Wednesday, October 06, 2010
ANARCHIST MUSIC VANCOUVER:
ANNE FEENEY BENEFIT CONCERT RESCHEDULED:
Hey folks if you're out Vancouver way this weekend try and check out anarchist musician Joey Only's benefit concert for singer Anne Feeney. Here's Joey's empathic appeal.
♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪
Anne Feeney Fundraiser Date Changed=October 9th
DATE CHANGED FOR MY ANNE FEENEY FUNDRAISER!!!!
Anne Feeney Fundraiser Date Changed=October 9th
DATE CHANGED FOR MY ANNE FEENEY FUNDRAISER!!!!
TO HELP COVER HER CANCEROUS CANCER BILLS!!
NOW SATURDAY OCTOBER 9th AT CAFE RHIZOMENEAR MAIN STREET AND BROADWAY IN VANCOUVER
8:30PM, $5-25 donation, for Anne Feeney
with Jeff Andrew, Joey Only and comrades
Howdy friends...many of you know my good friend and folk singer from Pittsburgh Painsylvania known as Anne Feeney. You ought to know her, she's been croonin songs for more than 35 years and doing it for the working class. She and I traveled around last year touring after being friends for much of the last decade and she'd never miss a chance to stop at a picket line for striking workers and sing em some songs to cheer em up...
...it was as dreary as an April hell could be when we stopped into that rainy picket outside the big steel mill in Hamilton Ontario where she lit faces up with songs against the goons and ginks and company finks. Those guys had been wanderin around in circles for weeks striking while the big bosses sez the economy's no good anymore so all these guys have to get fired so that rich pigs can stay rich pigs
...in all that time only Anne and I came to sing em some good old fashioned fighting songs and they sure did like it. Even fed us afterward. Lately she fell ill with some cancer, a big tumor in her lung nearly half a foot big? Imagine having half a cancerous foot in your lung? Down in Pittsburgh the system doesn't care if you can afford to live or not, so it's up to me and my friends to raise a few bucks to ease the burden on her lungs, brains and hearts because Obama won't do it for her. Hell, when I was sick with tuberculosis and dying she went out of her way for me
...so I would be an ungrateful bastard if I didn't do something back. All her beautiful curly Irish hair fell out and she looks sorta funny now, which is all the more reason to have pity on her and send her some money so she can pay her hospital bills or at least buy a wig...or a hat. And you know, us Irish folk are like Samson..when we're sober all our power comes from our hair!
So the date has changed from the 8th to the 9th...or maybe it didn't change and I was just wrong all a long. At any rate, I hope that wouldn't hold you back from coming out to the cafe, having some soup or beer or beer-soup and having a good old time with us there. And if we can send Anne $5 or $500 it would be something she didn't have already
...I guess I mean to say I am hoping more than one person comes cause five bucks sucks when you're in the hole ten grand! How bout it friends...let's party like it's 1999. If you want to know more about my radical folk singing comrade Anne Feeney, who Utah Philips once called the greatest labor singer in North America...go to her website and lookie for yourself. (www.annefeeney.com ). She's one of those IWW (Industrial Workers of the World types..she gave everything to everyone else and has nothing left for herself. Anyway, there's no room for sectarian crap at this event..just room to sing a few Feeney songs and have a good old time...and if you don't have any plans and you don't like hockey but decide not to come anyway, you must be a heartless capitalist pig, why else would you sit at home doing nothing but facebookin people who don't even care about you
...come out and see some real people instead. till then my friends
...joeyonly
---
DR.JOEY ONLY
---
NEW ALBUM: TRANSGRESSION TRAIL available through Scratch Records. (http://radio3.cbc.ca/bands/Joey-Only-Outlaw-Band )(www.myspace.com/xjoeyonlyx )(www.reverbnation.com/xjoeyonlyx )(http://www.imradio.com/xjoeyonlyx )(http://twitter.com/joeyonly )
DAILY BLOG: www.joeyonly.wordpress.com www.JOEYONLY.com
Labels: anarchist music, Anne Feeney, concerts, events, Joey Only, music, Vancouver
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
CANADIAN POLITICS BURNABY:
MAKE NOISE TO RELEASE THE TAMILS:
Across the world, from Argentina to Bulgaria, from Italy to India and all points in between, demonstrators have used the "pot banging" as a novel way of making their point. It will be the same this coming Sunday as demonstrators gather in front of the Burnaby Youth Custody Services (?) Centre to demand the release of the Tamil boat people imprisoned there. Here's the notice from No One Is Illegal.
TITITITITI
Noise Demo to Release Detained Tamil Refugees
Time September 19 · 1:30pm - 6:30pm
-----------------------------
Location Burnaby Youth Custody Services Centre where mothers and children who arrived aboard MV Sun Sea are being detained.
7900 Fraser Park Dr, Burnaby
Burnaby, BC
----------------------------
Created By No One Is Illegal - Vancouver, Coast Salish Territories
---------------------------
More
Noise Demo to Release Detained Tamil Refugees
Time September 19 · 1:30pm - 6:30pm
-----------------------------
Location Burnaby Youth Custody Services Centre where mothers and children who arrived aboard MV Sun Sea are being detained.
7900 Fraser Park Dr, Burnaby
Burnaby, BC
----------------------------
Created By No One Is Illegal - Vancouver, Coast Salish Territories
---------------------------
More
Info Release Detained Tamil Refugees:
Let Them Free, Let Them Stay!
Sunday Sept 19 at 1:30 pm
Shuttles Leaving Edmonds station starting at 12:45 until 1:15
...
Last week over 100 people gathered in front of the Burnaby Youth Custody
prison where approximately 90 Tamil refugee mothers and children are being
incarcerated. Locked out of the facility, for over two hours supporters
banged on pots and pans to the beats of Tamil music. A large Tamil banner
reading "We welcome you, we support you" was held towards the two
detention units where children could be seen waving and smiling, peering
through prison bars.
Join No One is Illegal-Vancouver again this week at the Burnaby detention
facility to continue to express our love, support, and solidarity with
those still being held inside and to call for the immediate release of
detained Tamil asylum seekers.
<><><><><><><><><>
Let Them Free, Let Them Stay!
Sunday Sept 19 at 1:30 pm
Shuttles Leaving Edmonds station starting at 12:45 until 1:15
...
Last week over 100 people gathered in front of the Burnaby Youth Custody
prison where approximately 90 Tamil refugee mothers and children are being
incarcerated. Locked out of the facility, for over two hours supporters
banged on pots and pans to the beats of Tamil music. A large Tamil banner
reading "We welcome you, we support you" was held towards the two
detention units where children could be seen waving and smiling, peering
through prison bars.
Join No One is Illegal-Vancouver again this week at the Burnaby detention
facility to continue to express our love, support, and solidarity with
those still being held inside and to call for the immediate release of
detained Tamil asylum seekers.
<><><><><><><><><>
Sunday Sept 19 at 1:30 pm
Burnaby Youth Custody Services Centre where mothers and children who
arrived aboard MV Sun Sea are being detained.
LOCATION: 7900 Fraser Park Dr, Burnaby
Shuttles Leaving Edmonds station starting at 12:45 until 1:15
<><><><><><><><><>
* Bring noise! We want to be visible and be heard from inside so please
bring pots, pans, horns, drums, noisemakers (please be aware of noises
which may be triggering or traumatizing)
* TRANSPORT:
1) Meeting at Edmonds skytrain station at 12:45pm. Shuttles Leaving
Edmonds station starting at 12:45 until 1:15. If you have a vehicle and
can offer carpool, please contact us at noii-van at resist.ca or 778 885
0040.
2) Public transit is not very accessible, but if you are taking it, then
take the #116 from Edmonds station.
Surviving a dangerous journey, 492 Tamil refugees, including women and
children, arrived in BC after fleeing war and persecution in Sri Lanka.
When the ship first neared Esquimault, territories of the Songhees First
Nation, it was immediately boarded by the Armed Forces, Border Services,
and RCMP. The refugees are now in jails, facing endless hearings that have
revealed the clear incompetency, deliberate negligence, and racism of the
system.
In the context of the never-ending "War on Terror" refugees, migrants, and
racialized people are increasingly being racially targeted, dehumanized as
security threats, and criminalized through unprecedented police and state
powers. Despite its rhetoric of 'liberating' and 'protecting' women
globally and locally, the Canadian state is detaining an increasing
numbers of women and children that cross these borders. In light of
increasing repression and exclusionary policies and ideologies, we demand
"Justice, Freedom, and Status for All!"
www.nooneisillegal.org
Burnaby Youth Custody Services Centre where mothers and children who
arrived aboard MV Sun Sea are being detained.
LOCATION: 7900 Fraser Park Dr, Burnaby
Shuttles Leaving Edmonds station starting at 12:45 until 1:15
<><><><><><><><><>
* Bring noise! We want to be visible and be heard from inside so please
bring pots, pans, horns, drums, noisemakers (please be aware of noises
which may be triggering or traumatizing)
* TRANSPORT:
1) Meeting at Edmonds skytrain station at 12:45pm. Shuttles Leaving
Edmonds station starting at 12:45 until 1:15. If you have a vehicle and
can offer carpool, please contact us at noii-van at resist.ca or 778 885
0040.
