WOMBLES - Vancouver Olympics 2010

Vancouver 2010: Anti-Olympic Resistance unleashed!

Fri, 05 Feb 2010 13:43:08 +0000

from mostly water, 3 February 2010: Over the past three years, the Olympic Resistance Network has coordinated anti-Olympics efforts in Vancouver and across the country. Due to a growing and vibrant movement to oppose the Olympic Games, VANOC and government officials are no longer able to host large public Olympic events in Vancouver without being shamed. During the RBC and Coca-Cola sponsored Olympic Torch relay, protesters in over thirty cities, towns, and Indigenous communities brought forward their message of “No Olympics on Stolen Native Land”, “Get your torch off our land, we don’t want your Olympic scam” and “2010 Homes not 2010 Games”..." more

Resources: Crossing the border into Canada

Thu, 21 Jan 2010 14:00:20 +0000

from olympicresistance, 19 January 2010: "As the Olympics approach, American and Canadian Border Services Agencies (Homeland Security and CBSA) have teamed up to tighten what they call "security," particularly along the BC/Washington border. This means not only an increased level of militarization at border crossings, but also an intensification in the profiling of "suspicious persons." Border agencies are working hard to expand their range of targets from migrants, people of colour and indigenous people, to political dissidents at large..." more

Convergence February 2010: All Out Against the 2010 Winter Olympic Games!

Tue, 12 Jan 2010 14:57:58 +0000

via mostlywater, 9 January 2010: "The 2010 Winter Olympics will take place in Vancouver & Whistler, on unceded Indigenous land, from February 12-28, 2010. We call on all anti-capitalist, Indigenous, housing rights, labour, migrant justice, environmental, anti-war, community-loving, anti-poverty, civil libertarian, and anti colonial activists to come together to confront this two-week circus and the oppression it represents. We are organizing towards a global anti-capitalist and anti-colonial convergence against the 2010 Olympic Games..." more

Vancouver groups statements opposing 2010 Winter Olympic Games

Fri, 18 Dec 2009 17:10:10 +0000

from noii-vancouver, 17 December 2009: "Statement by No One Is Illegal: While the 2010 Olympics are still a short time away, many are well aware of the devastating impact they are having on our communities. From traditional Indigenous territories to the impoverished Downtown Eastside (DTES), and from migrant workers to low-income families, thousands are being evicted, displaced, and exploited. It is undeniable that the Olympics is causing the devastation of the environment, creating homelessness, perpetuating the theft of Indigenous lands, exploiting migrant labour, forcing greater privatization, accruing massive public debt, and resulting in increased state criminalization..." more

Ten reasons to holler profanities at the television in February 2010

Fri, 18 Dec 2009 16:59:58 +0000

from zmag, 17 December 2009: "The 2010 Winter Olympics are coming to Vancouver. For some folks that's reason to celebrate but for most of us out here on Canada's Left Coast it's a disaster. The contemporary Olympic movement has strayed catastrophically from its origins and is now a monumentally arrogant corporate greed fest, intent on smarmy spectacle and maximum profit generation. More than that, the Olympics are a blunt neo-liberal force for transforming cities, going end-around on civic democracy and remaking public space as hyper-securitized surveillance zones..." more

How much does an anarchist cost? Repression and resistance to the 2010 Olympic Torch Relay

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 20:23:40 +0000

from mw, 22 November 2009: "In the week leading up to the Olympic Torch Relay kick-off in Victoria, numerous people, who oppose the Olympics, were harassed by RCMP officers of the Vancouver 2010 Joint Intelligence Group (JIG) – an arm of Olympic Security. This same group of RCMP is likely following the torch across the country. Resistance sympathizers in other locations may face similar police tactics..." more

Council of Canadians: 2010 Olympics will leave legacy of social & environmental destruction

Sat, 17 Oct 2009 14:23:48 +0000

via mostly water, 9 October 2009: "We at the Council of Canadians understand and appreciate the pleasure and enjoyment so many around the world share in the spectacle and achievements of the Olympic Games. However, with less than half a year until the 2010 Games begin, we are gravely concerned by the increasing evidence that these worthy aspects are being overwhelmed, if not totally supplanted, by an “Olympic industry” focused on real-estate development and massive corporate marketing opportunities..." more

