Vancouver Olympics 2010

from EF! Journal, 30 October 2008: Earth First! has finally come to a loose consensus on capitalism as the root cause of our ecological crisis. As opposed to the mainstream’s reactionary embracement of green lifestyles, the focus on ending capitalism’s grasp on the world gives cohesion to the radical environmental bloc. The first serious campaign created directly toward this strategy has been Root Force, which calls for targeting capitalism’s vulnerable infrastructure at key industrial projects. However, other tactics are also being launched against capitalism that expose additional points of vulnerability. more

from no2010, 9 October 2008: VANCOUVER- Security forces are predicting protests will escalate as the 2010 Olympics approach and have mounted a number of 'intelligence probes' to counteract threats. The information is contained in heavily censored documents obtained by the Vancouver Sun from the Canadian Security Intelligence Service and the RCMP, the lead agency for the Vancouver 2010 Integrated Security Unit (ISU.) more

from no2010, 8 October 2008: 373 per cent jump since 2002 count - Greater Vancouver's homeless crisis continues to grow at a "stunning" and "shocking" rate, with a 373-per-cent increase in street homelessness since 2002. more

from email, 6 September 2008: The 2010 Winter Olympics will take place on unceded indigenous land from February 12-28 2008. Far from being simply about 'sport', the history of the Olympics is one rooted in displacement, corporate greed, fascism, repression, and violence. The Olympics Resistance Network is organizing towards an anti-2010 convergence, currently called for between Feb 10th-15th 2010. more

from no2010, 22 August 2008: from The Edmonton Journal - Canadian officials surveying the Beijing Olympics must be paying special attention to the myriad protests and criticisms -- some overdrawn and overwrought -- that have dogged China before and during the Games. If they are wise, our observers should fight the temptation to feel smugly superior... And while Canada has considerable bragging rights compared with China in the areas of free speech, democracy, religious freedom and other fundamental liberties, we are not without our shiny spots. One of the most threadbare is the perceived -- and real -- environmental baggage associated with Alberta's oilsands, like it or not.  more

from email, 21 August 2008: In the year 2010, three major international events will be taking place in the Canadian state: the Winter Olympics in Vancouver/Whistler (between February 12-28); the G8 Leader's Summit in Huntsville, Ontario (most likely in June or July); and the meeting of the NAFTA leaders as part of the so-called "Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP)" (date and location not yet known). Already, groups and individuals on the West Coast have come together under the banner of "No Olympics on stolen native land." They have been organizing and raising awareness, from an anti-colonial and anti-capitalist perspective, against the 2010 Olympics, for several years.  more

from roadnetwork, 19 March 2008: There are lots of reasons we’re opposing the Olympics. One of the main ones is that they’re happening on stolen (aboriginal) land... 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... 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. more

from infoshop, 17 March 2008: Montreal police arrested 32 people Saturday after an anti-police protest turned violent, leaving the city's downtown with shattered windows, vandalized cars and a police cruiser singed by a molotov cocktail. more

by zz, 11 March 2008: The Olympics are not about the human spirit & have little to do with athletic excellence; they are a multi-billion dollar industry backed by powerful elites, real estate, construction, hotel, tourism and television corporations, working hand in hand with their partners in crime: government officials & members of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). more

from ROAD Network, 5 February 2008: "For years people have been resisting the G8 and the Olympics, and last year saw a major convergence against the SPP. On February 12th 2008 PGA Ottawa is launching its “Capital Punishment 2010" campaign, aimed at disrupting business as usual for the corporations profiting from the Olympics, the SPP and the G8 summit..." more

from mostly water, 31 January 2008: What do Itchy the Bedbug, Creepy the Cockroach and Chewy the Rat have in common with the 2010 Olympics? They are the mascots of the first annual Poverty Olympics to be held on Feb. 3, 2008, just in time for the two-year countdown to the 2010 Winter Games. The event will take place at the Carnegie Theatre, 401 Main St. in Vancouver, from 1-4 pm. more

from ainfos, 23 January 2008: Linchpin* talked to Rev from Sudbury about the 2010 Olympics and why he thought it was something anarchists in Ontario should also be mobilizing against.

