olympics for over a year in Vancouver and around Canada. They approach individuals they are monitoring for dissenting activity during the games to “assess any threats”. I will state that in March 2009, I became aware that I had already been “Blacklisted” from the 2010 Winter Olympics Opening Ceremonies.I also around the same time noticed RCMP were visiting my website by checking the ISP (Internet Service Protocals) from my blog stats. Basically, I knew they were monitoring me.
Over the past few years, I attended various rallies, protest, and events in resistance to the 2010 Olympics. My lack of participation in these events has nothing to do with a change of political positions, but are-alignment with priorities. I also acknowledge that the 2010 Winter Olympics are coming (obviously!), and that no group will completely stop the 2010 Olympics from coming. The dissent and resistance the 2010 Olympics is also quite diverse in it’s causes and rationale, despite what the mainstream media will portray it as. Of course they would portray the dissenters as hooligans and crazies; they are Olympics sponsors in the end. My dissent mostly remained in my rhetoric both on and off this blog. For a short time when I was 13, prior to Vancouver winning the bid, I was in favor of the Olympics coming. At the same time, I was really hesitant to support it. I remember that I wanted to do a poll on how many youth wanted the 2010 Olympics to come. It never happened (how the hell is a 13 year old supposed to do that anyways?), but I am quite fond of the fact at that age I was still critical.
Four weeks ago these two Cops payed a visit to ask me questions about my invovment with resistance to the 2010 Olympics. They questioned me on my involvment with the Native Youth Movement, the Warriors Societies, and any other activist groups. In the beginning of the conversation, they gave me a braid of sweetgrass as some kind of cultural gesture… I would assume? (Wrong culture there guys!) I should of asked them, “What do I do with this?” The one question they persistently hounded was, “If you knew of any persons who would get hurt because of activist activity, would you help us and inform us to prevent anyone from getting hurt?” I never answered the question, although later I realized I should of responded with my own backhanded comment of “What if I see persons getting hurt because of cop activity, do I help and inform you to prevent these people from getting hurt?”
They also asked questions around my intentions, how I feel about the Four Host First Nations, and the 2010 Olympics in general. I made a comment that, “The Band Counils who participate in the Four Host First Nations are only colonial-puppet government that owe it’s responsibility and loyalties to the Indian Act, and not our own people. I see those governments as illegitimate and imposed. They are colonization”.
They responded with trying to explain to me how “The Indian Act is a good thing” because it “gives natives in Canada their Indian Status” and without the Indian Act “Natives wouldn’t be Indian.” Ignorant and racist logic. Nothing new for me. I will state that my intentions and activity during the 2010 Winter Olympics are not even known to me at this point. The Olympics should never have been supported by my community, and future generations will have to fix the damage it has caused. It’s supported and endorsed the corruption and farce of the Squamish Nation, and has only allowed a few to prosper and benefit from it. It will leave little legacy for future generations, except rising housing costs, more population and Urban sprawl, expansion and development of more of our territory, and the prostitution and exploitation of our culture and community. I wait for it to come and go because in the aftermath, the relationship between Indigenous peoples and Settler government will not have changed, the situation with Indigenous peoples in Canda will still be severe, and it will have made a few Indians into wealthy capitalists, furthering the consistent agenda of colonization and assimilation. Bring it on you dirty colonizers, I’m waiting for the Olympics to ge there already.
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"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:
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).
MAP at www.maps.ubc.ca/?412 .
For more info email alissawt@shaw.ca
- 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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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, VanAct 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 Women’s 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”*
***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 ResistanceNetwork-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 circus as 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 projectson 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’s Torch 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 “familyfriendly” 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, noise makers, 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
Contact for more info: No2010@peaceculture.org
For more info on the Olympics visit
No2010.com <http://www.no2010.com/>
OlympicResistance.net <http://www.olympicresistance.net/>
No2010Victoria.net <http://www.no2010victoria.com/>
Peaceculture.org <http://www.peaceculture.org/drupal/no2010>
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Expose the Olympic Circus!
Block the Olympic Torch!
- a massive street circus you don't want to miss - one!
Come All!
Pull out your brightest (and warmest) threads! Put on your shiniest (and fastest) shoes and wheels! Expose the Olympic Circus! Block the Olympic Torch!- a massive street circus you don't want to miss
- 17 December 2009
4:00pm
South East Corner of Yonge and Dundas
Time and location may change.