2) Public transit is not very accessible, but if you are taking it, then
take the #116 from Edmonds station.
Surviving a dangerous journey, 492 Tamil refugees, including women and
children, arrived in BC after fleeing war and persecution in Sri Lanka.
When the ship first neared Esquimault, territories of the Songhees First
Nation, it was immediately boarded by the Armed Forces, Border Services,
and RCMP. The refugees are now in jails, facing endless hearings that have
revealed the clear incompetency, deliberate negligence, and racism of the
system.
In the context of the never-ending "War on Terror" refugees, migrants, and
racialized people are increasingly being racially targeted, dehumanized as
security threats, and criminalized through unprecedented police and state
powers. Despite its rhetoric of 'liberating' and 'protecting' women
globally and locally, the Canadian state is detaining an increasing
numbers of women and children that cross these borders. In light of
increasing repression and exclusionary policies and ideologies, we demand
"Justice, Freedom, and Status for All!"
www.nooneisillegal.org
Labels: Burnaby, Canadian politics, demonstrations, immigrants, No One is Illegal, No One is Illegal-Vancouver, protests, tamil refugees, Vancouver
Monday, September 06, 2010
CANADIAN POLITICS VANCOUVER:
SEPT. 11 RALLY FOR DETAINED TAMILS:
It is approaching a month now since a boat full of Tamil refugees en route to Canada was intercepted and its occupants detained. This coming Saturday, September 11, there will be a rally outside the jail where they are being held. Here's the story from No One Is Illegal.
TRTRTRTRTR
Sep 11 Release Detained Tamil Refugees:
Updated on web: http://noii-van.resist.ca/?p=2336
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=149354218418109
Release Detained Tamil Refugees:
Let Them Free, Let Them Stay!
For almost one month now, 492 Tamil refugees have been detained by
Canadian authorities. Families have been separated, and women and children - including young children - are being incarcerated in Burnaby. Join No One is Illegal-Vancouver at the Burnaby detention facility to express our love, support, and solidarity to those being held inside and to call for the immediate release of detained Tamil asylum seekers.
<><><><><><><><>
Saturday Sept 11 at 1:30 pm
Burnaby Youth Custody Services Centre where mothers and children who
arrived aboard MV Sun Sea are being detained.
LOCATION: 7900 Fraser Park Dr, Burnaby
<><><><><><><><>
* Bring noise! We want to be visible and be heard from inside so please
bring pots, pans, horns, drums, noisemakers (please be aware of noises
which may be triggering or traumatizing)
* TRANSPORT:
1) Commercial and Broadway Safeway Parking Lot at 1 pm. Rides provided. If
you have a vehicle and can offer carpool, please please please do contact
us at noii-van@resist.ca or 778 885 0040.
2) Public transit is not very accessible, but if you are taking it, then
take the #116 from Edmonds station.
-----------------------
Surviving a dangerous journey, 492 Tamil refugees, including women and
children, arrived in BC after fleeing war and persecution in Sri Lanka.
When the ship first neared Esquimault, territories of the Songhees First
Nation, it was immediately boarded by the Armed Forces, Border Services,
and RCMP. The refugees are now in jails, facing endless hearings that have
revealed the clear incompetency, deliberate negligence, and racism of the
system.
In the context of the never-ending "War on Terror" refugees, migrants, and
racialized people are increasingly being racially targeted, dehumanized as
security threats, and criminalized through unprecedented police and state
powers. Despite its rhetoric of 'liberating' and 'protecting' women
globally and locally, the Canadian state is detaining an increasing
numbers of women and children that cross these borders. In light of
increasing repression and exclusionary policies and ideologies, we demand
"Justice, Freedom, and Status for All!"
www.nooneisillegal.org
Sep 11 Release Detained Tamil Refugees:
Updated on web: http://noii-van.resist.ca/?p=2336
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=149354218418109
Release Detained Tamil Refugees:
Let Them Free, Let Them Stay!
For almost one month now, 492 Tamil refugees have been detained by
Canadian authorities. Families have been separated, and women and children - including young children - are being incarcerated in Burnaby. Join No One is Illegal-Vancouver at the Burnaby detention facility to express our love, support, and solidarity to those being held inside and to call for the immediate release of detained Tamil asylum seekers.
<><><><><><><><>
Saturday Sept 11 at 1:30 pm
Burnaby Youth Custody Services Centre where mothers and children who
arrived aboard MV Sun Sea are being detained.
LOCATION: 7900 Fraser Park Dr, Burnaby
<><><><><><><><>
* Bring noise! We want to be visible and be heard from inside so please
bring pots, pans, horns, drums, noisemakers (please be aware of noises
which may be triggering or traumatizing)
* TRANSPORT:
1) Commercial and Broadway Safeway Parking Lot at 1 pm. Rides provided. If
you have a vehicle and can offer carpool, please please please do contact
us at noii-van@resist.ca or 778 885 0040.
2) Public transit is not very accessible, but if you are taking it, then
take the #116 from Edmonds station.
-----------------------
Surviving a dangerous journey, 492 Tamil refugees, including women and
children, arrived in BC after fleeing war and persecution in Sri Lanka.
When the ship first neared Esquimault, territories of the Songhees First
Nation, it was immediately boarded by the Armed Forces, Border Services,
and RCMP. The refugees are now in jails, facing endless hearings that have
revealed the clear incompetency, deliberate negligence, and racism of the
system.
In the context of the never-ending "War on Terror" refugees, migrants, and
racialized people are increasingly being racially targeted, dehumanized as
security threats, and criminalized through unprecedented police and state
powers. Despite its rhetoric of 'liberating' and 'protecting' women
globally and locally, the Canadian state is detaining an increasing
numbers of women and children that cross these borders. In light of
increasing repression and exclusionary policies and ideologies, we demand
"Justice, Freedom, and Status for All!"
www.nooneisillegal.org
Labels: Canadian politics, immigrants, protests, rallies, tamil refugees, Vancouver
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
POLITICAL SPORT:
SOCCER WITH A DIFFERENCE:
There's the World Cup and then there's the 'Homeless World Cup'. The latter is soccer played by homeless people, street soccer if you will, and it has its own events designed to draw world attention to the plight of the homeless. This year the Homeless World Cup will be held in Rio De Janiero Brazil from Sept. 19 to 26. this alternative world Cup is sponsored by numerous organization worldwide, including the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE). The following announcement of a fundraiser on September 1 out in Vancouver comes from CUPE.
HSHSHSHSHS
Support Team Vancouver in the Homeless World Cup 2010
Aug 23, 2010 07:26 PM
Team Canada is holding a fundraiser on Wednesday, September 1 from 6:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. at Doolins Pub at Granville and Nelson in Vancouver. Tickets are $15 and include a burger and a beer. The event will feature special guests, a silent auction and live entertainment.
This is a benefit and send-off for Street Soccer Team Canada which is going to Rio De Janiero, Brazil on September 15 to represent us in the 64-nation Homeless World Cup. Players have recently been homeless, are homeless, or are at risk for homelessness.
Most of Team Canada’s players were originally recruited from shelters run by the Portland Hotel Society Community Services Society (PHS).
CUPE 15 and CUPE 1004 members work for both PHS and the Carnegie Community Centre and both locals are supporting the team financially and as volunteers.
For more information call Leo Cooper at (604) 831-8412.
Watch the ad promoting the series.
For more information, visit the Homeless World Cup website.
Support Team Vancouver in the Homeless World Cup 2010
Aug 23, 2010 07:26 PM
Team Canada is holding a fundraiser on Wednesday, September 1 from 6:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. at Doolins Pub at Granville and Nelson in Vancouver. Tickets are $15 and include a burger and a beer. The event will feature special guests, a silent auction and live entertainment.
This is a benefit and send-off for Street Soccer Team Canada which is going to Rio De Janiero, Brazil on September 15 to represent us in the 64-nation Homeless World Cup. Players have recently been homeless, are homeless, or are at risk for homelessness.
Most of Team Canada’s players were originally recruited from shelters run by the Portland Hotel Society Community Services Society (PHS).
CUPE 15 and CUPE 1004 members work for both PHS and the Carnegie Community Centre and both locals are supporting the team financially and as volunteers.
For more information call Leo Cooper at (604) 831-8412.
Watch the ad promoting the series.
For more information, visit the Homeless World Cup website.
Labels: Canadian labour, CUPE, events, Homeless World Cup, homelessness, poverty, soccer, sports, Vancouver
Saturday, August 21, 2010
CANADIAN POLITICS:
RALLIES IN SUPPORT OF TAMIL REFUGEES:
Beginning today and into next week there will be a number of rallies across the country in support of the right of the recently arrived Tamil refugees on the west coast to stay in Canada. These are being organized by No One is Illegal. Here is the story from No One Is Illegal Vancouver.