"The 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver are creating social turmoil; Vancouver is experiencing social unrest and opposition by Indigenous and anti-poverty activists. The Vancouver Police are being forced to use mounted units and riot police to defend every media event for the Vancouver Olympics committee. The opposition to the Olympics is breaking down old colonial barriers among activists, and teaching people how to work together to oppose corporate agendas, it is building a new solidarity..." more

from ROAD, Canada, 9 January 2008: In 2010, Canada will host the Winter Olympics, the G8 meetings, and will participate in a major Security and Prosperity Partnership summit. PGA Bloc Ottawa invites all anti-imperialist, anti-authoritarian, and anti-oppression groups to join us in Ottawa on January 19th-20th to build a collective strategy for confronting the agenda of capitalist war and occupation, both at home and abroad, that these three institutions represent. more

from ROAD Network, 2 January 2008: With the 2010 Winter Olympics scheduled to occur on unceded Coast Salish, St’at’imc and Squamish territory in two years, the spectacle surrounding them continues to wreak havoc on Indigenous people, poor people, and the Earth. In the spirit of resistance to colonialism, with the 2010 Olympics as a main target, Kanahus Pellkey of the Native Youth Movement and Native youth Dustin Johnson are touring throughout the Great Lakes and East Coast in January and February 2008. more

from email, 22 November 2007: "This was presented by Ange Sterritt on November 15 '07, as part of a West Coast speaking tour to support the TYENDINAGA Mohawks ... The Olympics destroys Native lands, Indigenous women, Indigenous communities, and human dignity. The Olympics creates homelessness, abject poverty, further violence and racism..." more

various sources, 18 October 2007: Indigenous representatives attending an intercontinental Indigenous gathering in Vicam, Sonora Mexico have called for a boycott of the 2010 Olympics Games. The meeting was attended by over 1500 delegates representing nations from the US, Canada, Mexico, Central America and South America. more

repost, 31 August: "It's highly unlikely that the housing promises made during bidding for the 2010 Olympics will be kept, according to the first-ever progress report from city, provincial and federal governments, and Vanoc..." more

Infoshop, August 01 2007: So far, 2007 has been a difficult year for the Vancouver Olympic Organizing Committee (VANOC). In its own words, the past few months have been “frustrating,” “disappointing” and “unfortunate.” During this time, VANOC had hoped to gain positive publicity and promotion for the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Instead, militant direct actions and protests became the primary news stories related to the Olympics. more

from ASS web site, 14 June 2007: 2 articles about the PFI style robbers that are the Olympics. "The Olympic Games have displaced more than 2 million people in the last 20 years,mostly minorities such as the homeless and poor, a rights group said Tuesday..." more

from email: 25 June 2007, More G8 evaluations: Canada... "It was the linking of the arms, over 200 hundred rows made up of 8 to 12 people each and a sister from Berlin who whispered ‘because of the snatch squads’ that reawakened my dormant thoughts on ‘the black bloc’...." more

This is a repost of an article that was reposted to infoshop.org, about an anti-Olympics demonstration that got a bit lively. The 2010 Winter Olympics will be held in Canada, and opposition is flourishing.

The article itself comes from a corporate Canadian newspaper web site so it bigs up the cops and doubts the hygiene of the demonstrators.

The second article (see below) deals with the annual anti-police demos held in Canada.  more

from portland IMC: Once again colonial fascism rears its ugly head as the colonial brownshirts (vancouver police) arrested three Native Warriors on February 13, 2007 for protesting the 2010 winter olympic games, scheduled to take place in unceded Squamish Territory (whistler re: vancouver).

In yet another example of colonial terrorism, the kops arrested NYM Warrior Tselletkwe, of the Secwepemc Nation, Gord Hill of the Kwakwaka'wakw Nation, and Lynn Highway of the Anishnabe Nation. The kops, well known for the terrorism they inflict on Indigenous Peoples, also arrested members of the Indigenous Resistance Organizing Committee (IROC). more