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! ClimateJustice! Income Equality! Dress up as your favourite rejected Olympics mascot Sassy the Stolen Ceremony, Bitie the BedBug, Dean the Deforester, Gary the Green Washer. Bring music, food and friends.
Are you an organizer? An amazing planner? Have a flair for crafts? COME to the planning meets and prop making days. Details follow
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 HEAR from members from the Native Youth Movement (Coast Salish Territories) on December 5, 7:00pm,
95 Charles Street West!
More on the Olympics:
Planning Meetings:
3 & 10 Dec, 6pm,
252 Bloor West
Costume/Prop/Silk Screening/Banner Parties:
Dec 7 (4-8pm);
Dec 8 (5-9pm);
Dec 13 (2-6pm).
100 Devonshire Place.
– email torchblock@gmail.com
Organized by the Toronto Extinguish the Torch Committee
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[Please post and forward widely]
[français ci-dessous ou: http://www.amp-montreal.net/?q=fr/node/36 ] [Veuillez diffusez largement]
NO OLYMPICS ON STOLEN NATIVE LAND!
EXTINGUISH THE OLYMPIC FLAME!
Upcoming Montreal Events:
-> SATURDAY, DECEMBER 5, 5pm
Art Auction: Creative resistance against the 2010 Olympics Party begins at 5pm, auction from 7pm-10pm 3942 Ste. Emilie, corner/coin St. Augustin
Presented by the Ste-Emilie Skillshare
-> SUNDAY, DECEMBER 6, 6:30pm
No Olympics on Stolen Land Panel and Film Night Featuring Indigenous speakers from the interior of “British Columbia” Films about Defenders of the Land and the Native Youth Movement
de Sève Cinema, 1400 de Maisonneuve Ouest (metro Guy-Concordia)
Presented by the Indigenous Solidarity Committee and No One Is Illegal-Montreal
More details below …
-> WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 9, 6:30pm
Movie and Discussion Night: Resistance from Vancouver to Montreal
Includes excerpts from “Five Ring Circus” and other films
3600 University Avenue, room 112 (metro McGill)
Presented by the Ste- Emilie Skillshare and Q-Team.
All culminating with:
PROTEST AGAINST THE OLYMPIC TORCH RELAY IN MONTREAL
-> THURSDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2009, please arrive at 5:30pm (sharp)
Corner of Notre-Dame est and Place Jacques Cartier, between St-Laurent & Gosford, métros Champ-de-mars or Place d’armes
Bring your noisemakers!!!
More details below …
---------- [More details about December 6 Panel and Film Night and December 10Protest ...] SUNDAY, DECEMBER 6, 6:30pm Panel and Film Night: No Olympics on Stolen Native Land!Featuring Indigenous speakers from “British Columbia” de Sève Cinema, 1400 de Maisonneuve Ouest (metro Guy-Concordia) FREE. Wheelchair accessible. Join us as we hear directly from Indigenous activists and organizers involved in the defense of their cultures and lands, and in resistance to the Olympics on unceded native territory.
Speakers include:-> MIRANDA DICK: Miranda is a mother of 5, a part of the Secwepemc Women’s Council, and a Warrior for the Land and People. The Secwepemc people from the interior of “British Columbia” have resisted the Sun Peak’s ski resort on their territory.
-> BILLIE PIERRE: Billie is from the Nlaka'Pamux and Ojibwae nations. She has been involved with both the Native Youth Movement and co-founded Redwire Magazine and is active with land and human rights campaigns.
-> We will also hear from Guillaume B who has been active with the Olympics Resistance Network. The evening will also include short films from Defenders of the Land, as well as the Native Youth Movement (NYM).
Organized by the Indigenous Solidarity Committee and No One Is Illegal-Montreal.
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THURSDAY, DECEMBER 10, 5:30pm (sharp!)
Protest the Olympic Torch Relay in Montreal
Corner of Notre-Dame est and Place Jacques Cartier, between St-Laurent & Gosford, métros Champ-de-mars or Place d’armes
Bring your noisemakers!!!