NOIINOIINOII
Canada: Stop Jailing and Deporting Refugees, Let The Tamil Refugees Stay!
Time
Canada: Stop Jailing and Deporting Refugees, Let The Tamil Refugees Stay!
Time
August 21 at 3:30pm - August 26 at 6:00pm
-----------------------
Location Various cities and communities - check description for details
across Canada / Indigenous lands
-----------------------
Created By No One Is Illegal - Vancouver, Coast Salish Territories
----------------------
More Info
-----------------------
Location Various cities and communities - check description for details
across Canada / Indigenous lands
-----------------------
Created By No One Is Illegal - Vancouver, Coast Salish Territories
----------------------
More Info
CANADA: STOP JAILING AND DEPORTING REFUGEES, LET THEM STAY!
SUPPORT THE TAMIL MIGRANTS! SAY NO TO RACISM!
==> In VANCOUVER, Unceded Coast Salish Territories:
Saturday August 21 @ 3:30 pm
...Gather at Vancouver Art Gallery, Robson Side
* Download poster PDF http://bit.ly/aq9HWI or JPG: http://bit.ly/c0VN60
==> In UNSURRENDERED WET'SUWET'EN TERRITORY:
Saturday August 21
Solidarity with the Tamil Refugees and No One Is Illegal. Moricetown Canyon, noon.
Contact gitksanmanoct6@hotmail.com
==> In VICTORIA:
Saturday August 21st 12:00pm - 4:00pm
Victoria Information Booth, Government and Belville
Organized by Victoria Anti-Racism Network (VARN)
RSVP: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=143826562315624
==> In OTTAWA:
Monday August 23 @ Noon.
Gather at corner of Kent and Laurier
(Citizenship and Immigration Canada)
RSVP: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=119285261456467
==> In MONTREAL:
Thursday August 26th from noon to 2 pm
Front of Immigration and Refugee Board offices, 200 Boul. René Levesque. Organized by Friends of Tamil Refugees/ Les Amies des Réfugiées Tamils.
Contact 514-668-4751 or 514-449-9370.
==> In KITCHENER-WATERLOO:
Monday August 23.
Press Conference and gathering, details tbc.
Contact rachel@peaceculture.org
==> In TORONTO:
Saturday August 21st
Toronto Welcomes Tamil Migrants!
Follow www.twitter.com/noii_ to to see images of creative actions that we will be taking.
(more TBC)
Join No One is Illegal to call for the immediate release of detained Tamil asylum seekers, and an end to racist and restrictive refugee policies. Justice, Freedom, and Status for All!
Surviving a dangerous journey, 500 Tamil refugees, including women and children, arrived in BC after fleeing war and persecution in Sri Lanka. When the ship first neared Esquimault, territories of the Songhees First Nation, it was immediately boarded by the Armed Forces, Border Services, and RCMP. Families are now being separated, with many children being taken by the Ministry of Child and Family Development. The refugees now face the threat of incarceration and eventual deportation.
Canadian government officials and media outlets are perpetuating false and dehumanizing stereotypes of 'illegals', 'terrorists', and so-called queue-jumpers. The earlier arrival of 76 Tamil migrants on Ocean Lady was similarly sensationalized. This deliberately created hysteria appeals to prejudices of refugees as undesirable. Well-known neo-Nazis, like Paul Fromm and the Aryan Guard, also known as the Canada First Immigration Reform Committee, are openly organizing rallies for the ship to be sent back.
This fear-mongering is just another tactic used to disguise the racist policies that define Canada’s immigration and refugee system. The Canadian government was recently forced to apologize for its “keep Canada white” measures, such as the Komagata Maru incident. Yet Minister of Censorship and Deportation Jason Kenney continues to increase detentions and deportation of refugees and undocumented migrants, while bringing in more temporary exploitable migrant labour. Public Safety Minister Vic Toews recently declared that Cabinet is drafting new policies to clamp down on migrants and “make this country less welcoming for future shipments of human cargo.”
No One is Illegal-Vancouver asserts the basic human right to safety, mobility, and protection. It is well known that Tamils in Sri Lanka are fleeing military atrocities and mass displacement. The only crime the migrants have committed is transgressing this imposed settler-colonial border. We encourage you to join us in rejecting repressive, racist, and exclusionary ideologies and policies, and instead encourage compassion, solidarity, respect for life, and justice for all refugees. Release Detained Asylum-Seekers! Let the Boat Stay! Status for All!
*** HOW ELSE CAN I SUPPORT? ***
THERE ARE 10 THINGS YOU COULD DO!
1) Join other cities and communities for nation-wide actions. Wherever you maybe, whatever you can organize (delegation to a Minister’s office, street theatre, leafleting, community speak-out), will help build this movement. Please email noii-van@resist.ca and let us know how you can participate.
2) Engage in dialogue and widely circulate the factsheet on the 6 most popular myths about the 490 Tamil Refugees, available here: http://noii-van.resist.ca/?p=2167
3) Sign the online petition here: http://www.petitiononline.com/16082010/petition.html . Join the Facebook group Uphold the Rights of the MV Sun Sea Migrants here: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=106719212717437
4) Put up posters in your neighbourhood, workplace, and campus, and as your social media profile. We have ‘Let them Stay’ and ‘Anti Neo Nazi, Fight Racism’ posters available here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/nooneisillegal/ . PDF’s: http://bit.ly/9HBtGa and http://bit.ly/cgM3gK
5) Participate in the Call/Email/Fax Campaign to the Government and your MP. State your support for the refugees to stay in Canada and denounce the government for spreading unsubstantiated racist lies. This is easy to do and you can tell others to do the same!
Jason Kenney, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration
Phone 613-992-2235 or 403-225-3480. Fax 403-225-3504 or 613-992-1920.
Email: Minister@cic.gc.ca and kennej@parl.gc.ca
Vic Toews, Minister of Public Safety
Phone: (204) 326-9889 or (204)345-9762 or (613) 992-3128.
Fax: (204) 346-9874 or (204) 345-9768 or (613) 995-1049
Email: toewsv1@mts.net and Toews.V@parl.gc.ca
To find out who your MP is and where to write them:
http://www2.parl.gc.ca/Parlinfo/Compilations/HouseOfCommons/MemberByPostalCode.aspx?Menu=HOC
6) Always take a minute to write letters to the editor and comment on news stories - make a difference in public discourse! Reinforce your support for the migrants and condemn irresponsible reporting including repeating unsubstantiated lies and giving white supremacists like Paul Fromm a platform. All letters must be short (100 words), include name, mailing address and daytime phone number of the writer; state “Letter to the Editor” in subject; and content should be in the body of the email.
Globe and Mail: letters@globeandmail.com
Vancouver Sun: sunletters@png.canwest.com
Vancouver Province: provletters@png.canwest.com
24 Hours: news@sunmedia.ca
Metro News: http://www.metronews.ca/Vancouver/comment/lettereditor
National Post: letters@nationalpost.com
Toronto Star: lettertoed@thestar.ca
7) Take your own initiative. This issue is not just the Tamil communities’ or for migrant justice organizers. The growing racist backlash that is taking root should concern all of us. Think of creative ways to disrupt this xenophobic climate (do a banner drop, host a community picnic, take some friends postering, organize a forum or press conference, distribute anti-racist zines, take action at the prison).
8) Consider inviting a speaker to your next meeting. Email noii-van@resist.ca and we would be happy to attend or suggest speakers, as well as provide educational materials.
9) Have your organization, traditional council, union, community group, or artist collective write a short public statement of support for the Tamil migrants. Please email us a copy at noii-van@resist.ca .
10) Join our low-traffic email announcement list to receive news and events. You can subscribe yourself https://lists.resist.ca/mailman/listinfo/noii-l . Our Facebook group is: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=6252584281&ref=ts . Visit our website regularly for articles: http://noii-van.resist.ca/
www.nooneisillegal.org
SUPPORT THE TAMIL MIGRANTS! SAY NO TO RACISM!
==> In VANCOUVER, Unceded Coast Salish Territories:
Saturday August 21 @ 3:30 pm
...Gather at Vancouver Art Gallery, Robson Side
* Download poster PDF http://bit.ly/aq9HWI or JPG: http://bit.ly/c0VN60
==> In UNSURRENDERED WET'SUWET'EN TERRITORY:
Saturday August 21
Solidarity with the Tamil Refugees and No One Is Illegal. Moricetown Canyon, noon.
Contact gitksanmanoct6@hotmail.com
==> In VICTORIA:
Saturday August 21st 12:00pm - 4:00pm
Victoria Information Booth, Government and Belville
Organized by Victoria Anti-Racism Network (VARN)
RSVP: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=143826562315624
==> In OTTAWA:
Monday August 23 @ Noon.
Gather at corner of Kent and Laurier
(Citizenship and Immigration Canada)
RSVP: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=119285261456467
==> In MONTREAL:
Thursday August 26th from noon to 2 pm
Front of Immigration and Refugee Board offices, 200 Boul. René Levesque. Organized by Friends of Tamil Refugees/ Les Amies des Réfugiées Tamils.
