Vancouver Olympics 2010

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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