We encourage everyone to meet by no later than 5:30pm so that we can effectively protest the arrival of the torch in front of Montreal’s City Hall. Latercomers are welcome, but we strongly encourage everyone to make the effort to arrive no later than 5:30pm. December 10 also marks the day that Sun Peaks Resort demolished two sweatlodges, with the complicity of the RCMP. The sweatlodges were considered sacred to the Secwepemc people of the interior of "British Columbia", and have been replaced by ski trails.
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BACKGROUND:
Just months away from the beginning of the Olympics spectacle in Vancouver/Whistler in February 2010, and just days away from the arrival of the Coca-Cola/RBC Olympic Torch Relay in Montreal on THURSDAY, DECEMBER 10, local indigenous solidarity and social justice organizers are lending their support to the calls by the Olympics Resistance Network for protests and disruptions of the Olympic Torch Relay. We highlight our support for Indigenous-led resistance in “British Columbia” to the Olympics. Our Indigenous allies have built an awareness and resistance campaign against the upcoming Vancouver/Whistler Olympics, and we stand in solidarity with their call for “No Olympics on Stolen Native Land.” We also highlight the other negative effects of the Olympics industry, as summarized by the Olympics Resistance Network in Vancouver:
“Far from being simply about ‘sport’, the history of the Olympics is one rooted in displacement, corporate greed, fascism, repression, and violence. Only the political and corporate elite – from real estate developers to Olympic sponsors - have anything to gain from the Olympics industry. The negative effects of the upcoming Winter Games are clear: expansion of sport tourism and resource extraction on unceded Indigenous lands; homelessness and gentrification of poor neighborhoods; increasing privatization of public services; union busting through imposed contracts and exploitative conditions for migrant labour; a ballooning $1 billion security apparatus with an attack on basic civil liberties; misdirected $7 billion public spending and public debt; and unprecedented destruction of the environment.”
-----
WHY ORGANIZE AGAINST THE TORCH?
[From the Olympics Resistance Network]
The Olympic torch is a propaganda tool that promotes gentrification, repression and environmental destruction. The origins of the Torch Relaylie 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.
-----
Ironically, the Olympic torches themselves are manufactured by Quebec company Bombardier, whose aerospace section is heavily implicated in the Canada-Quebec military-industrial complex. We encourage you to join us in large numbers in Montreal at our “No Olympics on Stolen Native Land” Protest against the RBC/Coca-Cola Olympic Torch Relay on December 10, and to get informed at the events organized earlier. The various events against the Olympic Torch Relay in Montreal are organized by members of the Indigenous Solidarity Committee of thePeople’s Global Action Bloc, Reclaim!, Ste-Emilie Skillshare, No One Is Illegal-Montreal, Q-Team and others.
INFO:
Montreal: blocampmontreal@gmail.com
- 514-848-7583
For more information about anti-Olympics organizing:
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
ÉTEIGNONS LA FLAMME OLYMPIQUE!
PAS DE JEUX SUR DES TERRES VOLÉES!
Événements à venir (Montréal):
-> Le SAMEDI
5 décembre, 17h
Enchère d’art : Résistance créative aux Olympiques 2010 La fête commence à 17h, l’enchère aura lieu de 19 h à 22 h Au 3942 rue Sainte-Émilie, coin Saint-Augustin
Organisée par Ste-Emilie Skillshare
-> Le DIMANCHE
6 décembre, 18h30
Table-ronde et projection de films sur le thème « Pas de jeux sur desterres volées »
Avec des conférencières autochtones de l’intérieur de la «Colombie-Britannique » et des films sur le mouvement des Défenseurs de la Terre et le Native Youth Movement.
Au Cinéma De Sève, 1400 de Maisonneuve ouest (métro Guy-Concordia)
Organisé par Indigenous Solidarity Committee et Personne n’est Illégal –Montréal. Plus de détails ci-dessous…
-> Le MERCREDI
9 décembre, 18h30
Soirée film et discussion : La résistances de Vancouver à Montréal
Avec des extraits du film « Five Ring Circus » et d’autres films.
Au 3600 University, salle 112 (métro McGill)
Organisé par Ste-Emilie Skillshare et Q-Team
Et pour finir en beauté :
MANIFESTATION CONTRE LE RELAIS DE LA FLAMME OLYMPIQUE À MONTRÉAL
-> Le JEUDI 10 décembre 2009, 17h30 pile (SVP soyez à l’heure!)