Contact 514-668-4751 or 514-449-9370.
==> In KITCHENER-WATERLOO:
Monday August 23.
Press Conference and gathering, details tbc.
Contact rachel@peaceculture.org
==> In TORONTO:
Saturday August 21st
Toronto Welcomes Tamil Migrants!
Follow www.twitter.com/noii_ to to see images of creative actions that we will be taking.
(more TBC)
Join No One is Illegal to call for the immediate release of detained Tamil asylum seekers, and an end to racist and restrictive refugee policies. Justice, Freedom, and Status for All!
Surviving a dangerous journey, 500 Tamil refugees, including women and children, arrived in BC after fleeing war and persecution in Sri Lanka. When the ship first neared Esquimault, territories of the Songhees First Nation, it was immediately boarded by the Armed Forces, Border Services, and RCMP. Families are now being separated, with many children being taken by the Ministry of Child and Family Development. The refugees now face the threat of incarceration and eventual deportation.
Canadian government officials and media outlets are perpetuating false and dehumanizing stereotypes of 'illegals', 'terrorists', and so-called queue-jumpers. The earlier arrival of 76 Tamil migrants on Ocean Lady was similarly sensationalized. This deliberately created hysteria appeals to prejudices of refugees as undesirable. Well-known neo-Nazis, like Paul Fromm and the Aryan Guard, also known as the Canada First Immigration Reform Committee, are openly organizing rallies for the ship to be sent back.
This fear-mongering is just another tactic used to disguise the racist policies that define Canada’s immigration and refugee system. The Canadian government was recently forced to apologize for its “keep Canada white” measures, such as the Komagata Maru incident. Yet Minister of Censorship and Deportation Jason Kenney continues to increase detentions and deportation of refugees and undocumented migrants, while bringing in more temporary exploitable migrant labour. Public Safety Minister Vic Toews recently declared that Cabinet is drafting new policies to clamp down on migrants and “make this country less welcoming for future shipments of human cargo.”
No One is Illegal-Vancouver asserts the basic human right to safety, mobility, and protection. It is well known that Tamils in Sri Lanka are fleeing military atrocities and mass displacement. The only crime the migrants have committed is transgressing this imposed settler-colonial border. We encourage you to join us in rejecting repressive, racist, and exclusionary ideologies and policies, and instead encourage compassion, solidarity, respect for life, and justice for all refugees. Release Detained Asylum-Seekers! Let the Boat Stay! Status for All!
*** HOW ELSE CAN I SUPPORT? ***
THERE ARE 10 THINGS YOU COULD DO!
1) Join other cities and communities for nation-wide actions. Wherever you maybe, whatever you can organize (delegation to a Minister’s office, street theatre, leafleting, community speak-out), will help build this movement. Please email noii-van@resist.ca and let us know how you can participate.
2) Engage in dialogue and widely circulate the factsheet on the 6 most popular myths about the 490 Tamil Refugees, available here: http://noii-van.resist.ca/?p=2167
3) Sign the online petition here: http://www.petitiononline.com/16082010/petition.html . Join the Facebook group Uphold the Rights of the MV Sun Sea Migrants here: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=106719212717437
4) Put up posters in your neighbourhood, workplace, and campus, and as your social media profile. We have ‘Let them Stay’ and ‘Anti Neo Nazi, Fight Racism’ posters available here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/nooneisillegal/ . PDF’s: http://bit.ly/9HBtGa and http://bit.ly/cgM3gK
5) Participate in the Call/Email/Fax Campaign to the Government and your MP. State your support for the refugees to stay in Canada and denounce the government for spreading unsubstantiated racist lies. This is easy to do and you can tell others to do the same!
Jason Kenney, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration
Phone 613-992-2235 or 403-225-3480. Fax 403-225-3504 or 613-992-1920.
Email: Minister@cic.gc.ca and kennej@parl.gc.ca
Vic Toews, Minister of Public Safety
Phone: (204) 326-9889 or (204)345-9762 or (613) 992-3128.
Fax: (204) 346-9874 or (204) 345-9768 or (613) 995-1049
Email: toewsv1@mts.net and Toews.V@parl.gc.ca
To find out who your MP is and where to write them:
http://www2.parl.gc.ca/Parlinfo/Compilations/HouseOfCommons/MemberByPostalCode.aspx?Menu=HOC
6) Always take a minute to write letters to the editor and comment on news stories - make a difference in public discourse! Reinforce your support for the migrants and condemn irresponsible reporting including repeating unsubstantiated lies and giving white supremacists like Paul Fromm a platform. All letters must be short (100 words), include name, mailing address and daytime phone number of the writer; state “Letter to the Editor” in subject; and content should be in the body of the email.
Globe and Mail: letters@globeandmail.com
Vancouver Sun: sunletters@png.canwest.com
Vancouver Province: provletters@png.canwest.com
24 Hours: news@sunmedia.ca
Metro News: http://www.metronews.ca/Vancouver/comment/lettereditor
National Post: letters@nationalpost.com
Toronto Star: lettertoed@thestar.ca
7) Take your own initiative. This issue is not just the Tamil communities’ or for migrant justice organizers. The growing racist backlash that is taking root should concern all of us. Think of creative ways to disrupt this xenophobic climate (do a banner drop, host a community picnic, take some friends postering, organize a forum or press conference, distribute anti-racist zines, take action at the prison).
8) Consider inviting a speaker to your next meeting. Email noii-van@resist.ca and we would be happy to attend or suggest speakers, as well as provide educational materials.
9) Have your organization, traditional council, union, community group, or artist collective write a short public statement of support for the Tamil migrants. Please email us a copy at noii-van@resist.ca .
10) Join our low-traffic email announcement list to receive news and events. You can subscribe yourself https://lists.resist.ca/mailman/listinfo/noii-l . Our Facebook group is: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=6252584281&ref=ts . Visit our website regularly for articles: http://noii-van.resist.ca/
www.nooneisillegal.org
Labels: Canadian politics, demonstrations, Kitchener, Montreal, No One is Illegal, Ottawa, protests, rallies, tamil refugees, Toronto, Vancouver, Victoria, Waterloo
Saturday, June 05, 2010
CANADIAN HISTORY:
THE 'ON TO OTTAWA TREK' 75 YEARS ON:
Tomorrow, June 6, will be commemorated as the 75th anniversary of the beginning of the 'On To Ottawa Trek' in Vancouver BC (the trek actually began on June 3). At the height of the depression in 1935 unemployed men were housed in "relief camps" in remote areas of western Canada under the aegis of the Department of National Defence. In these camps workers laboured for 20 cents a day on public works, and the conditions were so atrocious that the Relief camp Workers' Union began a strike in April 1935 demanding such basic things as the provision of first aid equipment in the camps and the abolition of Section 98 of the Criminal Code that essentially made being unemployed a crime.
Eventually the strikers decided on travelling to Ottawa en masse to present their grievances to the federal government. This was known as the On To Ottawa Trek, and the hundreds who hopped freight trains in Vancouver to head east had swollen to three thousand after passing through various prairie cities by the time they reached Regina Saskatchewan on June 14. By this time the federal government had become a little nervous especially as the major population centres lay further east from this gathering throng. They invited 8 leaders to travel on to Ottawa to negotiate with the government providing the mass of the trekkers stayed in Regina.
While the protesters remained camped at the Regina Exhibition Grounds the 8 leaders met with Prime Minister R.B. Bennett on June 22. It didn't go well in Ottawa as the meeting degenerated into a shouting match before the 8 strike leaders were evicted from the premises. meanwhile back in Regina the government had chosen its battleground well as the city was the site of the major RCMP training grounds. Not only were the rail lines blocked to the trekkers but roads were also occupied by RCMP roadblocks determined to keep the protesters in Regina. Like most people in Regina to this very day the trekkers were desperate to get out of Regina (hey I used to live there).
The strike leaders arrived back in Regina on June 26. The protesters were essentially imprisoned in that city with no way forward and no way back, living in the open at the Exhibition Grounds. A public meeting was called for July 1 (then Dominion Day and now Canada Day) at the downtown site of what is now the Regina City Police Station. Only about 300 trekkers showed up, but they were supported by up to 2,000 local people. The meeting went peacefully enough until 8:17 pm when hidden squads of RCMP and Regina City Police came out of hiding and charged the crowd. The crowd fought back, and the battle continued for four hours in the downtown area. The police began using live ammunition. The final death toll was one plain clothes policeman and one striker. The striker died in hospital, and the hospital files were deliberately altered to conceal the cause of death, but this was later exposed. The police claimed 39 injuries in addition to their one death, but denied that they were responsible for the death of the striker.
