[antiwar-van] Tomorrow - Olympic Kidnapping Act Community Rally!

[Harsha W.]

A coalition of DTES community groups and allies including CCAP, Streams of
Justice, IOCC, VanAct and DTES Power of Women Group are hosting a march
against the “Olympic Kidnapping Act,” which allows police to detain and
use force on homeless people to compel them into shelters.

*Rally to Stop the 'Olympic Kidnapping Act*
SUNDAY DECEMBER 13 @ 3:30 PM-5:00PM
POLICE STATION (312 MAIN STREET, AT CORDOVA)

Come one, come all!


Press release below:

DTES GROUPS RALLY AGAINST “OLYMPIC KIDNAPPING” ACT

RALLY: SUNDAY DECEMBER 13 @ 3:30 POLICE STATION (312 MAIN, AT CORDOVA)

December 11 2009, Vancouver - A coalition of DTES community groups
including Vancouver Action, Carnegie Community Action Project, Streams of
Justice, and Impact on Communities Coalition, and DTES Power of Women
Group are organizing a rally against what they are calling the “Olympic
Kidnapping
Act”.  They are calling the Act, which allows police to detain and use
force on homeless people to compel them into shelters, fundamentally
undemocratic, unjust, and unconstitutional.

On December 8th, Minister Coleman falsely stated that the Act emerged on
the prompting of service providers. In reality, shelter providers have
publicly lined up against the Act in its current form, including Atira
Women’s Resource Society, First United Church, Lookout Emergency Aid
Society, PHS Community Service Society, and the Downtown Eastside Women
Centre. The Canadian Mental Health Association has all also publically
expressed their significant and grave concerns with the Act.

Although Vancouver Police Chief Jim Chu has stated that the VPD will not
enforce the Act, DTES residents and community activists remain skeptical.
According to Stella August, member of Downtown Eastside Women Centre Power
to Women group, “This Kidnapping Act should be repealed and taken off the
books. Why should we believe it will not be enforced if it has been
enacted? We have already witnessed waves of police crackdowns and broken
police promises such as the ticketing blitz; we are not foolish enough to
believe that this is another coincidence leading up to the Games.”

Beatrice Starr, a longtime resident of the Downtown Eastside and member of
the Power to Women group, states “The police say they will assist the
homeless. But Downtown Eastside residents know well that the police are
not outreach workers; they arrest, intimidate, and criminalize people
every day. Increasing police interactions with residents will only
increase tensions on the street, forcing homeless people, especially
women, into less visible and more dangerous street corners.”

According to Laura Track, housing campaign lawyer with Pivot Legal Society
who is planning a legal challenge to this Act, “The Minister knows this is
an unconstitutional law; this is a cynical strategy by the Liberal
government to force poor people off the streets for the Olympics before
courts strike the legislation down, which will unfortunately take months
if not years.”

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