Common Cause interviews Pete St-Antoine of Peoples Global Action (PGA) Bloc Ottawa

from roadnetwork, 19 March 2008:

Common Cause Ottawa interview with Pete St-Antoine of Peoples Global Action (PGA) Bloc Ottawa

Q. Could you introduce yourself?

I’m Pete St-Antoine and I organize with Peoples Global Action (PGA) Bloc Ottawa.

Q. PGA Ottawa is organizing around the No 2010 campaign against the Olympics in Vancouver. What are the reasons that you’re opposing it?

There are lots of reasons we’re opposing the Olympics. One of the main ones is that they’re happening on stolen (aboriginal) land. That’s one on the main things that people are rallying around in Vancouver. People are losing their land and they’re also seeing a lot of land being destroyed. A lot of mountains are being destroyed right now. There are huge expansions right now of many resorts. Sun Peaks is one of them. They are countless resorts that are being expanded for the Olympics as part of the infrastructure and also because of the huge amount of traffic that they’re expecting during that time period.

That’s destroying people’s land. People have been losing houses but its also destroying also a lot of the things people rely on to support themselves like the water, the mountains.

A lot of the (traditional) hunting that was happening isn’t happening anymore because it’s being replaced by ski-hills. When Kanahus Pellkey and Dustin Johnson (of the Native Youth Movement), were here two weeks ago they were talking about how people they knew would hunt in some of those mountains that are now being developed are no longer able to…

Also the Sea to Sky Highway which is being upgraded between Vancouver to Whistler. One of the things that the International Olympic Committee did when they accepted Vancouver’s bid for the Olympics was the requirement that they revamp the Sea to Sky Highway. Right now the province is spending $736 million on that highway just to cut the driving time by fifteen minutes. It’s pretty ridiculous. It’s also happening on stolen land.

People have been resisting the Sea to Sky Highway for a bunch of different reasons. Some liberals have been resisting. First Nations have been resisting it. A lot of people have been arrested for doing road blockades. Some people have spent time in jail. One person named Harriet Nahanee died as result of the time she spent in jail. That’s another reason we’re opposing it.

There’s also the gentrification aspect that’s going on in the city of Vancouver. Poor people are being pushed out of the city. Low-income housing is being torn down. A lot of the really cheap hotels that people actually live in Vancouver are being torn down. And it’s all being replaced by condos and fancy hotels just because they’re expecting a wave of wealthy people coming into the neighborhoods for the Olympic Games. People are dying in the streets to so it seems foolish to be wasting so much money on some games.

We’re resisting the games for issues of environment; for issues of race; for issues of class; and all of those things interacting.

Q. Could you tell me some of what the PGA is planning locally to oppose the Olympics?

The campaign we launched on Feb 12 the two year countdown to the actual games. We had a march that went around downtown. he campaign is going to be aimed at disrupting any VANOC events that take place in Ottawa. It’s also aiming to do a lot of education. We have two years and I think if we can use our time really well. And we really need to put our effort into getting the word out, getting the information out, and really building a well-informed movement that’s willing to fight in 2010 when it actually comes time to shutting down the games.

We really have an advantage this time having so long ahead of us. Education’s a big aspect of the campaign right now. We’re working on putting out a zine or pamphlet on the games but also on the G8 and the SPP. The SPP is being finalized in 2010 and the G8 is having a summit in Canada in 2010. The zine will be looking at the links between those organizations and the games.

There’s also some stuff happening action-wise in Ottawa too. There’s going to be an Anti-Canada Day. Anti-Canada Days happen in a number of cities and it’s going to happen in Ottawa for the first time in a while. There’s also going to be the (Olympic) torch relay that’s going to be coming through Ottawa so PGA’s going to be trying to disrupt that. We’ve talked a bit about doing an information tour of the Northeast. We’re going to be giving a workshop at the National Conference on Organized Resistance in Washington. We’re also giving a workshop at the Anarchist Book-fair in Montreal in May

Q. Most people aren’t exposed to the negative side of the Olympics. How are you planning on breaking through to ordinary people to let them know there’s a downside? They’re only hearing the state and mass media propaganda about how great the Olympics are and what an “honour” it is to have them in Canada.