In the aftermath the Exhibition Grounds were surrounded by police officers with machine guns, and a barbed wire stockade was erected around the area. The inmates of what had now become a prison camp were denied any food or water. The provincial government of Saskatchewan meanwhile was none too happy that the feds had chosen their capital city as the battleground. They invited strike leaders to negotiations. The negotiators were briefly arrested by the enraged police but released under pressure from the Province. Premier Gardiner sent a telegraph message to the federal government accusing the police of "precipitating a riot" while the Province had been negotiating with the strikers. In the end the Province got its way, and food was delivered to the strikers and arrangements were made to transport them back west free of charge to whatever destination they chose.
Meanwhile in Ottawa fantasy ruled supreme as the government claimed that the strikers rather than the police had opened fire. Prime Minister Bennett summed up the view of his Conservative government when he stated that the Trek was "not a mere uprising against law and order but a definite revolutionary effort on the part of a group of men to usurp authority and destroy government". It would be nice if this was true, but it wasn't. Because of their actions during the Trek- and for many other reasons of gross mismanagement and callousness during the depression- the federal Conservatives were reduced in the election later that year from 139 seats to a rump of 39, and the Liberals became the new government with a large contingent of the 'Progressive Party' from the west acting s allies on the left. The work camps were soon dismantled and replaced by seasonal camps operated by the provinces who paid more to the men.
For more on the On To Ottawa Trek and the Regina Riot see the website of the On To Ottawa Historical Society and the Wikipedia entry on this episode in Canadian history. Meanwhile from the National Union of Public and General Employees is the following item about how the beginning of the trek will be commemorated out in Vancouver.
CHCHCHCHCHCHCH
Rally Sunday marks the famed ‘On to Ottawa Trek'
Thousands of young men rebelled in 1935 against Depression era relief camps and helped bring about a national unemployment insurance system.
Vancouver (9 June 2010) - Workers will mark one of the most important anniversaries in Canadian labour this Sunday in Vancouver - the 75th anniversary of the On to Ottawa Trek. The British Columbia Government and Service Employees' Union (BCGEU/NUPGE) is encouraging members to join in the celebration and commemoration.
The 1935 'On to Ottawa Trek'
A rally will be held at 1 p.m. in the city's Crab Park to raise awareness about modern-day poverty and to remember what happened to poor young workers 75 years ago. Crab Park is located at the north foot of Main Street where the trek began in 1935. The rally will feature speakers and the dedication of a plaque to mark the historic site.
Following the ceremony, a delegation will make a modern journey On to Ottawa to talk to the government about homelessness issues and the need for a national housing program.
The original trek began on June 3, 1935, when legions of young men, rebelling against poor working conditions and low wages in Depression era relief camps, boarded boxcars in Vancouver and headed for Ottawa to deliver an historic protest message to the federal government.
Hundreds of 'Trekkers' boarded Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) boxcars near the foot of Main Street and left the city. By the time they reached Regina, their numbers had swelled to more than 3,000.
Sadly, they were met in Regina by a wall of RCMP officers dispatched by R. B. Bennett, the unsympathetic Conservative prime minister of the day. The intervention prevented the Trekkers from continuing onto Ottawa. Only one of their leaders was permitted to travel on and meet with Bennett.
When the meeting proved fruitless, the remaining Trekkers in Regina rebelled on July 1 (then known as Dominion Day) in an uprising that was put down by arguably the most infamous and oppressive police riot in Canadian history.
But there was a price to pay for Bennett in his coldness and indifference to the plight of the working people. His Tory government was crushed in the next election, reduced from its 134-seat majority to a paltry 39 seats in the House of Commons,
The Liberal government that replaced the Conservatives then set about addressing many of the concerns raised by the Trekkers. Relief camps were abolished and the first steps were taken to set up what eventually became a national unemployment insurance system.
Rally Sunday marks the famed ‘On to Ottawa Trek'
Thousands of young men rebelled in 1935 against Depression era relief camps and helped bring about a national unemployment insurance system.
Vancouver (9 June 2010) - Workers will mark one of the most important anniversaries in Canadian labour this Sunday in Vancouver - the 75th anniversary of the On to Ottawa Trek. The British Columbia Government and Service Employees' Union (BCGEU/NUPGE) is encouraging members to join in the celebration and commemoration.
The 1935 'On to Ottawa Trek'
A rally will be held at 1 p.m. in the city's Crab Park to raise awareness about modern-day poverty and to remember what happened to poor young workers 75 years ago. Crab Park is located at the north foot of Main Street where the trek began in 1935. The rally will feature speakers and the dedication of a plaque to mark the historic site.
Following the ceremony, a delegation will make a modern journey On to Ottawa to talk to the government about homelessness issues and the need for a national housing program.
The original trek began on June 3, 1935, when legions of young men, rebelling against poor working conditions and low wages in Depression era relief camps, boarded boxcars in Vancouver and headed for Ottawa to deliver an historic protest message to the federal government.
Hundreds of 'Trekkers' boarded Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) boxcars near the foot of Main Street and left the city. By the time they reached Regina, their numbers had swelled to more than 3,000.
Sadly, they were met in Regina by a wall of RCMP officers dispatched by R. B. Bennett, the unsympathetic Conservative prime minister of the day. The intervention prevented the Trekkers from continuing onto Ottawa. Only one of their leaders was permitted to travel on and meet with Bennett.
When the meeting proved fruitless, the remaining Trekkers in Regina rebelled on July 1 (then known as Dominion Day) in an uprising that was put down by arguably the most infamous and oppressive police riot in Canadian history.
But there was a price to pay for Bennett in his coldness and indifference to the plight of the working people. His Tory government was crushed in the next election, reduced from its 134-seat majority to a paltry 39 seats in the House of Commons,
The Liberal government that replaced the Conservatives then set about addressing many of the concerns raised by the Trekkers. Relief camps were abolished and the first steps were taken to set up what eventually became a national unemployment insurance system.
Labels: Canada, canadian history, Canadian labour, depression, history, labour, On To Ottawa Trek, Regina, Regina Riot, riots, Vancouver
Sunday, May 09, 2010
CANADIAN POLITICS-VANCOUVER:
GRANDVIEW PARK; REDEVELOP OR LEAVE ALONE:
Here's an interesting quandary, or at least it is for libertarian socialists as opposed to vague leftists. Out in Vancouver there is a park called 'Grandview Park' in the East End. There's a conflict in the neighbourhood about the park's future. On the one side are the authors of the following item, Defend Grandview. On the other side are the 'Friends of Grandview Park', allied with the local business improvement association.
What do I find problematic about this--besides the fact that it is doubtful in the extreme whether any infrastructure projects in the park will do anything whatsoever to address the concerns of the 'Friends' ? Such a hope seems rather fanciful to me and one wonders about other motives. Or perhaps the rather disingenuous claim by the Defend Grandview groups that "hard drugs" are "consciously excluded" from the park ? By whom ? How ? Isn't this park located in (ahem) Vancouver ? Seems like a hard claim to swallow.
What I find questionable in all this is the way it is couched in rather simplistic "class warfare" terms. I have no immediate knowledge of the area in question. It's been many years since I was visiting Vancouver, and at the time there were indeed "islands of yuppification" in the area around Commercial Drive. Situated in an ocean of ordinary working class neighbourhoods. I also have no doubt that the process of gentrification has proceeded apace. I do however have very profound doubts about the implied idea that "only the yuppies" are concerned with certain activities that go on in the park. I actually have no doubt that the 'Friends' have broad support amongst the working class population resident in the area.
That's the crux of the matter. I may be wrong about the character of the area, and I stand ready to be corrected. I do not, however, automatically jump to support each and every 'anti-development' initiative are some are prone to do. Neither do I automatically leap in on the side of what was once known as the "lumpenproletariat" when their interests conflict with those of ordinary working class people. I am well aware that for some people such side taking is a reflex action, untroubled by any thought process.
All across the world the process whereby ordinary people try to get more control over their neighbourhoods and hence their lives is marked by campaigns to "clean up" the area in which they live. It may be (probably is) that the residents near the park have legitimate safety concerns. If I am personally inclined to take sides at all I would tend to favour the interests of say working class residents over those of say drug dealers or other criminals who actually have victims.
OK, so I'm uncertain about this one. Here's one side of the story. I'm afraid that I cannot find a website for the 'Friends' to give theirs.
GPGPGPGPGPGPGP
ON THE REDEVELOPMENT OF GRANDVIEW PARK
A group that calls themselves the “Friends of Grandview Park” has called for the park’s redevelopment. They made a presentation to the Vancouver Parks Board under the title “Reclaim, Renovate, and Reinvent.” The proposed renovations are to take place in spring/summer 2010. Without a deeper look, the changes seem like an uncontroversial proposal. The “Friends” want a “new functionality” and to “create a space worthy of acclaim and notoriety.” But a closer inspection of the group’s complaints, goals and supporters reveals their actual vision – not just the gentrification of the park, but ultimately the creation of a neighbourhood only for those who can afford it.
Who are the “Friends of Grandview Park”
and who supports them?
The “Friends” of Grandview Park are a group of homeowners who live around or by Grandview Park, and who originally formed in order to stop the serving of free food to homeless people on Tuesday nights (the Chili Wagon).
