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The 2010 Torch Relay begins in: 215 days

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No2010 Victoria
March 21/09: Networks of Dissent: Anti-Olympics Teach-In PDF Print E-mail
Written by No 2010 Victoria   
Saturday, 07 February 2009 10:09

MARCH 21, 2009
11am to 5pm
755 Pandora Street,
Victoria, Coast Salish Territories
 
THE OLYMPIC TORCH RELAY WILL BEGIN IN VICTORIA!!
HELP BUILD OUR MOVEMENTS FOR JUSTICE AND DIGNITY!!
COME TO A DAY OF WORKSHOPS AND DISCUSSION ON ISSUES, STRATEGIES AND ACTION!!
As the 2010 Olympic Winter Games approach, opposition and resistance are rising. On the mainland, the Olympics have already resulted in infrastructure development on unceded Native land, environmental destruction, gentrification in downtown Vancouver, increased funding for "security" forces and unethical labour practices. These issues are intensifying against a backdrop of escalating public debt. But the issues at stake on the mainland also touch communities on Vancouver Island – before, during and after the Olympic Games. With the torch relay beginning in Victoria on October 30, it's time for our movements to come together, organize our opposition, and make our voices heard!
You are invited to a day of workshops focused on building coordinated campaigns and actions in Victoria.

SCHEDULE ==> NETWORKS OF DISSENT: AN ANTI-OLYMPIC TEACH-IN

Opening and Welcome
11:00 – 11:30 am

Remarks by No 2010 Victoria

11:30 – 11:45 am

WORKSHOP SLOT A
11:45 am – 12:45 pm

==> Workshop 1

Ecodefense and the Law of the Land * Zoe Blunt

Not a legal rights workshop, but a look at how development and colonization destroy the natural world and our communities. We examine the challenges of defending the land and ways to leverage more pressure on the powers-that-be. The Law of the Land says those who "own" the land make the laws, and vice versa.

==> Workshop 2

Dealing with Impacts of Housing and Homelessness in Victoria * David Turner -The Committee to End Homelessness

The impacts of displacement of housing and tenants in Vancouver leading up to the Olympic Games are recognized. This is a brainstorming session to plan strategies to reduce such impacts in Victoria.

==> Workshop 3

Decolonization and Land Restitution * Details coming soon!

FREE COMMUNITY LUNCH
12:45 – 1:30 pm

WORKSHOP SLOT B
1:30 am – 2:30 pm

==> Workshop 1

Local Legacies of Our Colonial Inheritances * Serena Kataoka

The 2010 Olympics has been bought and sold on “legacies” at the cost of accepting our inheritances. This workshop will explore how we can assume response-ability for our colonial inheritances, such as Victoria, BC... and the world. Might we make other legacies possible?

==> Workshop 2

Health Care Workers fighting for justice: The General Strike and Beyond * Marilyn Rust and Bob Wilson

After the Gordon Campbell's government decimated BC's public sector Hospital Employee Union members stood up and fought back, despite the labour movement, and sometimes their own leadership, trying to stop them. Come and here stories from the front lines of the general strike that was and the one that will be in March 2010. (While this workshop is provided by union members, is not endorsed by the Hospital Employees’ Union as a whole.)

==> Workshop 3

Harm Reduction Victoria * Details coming soon!


WORKSHOP SLOT A

2:45 – 3:45 pm

==> Workshop 1

Minstrels of Bremen: Tentcities and the local impact of 2010 * Rose Henry, Trish Palichuk and Nathaniel Uhlman - Temporary Autonomous Shelter Committee (TASC)

Reflections on Seattle's tentcities as a model for resistance and solidarity by the homeless and their allies against the impact of the Olympic Games.

==> Workshop 2

SOLID: Society of Living Intravenous Drug Users * Details coming soon!


==> Workshop 3

PEERS: Prostitutes Empowerment Education and Resource Society * Details coming soon!


CLOSING PLENARY

4:00 – 5:00 pm

==> Building local alliances in opposition to the 2010 Games and Torch Relay

* Presenters from all 9 workshops

A plenary of people involved in a diversity of local movements will come together to share ideas for action as the Torch Relay and Games draw near. Share your ideas and leave the teach-in inspired!

 

Last Updated on Tuesday, 17 March 2009 15:25
 
Volunteers & Organizers Needed! PDF Print E-mail
Written by No 2010 Victoria   
Thursday, 12 March 2009 10:33

 

Be part of Victoria's "Olympic Countdown"!

We need people to join our organizing collective, and/or to help out with:

Advance Jobs

1. Poster Distribution - flexible hours, to be completed anytime before St. Paddy's Day, March 18th
2. Food Preparation Assistance - Help needed on Friday, March 20th. Times & place to be announced.
3. Kids Activities: We could use someone to gather old crayons and photocopy anti-olympic colouring sheets.

Jobs to be completed at the Teach-In, Saturday March 21st

1. Kitchen Serving/tidy-up: 12:45 to 2pm - Need 2 people
2. Doors/Welcoming Guests: 1 hour shifts between 11am and 5pm - Need between 6 and 12 volunteers
3. Site Take-down /Cleaning: 5 - 6pm - The more the merrier! Ideally, we need at least 6 people.

If you can help, come to a meeting (see calendar) or get in touch with us at: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Last Updated on Thursday, 12 March 2009 10:38
 
What do the Olympics have to do with Victoria? PDF Print E-mail
Written by No 2010 Victoria   
Saturday, 07 February 2009 12:53

Yes, it's true! The Olympics will impact Victoria


Embedded within ongoing colonial processes and further invasions into Indigenous peoples' territories is the assumption that wealth can be siphoned off the impending spectacle of Olympic proportions. What expense does some speculation of "profit" have on average individuals, and the land we live on?


People across Victoria and all of British Columbia have ALREADY been affected by the Olympic money-pit, where ever increasing costs and impending bail-outs has already taken money away from healthcare, education, and other social programs. The results have been a dramatic increase in homelessness, unnecessary investments in security measures, a steady growth in privatization and corporatization and blatant ecocide. While many concerned citizen groups in Victoria are working on these issues, we have yet to come together and draw out the connections between our struggles and the 2010 Olympics.


We're facing the same issues


Many of the issues that Olympics critics have raised in Vancouver are equally applicable in Victoria. The most immediate implication the 2010 Olympics will have in Victoria is obvious: we can expect an influx of displaced people from downtown Vancouver. Impact studies warning about the 'street cleansing 'initiatives used to displace the urban poor and the homeless have already raised concerns. How many will seek refuge in Victoria? Who will help them? What have businesses concerned with the "tourist dollar" ever given to the disposed?


Don't forget that the Olympic torch relay will begin in Victoria!


The Olympic torch relay will begin in Victoria next October before traveling across the province. Communities across BC will be organizing to voice their opposition to the games and to draw attention to local issues. The time to begin mobilizing in Victoria is now!

Last Updated on Sunday, 08 March 2009 20:45