Call out for anti-2010 Olympics solidarity! October 29th-31st 2009

Thu, 08 Oct 2009 14:29:42 +0000

from anarchistnews.org, 6 October 2009: “Our struggles come from before 2010 and will reach beyond!” This is a call out for direct action and solidarity. At the end of October, the Olympic Torch will come from Greece to Canada..." more

Free speech not welcome at 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 15:42:54 +0000

from mostlywater, 6 July 2009: "British Columbia Civil Liberties Association - "In the wake of the [University of British Columbia] forbidding students from posting signs and posters on dorm buildings or in dorm windows “visible from the Thunderbird Winter Sports Centre” and the [Vancouver/Whistler 2010 Olympics Organizing Committee] urging cities to prohibit political leafleting or signs during the Olympic torch run, the BCCLA has come to the troubling conclusion that free speech is not welcome at the Olympics..." more

Vancouver: Police brutality is not a game! 31 July 2009

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 15:24:31 +0000

from apc, updated 28 July 2009: "On July 31st 2009 Vancouver will be hosting the World Police and Fire Games. The games is an international sporting event where police officers, firefighters, customs and correction officers compete against each other in over 65 sporting events. More than 12,000 police officers, corrections officers and firefighters will be in Vancouver for the 10 day event..." more

Canada: Joint Intelligence Group targetting Anti-Olympic activists

Fri, 12 Jun 2009 00:10:48 +0000

from sumoud, 11 June 2009: "Between the afternoon of June 3 till June 5, 2009, approximately 15 anti-Olympics activists were visited by Vancouver 2010 Integrated Security Unit (VISU) Joint Intelligence Group officers. Surprise visits by plain-clothes officers included home visits, work place visits, persistent phone calls, and intimidation of family members and neighbours..." more

2010: Communiqué from the Logistics Committee of the Olympics Resistance Network

Thu, 23 Apr 2009 15:00:21 +0000

from no2010, 22 April 2009: "If you are planning on coming in [February] 2010, this is for you. The 2010 Winter Olympics are set to take place on unceded indigenous land from February 12-28 2010. In addition to building ongoing educational and resistance efforts, we are organizing toward a convergence in 2010, called for between Feb. 10th-15th 2010... To that end, we are asking groups and individuals planning to travel to the convergence to contact us now so that we are able to assess potential numbers and the logistical support that will be required in terms of housing, food, and other forms of support..." more

ORN statement: Solidarity & unity in opposing the 2010 Vancouver Olympics

Tue, 03 Feb 2009 16:46:31 +0000

from ORN via MW, 2 February 2009: "The Olympics Resistance Network is based in Vancouver, Coast Salish Territories and exists as a space to coordinate anti-colonial and anti-capitalist efforts against the 2010 Games. Our organizing is based on the recognition that the Olympics is taking place on unceded Native land, and exists to create a movement for all anti capitalist, Indigenous, anti poverty, labour, migrant justice, housing, environmental justice, civil libertarian, anti war, and anti colonial activists to join forces..." more

Winter Olympics 2010: Vancouver's billion-dollar debt

Wed, 14 Jan 2009 14:41:59 +0000

from mw, 13 January 2009: "The Olympic village is a billion-dollar project, and the city taxpayers are on the hook for all of it." — Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson. What’s that sucking sound? Oh, that’s everyone in Vancouver gasping for air before they scream themselves hoarse. Earlier concerns about a secret $100 million Olympic loan were eclipsed today by the mayor’s announcement that the secret deal actually leaves taxpayers responsible for at least one billion dollars in Olympic spending. (Not counting the security budget — more about that below. more

Targetting of Anti-Olympics movement: what to do when police and spies come knocking

Mon, 22 Dec 2008 02:57:05 +0000

from no2010, 20 December 2008: "Since 2007, police & intelligence agencies have targetted anti-2010 Olympics opposition as a 'security threat' to the Games. This has included media articles based on reports from CSIS and police specifically mentioning Indigenous and other social movements in Vancouver. Police have publicly stated their need to increase surveillance of anti-2010 resistance..." more