The “Friends” of Grandview Park are supported by the Business Improvement Association (BIA), which stated “The BIA supports the renovation to Grandview Park and believes it will contribute to the business development, as well as security and safety in the area.” You might better know the BIA as the organization that pays for the Fusion security guards who patrol Commercial Drive in packs of two or four, harassing buskers, panhandlers and people selling their wares in the park.
The Friends of Grandview Park’s
official complaints:
In the section below we have listed the complaints laid out by the “Friends” of Grandview Park in their presentation to the Parks Board. Following each point is a counter-point or explanation of the implications of their statements, and what we think they really mean.
The Friends of Grandview Park say…
the park is…
1. “Chronically overrun by illegal inhabitants.”
To the “Friends” of Grandview Park there are too many homeless people in the park. This statement calls out for the criminalization of poverty, or at the very least pushing the homeless out of the park. The use of the term “illegal inhabitants” to describe the homeless is doubly absurd due to the fact that Grandview Park is native land; if anyone should technically be named “illegal inhabitants” it should be the city of Vancouver.
2. Used for “drug dealing and hard drugs.”
The “Friends” of Grandview Park assume the mantle of morality police over the park, above anyone who has used the park to purchase, sell or consume any type of drug. In reality, hard drugs are consciously excluded from Grandview, and members of the community – including parents of children who use the park – use the area to sell or purchase soft drugs. Maybe you have a friend who has bought, sold or smoked pot in the park?
3. “The chosen location of illegal protesters.”
In reality, protests in the park are rare. However, what better way for people to use a park than to come together to confront common concerns?
and, that …
4. “The design of the playground encourages loitering of non-families.”
This statement is ridiculous. Parks are for loitering. What are “non-families” and why are they not allowed to use the park?
5. “The unsanctioned use of tennis courts by the bi¬cycle polo club” means that the “… tennis courts (are) no longer available for parents to teach their kids how to ride bikes.”
This – and other parts of their presentation that call for “order” in the park – illustrate the “Friends’” broader goal of assuming total control. Teaching kids how to ride bikes us also an unsanctioned use of the tennis courts. The “Friends” would like to see the park used as they see fit, rather than how others already use it – even when its current use is positive and social.
6. The park has “poor drainage”
It is true that the park has poor drainage, but it is also interesting to point out that the drainage of Victoria Park was targeted in recent renovations with little to no improvement.
Stopping The Redevelopment
The “Friends” want “to bring order, safety and new functionality to the park.” Order in the sense of control over what happens in the park. The illusion of safety through removing homeless people and eliminating petty victimless crime. New functionality through the explicitly stated goal of turning the park into a “destination for shoppers and tourists.”
We want East Vancouver to be a community where you don’t have to be rich to exist, and where we don’t criminalize our neighbours. Because the redevelopment of Grandview Park is a step towards the further elimination of the poorer people from our neighbourhood, we say
NO REDEVELOPMENT
OF GRANDVIEW
PARK!
ON THE REDEVELOPMENT OF GRANDVIEW PARK
A group that calls themselves the “Friends of Grandview Park” has called for the park’s redevelopment. They made a presentation to the Vancouver Parks Board under the title “Reclaim, Renovate, and Reinvent.” The proposed renovations are to take place in spring/summer 2010. Without a deeper look, the changes seem like an uncontroversial proposal. The “Friends” want a “new functionality” and to “create a space worthy of acclaim and notoriety.” But a closer inspection of the group’s complaints, goals and supporters reveals their actual vision – not just the gentrification of the park, but ultimately the creation of a neighbourhood only for those who can afford it.
Who are the “Friends of Grandview Park”
and who supports them?
The “Friends” of Grandview Park are a group of homeowners who live around or by Grandview Park, and who originally formed in order to stop the serving of free food to homeless people on Tuesday nights (the Chili Wagon).
The “Friends” of Grandview Park are supported by the Business Improvement Association (BIA), which stated “The BIA supports the renovation to Grandview Park and believes it will contribute to the business development, as well as security and safety in the area.” You might better know the BIA as the organization that pays for the Fusion security guards who patrol Commercial Drive in packs of two or four, harassing buskers, panhandlers and people selling their wares in the park.
The Friends of Grandview Park’s
official complaints:
In the section below we have listed the complaints laid out by the “Friends” of Grandview Park in their presentation to the Parks Board. Following each point is a counter-point or explanation of the implications of their statements, and what we think they really mean.
The Friends of Grandview Park say…
the park is…
1. “Chronically overrun by illegal inhabitants.”
To the “Friends” of Grandview Park there are too many homeless people in the park. This statement calls out for the criminalization of poverty, or at the very least pushing the homeless out of the park. The use of the term “illegal inhabitants” to describe the homeless is doubly absurd due to the fact that Grandview Park is native land; if anyone should technically be named “illegal inhabitants” it should be the city of Vancouver.
2. Used for “drug dealing and hard drugs.”
The “Friends” of Grandview Park assume the mantle of morality police over the park, above anyone who has used the park to purchase, sell or consume any type of drug. In reality, hard drugs are consciously excluded from Grandview, and members of the community – including parents of children who use the park – use the area to sell or purchase soft drugs. Maybe you have a friend who has bought, sold or smoked pot in the park?
3. “The chosen location of illegal protesters.”
In reality, protests in the park are rare. However, what better way for people to use a park than to come together to confront common concerns?
and, that …
4. “The design of the playground encourages loitering of non-families.”
This statement is ridiculous. Parks are for loitering. What are “non-families” and why are they not allowed to use the park?
5. “The unsanctioned use of tennis courts by the bi¬cycle polo club” means that the “… tennis courts (are) no longer available for parents to teach their kids how to ride bikes.”
This – and other parts of their presentation that call for “order” in the park – illustrate the “Friends’” broader goal of assuming total control. Teaching kids how to ride bikes us also an unsanctioned use of the tennis courts. The “Friends” would like to see the park used as they see fit, rather than how others already use it – even when its current use is positive and social.
6. The park has “poor drainage”
It is true that the park has poor drainage, but it is also interesting to point out that the drainage of Victoria Park was targeted in recent renovations with little to no improvement.
Stopping The Redevelopment
The “Friends” want “to bring order, safety and new functionality to the park.” Order in the sense of control over what happens in the park. The illusion of safety through removing homeless people and eliminating petty victimless crime. New functionality through the explicitly stated goal of turning the park into a “destination for shoppers and tourists.”
We want East Vancouver to be a community where you don’t have to be rich to exist, and where we don’t criminalize our neighbours. Because the redevelopment of Grandview Park is a step towards the further elimination of the poorer people from our neighbourhood, we say
NO REDEVELOPMENT
OF GRANDVIEW
PARK!
Labels: Canadian politics, class, community politics, community., Grandview Park, Vancouver
Friday, March 19, 2010
CANADIAN LABOUR - VANCOUVER:
WORLD WATER DAY WITH CUPE:
This in from the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE). next Monday, March 22, will be World Water day, and CUPE will be holding a preliminary celebration on Sunday the 21st out in Vancouver. Here's the details.
CLCLCLCLCLCLCLCLCLCL
In Vancouver?
Celebrate World Water Day 2010 with CUPE!
Sunday, March 21, 2-4pm
Grandview Park, Commercial at Charles
Vancouver
VANCOUVER —Join the Canadian Union of Public Employees and the Council of Canadians in a Toast to Public Water leading up to World Water Day on March 22. This free, outdoor all-ages event will take place in East Vancouver’s Grandview Park at Commercial and Charles. On tap will be live music by local folk/roots favourites Headwater. We will also present the First Annual Tappie Awards - a tribute to community members and groups who have worked extra hard to promote and protect B.C.'s public water system.
VANCOUVER —Join the Canadian Union of Public Employees and the Council of Canadians in a Toast to Public Water leading up to World Water Day on March 22. This free, outdoor all-ages event will take place in East Vancouver’s Grandview Park at Commercial and Charles. On tap will be live music by local folk/roots favourites Headwater. We will also present the First Annual Tappie Awards - a tribute to community members and groups who have worked extra hard to promote and protect B.C.'s public water system.
The United Nations’ focus for World Water Day this year is on clean water for a healthy world. Across British Columbia water systems are under threat from private drinking and sewage treatment corporations, environmental pollution and bottled water companies who want to sell our resources back to us at many times the cost of public tap water.
“In keeping with the UN theme, our focus is on protecting public water systems and community water resources. CUPE BC is committed to defending the right of every community in B.C. to access to clean, safe, affordable public water,” says CUPE BC president Barry O’Neill.
“All year groups across British Columbia struggle to protect our water systems and keep them in public hands,” says Council of Canadians Vancouver president Penny Tilby. “The Tappie Awards are a fun way to thank them for their hard work and encourage others to join in the effort to keep water public for everyone.”