Au coin de la rue Notre-Dame est et de la Place Jacques-Cartier (entre les rues Saint-Laurent et Gosford, métros Champs-de-Mars ou Place D’Armes)
Apportez ce qu’il faut pour FAIRE DU BRUIT!!!!
Plus de détails ci-dessous…
----------
Le DIMANCHE 6 décembre, 18h30
Table-ronde et projection de films sur le thème « Pas de jeux sur desterres volées »
Avec des conférencières autochtones de l’intérieur de la «Colombie-Britannique ».
Au Cinéma De Sève, 1400 de Maisonneuve ouest (métro Guy-Concordia)
GRATUIT.
Accessible aux fauteuils roulants. Traduction chuchotée de français vers l'anglais. Venez écouter en personne des activistes et organisatrices autochtones engagées dans la défense de leur culture et de leurs territoires, ainsique dans la résistance aux Jeux olympiques tenus sur des terres non cédées. Les conférencières seront :
-> MIRANDA DICK : Miranda est mère de cinq enfants, fait partie du Conseildes femmes de Secwepemc et est une Guerrière pour la Terre et le Peuple. Les Secwepemc de l’intérieur de la « Colombie-Britannique » ont résisté àl’essor de la station balnéaire Sun Peaks sur leur territoire.-> BILLIE PIERRE : Billie appartient aux nations Nlaka’Pamux et Ojibwae. Elle est impliquée dans le Native Youth Network et est co-fondatrice du magazine Redwire. Elle est également active dans diverses campagnes pourla défense du territoire et des droits de la personne.
-> GUILLAUME B. : Membre du Réseau de résistance aux olympiques à Vancouver. Cet événement comportera également la projection de courts métrages des Défenseurs de la Terre et du Native Youth Movement (NYM).
Présenté par le Indigenous Solidarity Committee et Personne n’est Illégal- Montréal
----------
Le JEUDI 10 décembre, 17h30 (pile!)
Manifestons contre le passage de la flamme olympique à Montréal
Au coin de la rue Notre-Dame est et de la Place Jacques-Cartier,Entre Saint-Laurent et Gosford (métros Champs-de-Mars ou Place D’Armes)
!! APPORTEZ DE QUOI FAIRE DU BRUIT !!
Nous encourageons tout le monde à arriver au plus tard à 17 h 30 afin que nous puissions efficacement « accueillir » l’arrivée de la flamme olympique devant l’Hôtel de ville. Les retardataires sont bienvenues, mais nous encourageons fortement tout le monde à faire des efforts pour arriverau plus tard à 17 h 30. Le 10 décembre marque également le triste anniversaire de la démolition de deux sweat lodges, avec la complicité du GRC, par la Station balnéaire Sun Peaks, qui les a remplacés par des pistes de ski. Les sweat lodges sont considérés comme sacrés par les Secwepemc de l’intérieur de la «Colombie-Britannique ».
----------
Contexte : À peine quelques mois avant le début des Jeux olympiques d’hiver àVancouver/Whistler, en février prochain, et à quelques jours du passage du relais de la flamme olympique (commanditée par Coca-Cola et la Banque Royale du Canada) à Montréal, le JEUDI 10 DÉCEMBRE, des activistes de solidarité avec les peuples autochtones et des militantes pour la justice sociale répondront à l’appel lancé par le Réseau de résistance aux Olympiques en manifestant contre le Relais de la flamme. Nous soulignons particulièrement notre appui à la résistance autochtonecontre les Olympiques en « Colombie-Britannique ».
Nos alliées Autochtonesont bâti une campagne de sensibilisation et de résistance contre les prochains Jeux olympiques d’hiver à Vancouver/Whislter, et nous manifestons notre solidarité avec leur appel, sous la bannière « Pas de Jeux sur des terres volées! »
Nous dénonçons également tous les autres impacts négatifs de l’industrie olympique, ainsi résumés par le Réseau de résistance aux Olympiques à Vancouver : « Les Jeux ne sont pas qu’une innocente manifestation de la «noblesse du sport » : l’histoire des Jeux olympiques est complètement entachée par les déplacements forcés, l’avarice des entreprises, le fascisme, la répression et la violence. Seules les élites politiques etéconomiques (des promoteurs immobiliers aux commanditaires officiels) arrivent à tirer profit de l’industrie olympique. Les conséquences négatives des prochains Jeux olympiques d’hiver sont annoncées d’avance: l’expansion du tourisme sportif et de l’extraction des ressources sur des territoires autochtones non cédés; l’explosion de l’itinérance et del’embourgeoisement des quartiers pauvres; la privatisation des services publics ; des pratiques anti-syndicales, des contrats imposés et des conditions d’exploitation pour la main d’œuvre migrante ; un appareil desécurité coûtant au minimum 1 milliard de dollars, doublé d’une attaquevicieuse contre les libertés civiles fondamentales ; 6 milliards de dollars tirés directement des fonds publics; une destruction sans précédent de l’environnement ».