It is a huge challenge. We’re fighting something that’s “fun.” That’s what the Olympics are for most people-they’re just this fun thing that happens every couple of years. Because the infrastructure is going up already, because the negative effects of the Olympics are taking place right now, we’ve got some concrete proof we can show to people. We have numbers of people who’ve lost their houses. We have numbers of mountains that have been destroyed, of people who’ve lost their land, of people who’ve died, of people who’ve spent time in prison for resisting the Olympic Games.

We also have the historical proof. In 1968 hundreds of people were murdered by the (Mexican) government because they were resisting the Games. In 1936 the Games happened in Nazi Germany. There’s a lot of stuff we can base our arguments on. It’s just about getting that information out there. Most people once you get talking with realize the problems with the Games. They understand that sports don’t have to be this terrible destructive thing. They can be fun but the 2010 Games are not going to be fun for many people.

Q. Maybe you could talk about some of the resistance so far, including some of the things that have been going on in BC. Not that you could necessarily speak for those people, but you can tell us about it.

The stuff that’s going on in BC has been going on for a few years now, ever since people found out that the games were going to be happening there. There’s a huge coalition of people coming together called the No 2010 Coalition. They have a great web site going with a list of all the actions and information that have been going on the West Coast.

People (in BC) have been doing a lot of different actions. People have been doing squats to bring attention to the fact that people have been losing their homes. People have been doing evictions of VANOC board members offices to talk again about the evictions going on. People have had huge marches that have attracted hundreds of people.

There have also been some smaller, more covert actions. Some of the sponsors are having their windows broken. They’re paint-bombed and things like that.

A lot of the VANOC events have been disrupted too. The countdown clock unveiling event was disrupted in Vancouver. I think that was last year. So a lot of stuff has been going on.

The last month has had a lot of anti-Olympics actions happening nation-wide. Vancouver had a No 2010 march that drew well over 100 people. The Anti-Poverty Committee (of Vancouver) had a march of 30-40 people that ended with a food-serving. The APC just last week went into the (BC) provincial premier’s office and splattered it with paint.

People in Quebec City confronted the Olympics mascot that tried to make an appearance at the Carnival festivities. The mascot had to leave because it was creating a problem.

People in Ottawa disrupted the Omega Clock unveiling ceremony. And then there was that march in Ottawa on Feb 12. And there also have been some broken windows in Ottawa and other covert stuff going on everywhere, constantly.

There’s really a movement building. I feel the momentum is really growing and resistance is increasing. It’s pretty inspiring. People as far away (from Vancouver) as Halifax have been having No 2010 Coalition meetings already and this is still two years in advance. There’s hope that we’ll actually beat the games.

Q. CSIS, Canada’s secret police, recently claimed there was some kind of security threat from people organizing against the Olympics. What is PGA Ottawa’s response to that?

They came out and said that they’re afraid of “violence” at the Games, radical resistance at the Games. They say that they’re going to be watching specific protest groups and specific people. It’s pretty troubling but it’s not surprising. Everywhere the Games have happened, draconian, repressive police tactics have been put in place. Often with lasting effects which remain long after the Games are gone. We’re not surprised that CSIS is coming out with things like that already.

Judging by the resistance that’s happening right now, there will be radical resistance at the Olympic Games. You don’t need to be a genius to realize that. People are being very clear that they have every intention of shutting down the games. And it makes sense that CSIS is noticing.

I think it’s funny that they’re saying there’s going to be violence in 2010. There is violence and it’s happening right now. People are losing their homes. People are losing their land. Those are forms of violence. People have been doing jail-time. People have died resisting the games. I think saying there’s going to be violence in 2010 is very much an understatement considering the situation.

By Common Cause Ottawa

[original article]

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