-30-
Contact: Murray Bush, CUPE National Communications Representative: 778-554.2234
Labels: Canadian labour, concerts, CUPE, events, labour, Vancouver, World Water Day
Saturday, March 06, 2010
CANADIAN ANARCHIST MOVEMENT-VANCOUVER:
VANCOUVER MARCH AGAINST POLICE BRUTALITY:
Seems like the Vancouver based Olympic Resistance Network is still out there and resisting, even though the Olympics have ended. Here's a communique from them about the upcoming International day Against Police Brutality and their endorsement of a march for this day.
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
March 15th - International Day Against Police Brutality:
---------------------------- Original Message ----------------------------
---------------------------- Original Message ----------------------------
March 15th - International Day Against Police Brutality
Community Not Cops!!!
March 15th, 6pm, Broadway and Clark (skate park on the south side)
A March will begin from Creekside Park (Clark & Broadway) at 6pm on Monday March 15th. Come show your opposition to police repression and the gentrification of our communities!
Resist Police Control!!!
Fight For Freedom!!!!
Labels: anarchism, canadian anarchist movement, demonstrations, events, International Day Against Police Brutality, Olympic Resistance Network, police brutality., Vancouver
Saturday, February 27, 2010
CANADIAN POLITICS-VANCOUVER:
DEMONSTRATIONS TO RING OUT THE OLYMPICS:
The great Olympics party will soon be drawing to a close, and it's sure that the hangover will follow close behind as the taxpayers find out how much they will have to cough up. Public funding for the athletes will shrink until the nest needed boost for political optics. The opposition to the Games, however, plans to have some closing ceremonies of their own on the final day. Here, from the Olympic Resistance Network, is the line-up for tomorrow. You pick where these will sit on the podium.
VOVOVOVOVOVOVOVO
Feb 28: Three events
North side of the Vancouver Art Gallery
North side of the Vancouver Art Gallery
9 am Sunday the 28th of February
Resistance bike ride! Bikes are green! Olympics are NOT green!
In resistance to these Olympics on stolen native land, to imperialism, hegemony, environmental destruction, criminalization of poverty... we'll ride to support real people in the streets! Come meet us at the VAG to leave very shortly after 9 am!
We will not let the oppressions of the world flow smoothly and be celebrated as a success! Afterward we'll party in the streets to show them that they're gonna to leave, but we're all stayin'!
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
[ please post far and wide - sorry for cross postings ]
Games Over! Resistance Lives!
*Celebrating Unity & Solidarity*
*Sunday FEB 28th, 2010 at 1:00 PM
Smithe and Cambie Followed by celebration at 4:30 pm of 2 weeks of dignity, hope and freedom at Olympic Tent Village. *[ more information on tent village here: olympictentvillage.wordpress.com ]
Bring the NOISE! Pots, pans, drums and noisemakers welcome! Join us in a noisy public festival to celebrate our communities and our resistance. Just because the IOC says the games are over doesn't mean it's over.
Our struggles for justice as indigenous, migrant, poor, working class and queer communities existed before the Olympic and Paralympic games and will exist after. The games have also provided a spark that we hope will inspire all effected communities to bind together in our coming struggles to attain justice.
These were not the greenest games - they were the corporate greenwash games. They were not the socially responsible games - homelessness tripled as billions were spent on highways and convention centers for the rich. And these games occurred on un-ceded territories where the indigenous communities continue to be on the front lines defending lands from industrial expansion.
In the coming budget BC residents will likely see massive cuts to healthcare, education, affordable housing, public transit, sports and recreation, and other priorities. While the IOC, VANOC and the ableist games will be gone, we are still here!
Join us after the rally at the Olympic Tent Village to celebrate 2 weeks of dignity, hope and freedom. The festivities start at 4:30pm at58 West Hastings.
Meal, drummers and entertainment.
All welcome!
*Solidarity & Unity!
The resistance will continue!
Join us and let's make some NOISE!
* For more information contact: 2010gamesover@gmail.com +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
(Statement to media released earlier this week, also for public distribution)
Labels: 2010 Winter Olympics, anti-olympics, Canadian politics, demonstrations, events, Olympic Resistance Network, olympics, Vancouver
Thursday, February 25, 2010
CANADIAN POLITICS-VANCOUVER:
END OF GAMES DEMONSTRATION:
Well, the end of the snafu plagued 2010 Winter Olympics is drawing nigh, and the opponents of the Games are planning one last gathering to send them off. Here's the notice from the Olympics Resistance Network.
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Games Over! Resistance Lives!
[ this action is endorsed by the Olympic Resistance Network ] (1)
Games Over!
Resistance Lives!
Celebrating Unity & Solidarity
Sunday FEB 28th, 2010 1PM
Smythe and Cambie Bring the NOISE! Pots, pans, drums and noisemakers welcome!
Join us in a noisy public festival to celebrate our communities and our resistance. Our struggles for justice as indigenous, migrant, poor, working class and queer communities existed before the games and will exist after. The games have also provided a spark that we hope will inspire all affected communities to bind together in our coming struggles to attain justice.
These were not the greenest games - they were the corporate greenwash games. They were not the socially responsible games - homelessness tripled as billions were spent on highways and convention centers for the rich.
And these games occurred on un-ceded territories where the indigenous communities continue to be on the front lines defending lands from industrial expansion.
In the coming budget BC residents likely see massive cuts to healthcare, education, affordable housing, public transit, sports and recreation, and other priorities. While the IOC, VANOC and the games will be gone, we are still here!
Solidarity & Unity!
The resistance will continue!
Join us and let's make some NOISE!
For more information contact: 2010gamesover@gmail.com
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By my memory the Olympics Resistance Network has yet to have to say that a given demonstration is sponsored by them. One can only hope that this implies (though given the situation in the anarchist community in Vancouver it could never be said openly) that they have determined to keep a tight rein on their nutters and not allow them to expose others to the consequences of their actions. I certainly hope so. If they do manage to contain the "heroes of the broken window" then they might do something to repair the damage that has been done to what was originally an inspired campaign of alliance building.
Labels: 2010 Winter Olympics, Canadian politics, demonstrations, olympics, Olympics Resistance Network. current events, tactics, Vancouver
Monday, February 22, 2010
CANADIAN POLITICS-VANCOUVER:
TENT VILLAGE NEEDS YOUR HELP:
The Winter Olympics continue. The clown show of the 'Black Block' is over and done with as the participants slink back to their holes, congratulating themselves about how "brave" they were and how much they accomplished by smashing a few windows and running like hell from the cops. The real protests against the Winter Games, however, continue, and one of these is the "tent village" set up to protest homelessness while billions are thrown at the spectacle of the Olympics. The Village is looking for your support. Here, from the Olympic Resistance Network, is the story and appeal.
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Olympic Tent Village Enters Week 2,
Needs Your Ongoing Support:
OLYMPIC TENT VILLAGE ENTERS WEEK 2,
OLYMPIC TENT VILLAGE ENTERS WEEK 2,
NEEDS YOUR ONGOING SUPPORT!
Since Feb 15, 2010 the Olympic Tent Village has been set up at 58 West Hastings, an empty lot owned by notorious condo developer Concord Pacific, currently being leased by VANOC as a parking lot for the Olympics. The first few days at the Olympic Tent Village have gone strongly and smoothly, thanks to the community effort to support and defend it. Hundreds have gathered during the evening and through the night, especially DTES residents, homeless people, and youth.
* Read Issue 1 of Tent Village Voice:
* Watch videos of DTES residents and homeless people residing at Tent Village: http://olympictentvillage.wordpress.com/2010/02/17/media/
Over the next week, we are calling on all supporters to continue to defend the Olympic Tent Village and to support the residents. We need:
- Volunteers to help cook at the Tent Village anytime drop-in starting at 8 am till 8 pm.
- Supporters to be present during the day 8 am to 4 pm and overnight 6 pm to 6 am.
- Independent media, legal observers and others with cameras in case of emergencies (please note, due to privacy concerns, there is no recording in the Tent Village otherwise)
- On site medic support especially overnight from 6 pm to 6 am.
- Donations of non perishable food items, tarps, tents, blankets, sleeping bags.
The 2010 Winter Olympics has escalated the homelessness crisis in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside - Canada's poorest postal code - and the Greater Vancouver area. Since the Olympic bid, homelessness has nearly tripled in the GVRD, while real estate and condominium development in the Downtown Eastside is outpacing social housing by a rate of 3:1.
Meanwhile, a heightened police presence has further criminalized those living in extreme material poverty in the poorest postal code in Canada. With the eyes of the world on Vancouver, residents of the Downtown Eastside and our supporters of the Olympic Tent Village want:
1. Real action to end homelessness now
2. End condo development and displacement in the Downtown Eastside
3. End discriminatory ticketing, police harassment, and all forms of criminalization of poverty.
The Olympic Tent Village has been an inspiring action to take over public space and empty lots, a powerful testament to the building of community, and a reclamation of dignity and freedom amidst daily systemic poverty and injustice.
For updates, articles, video, photos, and further information on how to support: http://olympictentvillage.wordpress.com/
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Molly Note:
Don't worry. I'll eventually get to my usual denunciation of those who hide their personal psychology under the guise of "anarchism" and "politics". Until then, however, i merely have to mention the obvious, obvious to anyone who isn't bound by the ideology of a subculture. If you represent the political views of a minority, and a very small minority at that, you just might want to represent yourself (and actually be whatever you have been taught by post-modernist professors) as having the "moral high ground". The action of the "tent village", in my mind, serves this purpose very well in that it is exemplary in its non-violence, and any violence towards it by the state will rebound to the odium of the state. This is in stark contrast to those who want to pretend to the anarchist idea of "direct action" by doing the 'symbolic action" of , as I said, minor vandalism and running as fast as they can. The people at the "tent village", whether they carry it out or not, have made their intention to stand their ground in a non-violent way and accept the consequences very plain. Let's take bets. Which way is more useful when you want to speak to the "unconvinced" ? Oh, I forgot, the "heroes" of the overturned mailbox think that the "unconvinced" are irretrievably deluded, and their joy is merely to insult them while doing the "real politics" of running away from the cops as fast as they can.
Ooops, I've started on what I promised to leave until later. so be it. Definitely more later.
Labels: 2010 Winter Olympics, black block, Canadian politics, direct action, fools, Olympic Resistance Network, sports, tactics, Vancouver
Sunday, February 14, 2010
CANADIAN POLITICS-VANCOUVER:
ANTI-OLYMPIC DEMONSTRATIONS IN THE OPENING DAYS:
The 2010 Winter Olympics have begun, and so have a series of demonstrations, each with different locals, goals and tactics. The one that has garnered the most media attention is, predictably, the one on Saturday morning where there was some minor property damage and where several arrest took place. This was graced with the term "violent" and luridly portrayed as such across the world. All that I can say, from watching it on the tube, is that it was a pretty piss poor excuse for a riot if that was what the participants intended. What with the ritualized dancing and all in front of the police line. These things, of course, are more than slightly mere ritualized combat, with the participants on both sides are suffering from more than a slight share of delusion. The trouble is that their happenings can be worked up into some fantastical symbolic myths, once again by both sides, but with the mainstream media as the main offender in creating the greatest fantasy. Should side A (let's call them "the anarchists") seem unwilling to play their part of violent threat to a sufficient degree there are (always ?) police agents sent to stir them up. The following article mentions one such individual. In their appeal for "jail support" the Olympic Resistance Network uses the term "several" when referring to provocateurs. sadly it often doesn't take too much of a push for 'Side A' to do exactly what the police want them to.
Here's what happened on Saturday according to one observer. The following is originally from Rabble.ca . It came to Molly's attention via the No2010 website. Note the appendix of photos and videos from the event.
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2010 Heart Attack: Riot 2010 Becomes a Reality:
2010 Heart Attack: Vancouver Olympics Opening Day
By Scott Harris February 14, 2010, Council of Canadians Blog
http://rabble.ca/blogs/bloggers/council-canadians/2010/02/2010-heart-attack-vancouver-olympics-opening-day
The major mobilization on Saturday, dubbed the "2010 Heart Attack" began in the early hours of the morning, with around 300 activists gathering at Thornton Park under a heavy police presence to march through the streets of Vancouver in an attempt to disrupt "business as usual" on the opening day of competition of the 2010 Games.
The march departed from Thornton Park just after 9:00 am, with the goal of reaching the intersection of Denman and Georgia, where buses destined for the Whistler venues have to pass.
Police on bicycles ringed the march as it snaked its way through the streets towards the upscale downtown, turning up Hastings Street and moving into the heart of the city, nearly abandoned streets giving way to larger crowds as it progressed.
Early on an apparent agent provocateur moved into the crowd, pushing and taunting marchers before darting to the sidewalk, at times stopping to talk with police before running forward to taunt the crowd again. As the protest moved through the streets, some participants overturned mailboxes and newspaper boxes, pulling them into the street in an attempt to block traffic.
Minor property damage occurred along that march, and as demonstrators reached the shopping district of Georgia Street, a group of protesters broke one of the display windows of the Hudson's Bay building, one of the national sponsors of the Games, and one which has come under criticism for both its long history of colonialism and its sourcing of Olympics sweaters from China rather than the Cowichan nation. A ball of red paint was also thrown at the window. Despite a heavy presence at the scene, no arrests were made.
As the march continued through the downtown, with chants of "No justice, no peace" and "Whose streets? Our streets!" echoing through the buildings, the police presence intensified.
Vans full of police in full riot gear descended on the march, and the number of police on bicycles increased markedly. With those on bicycles forcing onlookers and some of the marchers to the sidewalk, the riot police moved in from behind the marchers, with numerous police cars and wagons following closely behind. There were scuffles as the police moved to isolate the main body of the march from legal observers and onlookers who were filming, and one woman was arrested after being wrestled to the ground by a number of officers.
The marchers were eventually surrounded by riot police, some of whom were armed with automatic weapons while others brandished plexiglass shields and batons. After police on bicycles stopped a group of onlookers from proceeding, separating them from the march by about half a block, police moved in and made a number of arrests. Some in the crowd fought back or attempted to "un-arrest" those targeted by the police. Both riot police and police on bicycles forced observers and legal teams to the sidewalks as they put those arrested into wagons. As the police moved in and divided the crowd by creating wedges between different groups of protesters, some smaller groups split from the main march, some of them pursued by groups of police.
Smaller groups spread throughout the downtown core were split off by police and surrounded by riot police at a number of locations. One group of about 30 people, which included a marching band and a number of dancers, were surrounded on all sides by riot police as supporters were kept at a distance by heavily armed police and police on bicycles. The crowd, which was forced to the sidewalk by police by threats of arrest chanted "Let them go!" as those surrounded by the police held their hands in peace signs and attempted to negotiate their way to the sidewalk. As the standoff between trumpets and truncheons continued, some in the crowd turned to chants of "This is weird. Let them go." After being surrounded for over half an hour and prevented from leaving, the police eventually allowed the band and its supporters to disperse.
In all a total of 13 arrests were reported by the legal support team, and five are being held and may be charged. Protesters have begun jail support at the police station at 222 Main in support of those arrested.
By 4:00 pm, the most heavily damaged window at Hudson's Bay Co. had been replaced.
Scott Harris is the Prairies Regional Organizer for the Council of Canadians
Video from VMChttp://vancouver.mediacoop.ca/video/2743
Photos fro VMChttp://vancouver.mediacoop.ca/photo/2741
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Here, from the CBC is a report of an earlier protest in Vancouver, one that got far less general media coverage because it was as spectacularly confrontational as the one described above. I've decided to leave the comment link in because it may give the reader a feel about how the general population of Vancouver is reacting to the protests.
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Police clash with anti-Olympics protesters:
Last Updated: Friday, February 12, 2010 9:27 PM PT Comments773
Anti-Olympics protesters clashed with police in downtown Vancouver on Friday night as the marchers tried to approach BC Place, where opening ceremonies for the 2010 Games were underway.
Some protesters sprayed vinegar in officers' eyes, threw sticks, and spit on officers, police said.
Two officers were injured with flying objects and one was sent to hospital with a shoulder injury but was treated and released, said Const. Lindsey Houghton.
The 125 officers assembled in two rows, along with six police officials on horseback and managed to hold back the crowd, estimated at 1,500.
No protesters were injured.
One man was taken into custody and is facing a charge of assault, Houghton said.
Protesters got as far as the corner of Robson and Beatty streets before being stopped at the police lines, about 200 metres from BC Place stadium.
The protesters rallied outside the Vancouver Art Gallery at 3 p.m. before starting their seven-block walk to the stadium. They marched along West Georgia Street to Homer Street, where they turned south then east on Robson toward BC Place, where the ceremonies began at 6 p.m. local time.
Placards carried by the demonstrators suggested many disagreed with spending taxpayer money on the Games instead of targeting social problems.
Organizers said they wanted the protest to remain peaceful.
About 200 protesters forced organizers to reroute the Olympic torch relay twice early Friday as the runners made their way through the Downtown Eastside.
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Molly Note:
The first article above speaks of one police provocateur. In emails sent out to their supporters by the Olympic Resistance Network they speak of several at the second demonstration described in the first article. This may or may not be the case. It certainly has happened before here in Canada, and the most recently proven instance of police agents intercepted while they were trying to provoke violence was at the Montibello summit outside of Ottawa. This is neither here no there. I mention it because there is a congratulatory description of the events at demo #2 now making the rounds on the 'anarcho-net'. The interesting thing about that is that it makes no mention of such a possibility, even though it is apparently quite the buzz out in Vancouver (and not just amongst supporters of the protests). It also paints an incredibly rosy picture of how other protesters viewed the actions of demo #2. I seriously doubt that others are all entirely pleased with what happened.
Labels: 2010 Winter Olympics, agents, anarchism, canadian anarchist movement, Canadian politics, No 2010, Olympic Resistance Network, olympics, protests, Vancouver