-----
POURQUOI NOUS ORGANISONS CONTRE LE RELAIS DE LA FLAMME OLYMPIQUE
(Tiré du Réseau de résistance aux Olympiques)
La Flamme olympique est un instrument de propagande servant à promouvoir l’embourgeoisement, la répression et la destruction environnementale. L’origine du relais de la Flamme olympique est peu glorieux : c’est à Berlin, lors des Jeux d’été de 1936, que le relais a été inventé pour répandre l’idéologie fasciste des Nazis et promouvoir le Troisième Reich. (Voir l’article du Globe and Mail reproduit ici :http://no2010.com/node/1113)
Le Relais de la Flamme olympique est un truc publicitaire de 25 millions $ servant à dorer l’image de la « Marque olympique » et celles de ses commanditaires principaux. La Banque Royale du Canada et Coca-Cola sontles principaux sponsors du Relais de la Flamme olympique en 2010. RBC est le plus important bailleur de fonds de la dévastatrice exploitation des sables bitumineux en Alberta, alors que Coca-Cola est responsable de la dégradation générale de la santé publique, de par sa place prépondérante dans l’industrie de la malbouffe, est coupable de l’épuisement de sources d’eau potable et de catastrophes environnementales en Inde, et est de connivence avec des groupes paramilitaires violents engagés pour réprimer l’activité syndicale dans ses usines en Colombie.
----- Ironiquement, les flambeaux olympiques ont été conçus et fabriqués par la firme québécoise Bombardier, dont la branche aérospatiale est impliquée dans le complexe militaro-industriel québécois/canadien. Nous vous encourageons à participer à la manifestation « Pas de Jeux surdes terres volées » à Montréal, contre le relais de la Flamme olympique,c ommanditée par Coca-Cola et la Banque Royale du Canada, le 10 décembre prochain, et à vous renseigner sur les autres événements organisés plustôt.
Les événements contre le relais de la Flamme olympique à Montréal sont organisés par des membres du Indigenous Solidarity Committee et du BlocAMP – Montréal (Action mondiale des Peuples), Reclaim!, Ste-Emilie Skillshare, Personne n’est Illégal – Montréal, Q-Team et plusieurs autres groupes.
Renseignements :
Montréal: blocampmontreal@gmail.com - 514-848-7583- http://www.amp-montreal.net/
Pour plus d’information sur l’organisation et la résistance aux Olympiquesde 2010: http://www.no2010.com/ - http://olympicresistance.net/
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Anti Olympic Events in Portland
==> December 10th
*3-5pm**
MT. Hood Community CollegeVisual Arts Center
26000 SE Stark St.
Gresham, OR
97030
*6pm*
Reed College
Blue Heron Infoshop
3203 SE Woodstock BLVD
Portland OR
97202
==> 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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Winnipeg
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:http://www.dominionpaper.ca/articles/2945
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What's Wrong with the Olympics?
Hamilton Freeskool Movie Night:
Five Ring Circus
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
7:00pm - 10:00pm
Skydragon
27 King William St
Hamilton, ON
In solidarity with those feeling the effects of the Vancouver 2010 a little more closely on the other side of the country, Hamilton FreeSkool and Common Cause Hamilton present the documentary "Five Ring Circus", examining the environmental, social and political impacts of the winter games. With the torch relay scheduled to barge its way through Hamilton on the 19th, the discussion will include what is taking place locally to resist the environmental destruction, gentrification, and colonization this year's Olympics represent.
Everyone welcome!
Free event!
The screening will be on December 9th at 7pm at the Skydragon Centre (27King William St).
For more information about the Olympics, check out:
For more information about Common Cause, check out:
