[Indigsol] even more about the meeting on tuesday

[mattm-b at resist.ca]

hi,

i made this.  you could send it to people and lists.

matt

NO OLYMPICS ON STOLEN LAND!
First organizing meeting of the No2010 Committee

===========================================
6:00pm
Tuesday, Sept. 25th
Exile Infoshop
256 Bank St.
Ottawa, Ontario
===========================================

The Olympics must be exposed and confronted and the fightback must begin
now. The effects of the Olympics are far greater than the games itself -
with gentrification of poor neighbourhoods through draconian policies such
as the Safe Streets Act, increasing privatization of public services, the
expansion of sport tourism on unceded indigenous lands and increased land
tenure to corporations, union busting through decisions such as the
seven-year imposed contract handed down to the BC Ferry and Marine Workers
Union, and exploitative conditions for temporary migrant labour.

On June 14th David Cunningham, Anna Hunter from the Anti-Poverty Committee
and Kim Kerr from the Downtown Eastside Residents Association were in
Ottawa to speak about the resistance to the 2010 Winter Olympics in
Vancouver.

As a result of this members of Exile Infoshop and the Indigenous People’s
Solidarity Movement –Ottawa decided to form a No2010 Committee to work in
solidarity with the No2010 campaign.

Backgrounder

2007 'Countdown 2010' Shutdown!
Indigenous Anti-Olympics Resistance Wins Gold, Silver & Bronze

It all began Feb. 12 with the unveiling of a 3-year Olympic countdown
clock at the Vancouver Art Gallery. Just as the event began (along with
live CTV coverage) a masked Native stormed the stage and grabbed the mic,
shouting "Fuck 2010! Fuck your Corporate Circus!" before being arrested.

On Feb. 24, Harriet Nahanee, a Native elder, passed away in a Vancouver
hospital shortly after serving a 14 day jail term. She had been convicted
of contempt of court for participating in a 2006 blockade of the
Sea-to-Sky Highway expansion for 2010.

Then, on March 6, the massive Olympic flag that flew at city hall was
stolen, just as a delegation of International Olympic Committee officials
arrived for an inspection of VANOC's work. Days later, as the IOC tour
ended, the Native Warrior Society released a communique claiming
responsibility for the theft. They cited Harriet Nahanee's death and
anti-2010 opposition as their motivations.

On March 12, the final countdown 2010 event was held: a flag lighting
ceremony at city hall. Some 200 protesters passed through police security
& searches to disrupt the event with yelling, whistles, & fog horns. Once
again, the heavy police & security presence, along with protesters, were
the main story.

>From our perspective, of course, the main story was the emergence of
grassroots Indigenous resistance to 2010.

Native peoples in 'British Columbia' have a long history of fighting
corporate invasion. In the 1800s, the main colonial power in the region
was the Hudson's Bay Company, backed by gunboats from the Royal Navy.

Today's anti-Olympic resistance is not all that different; corporations
still rely on government force to invade & plunder our ancestral
territories.

Unlike the past, however, this is not clear to many of our people today
(assimilation). In addition, the methods of struggle have changed.

Nevertheless, the same principles apply: defense of our peoples, territory
& way of life.

For information on the 2010 Winter Games:
www.no2010.com

For more information on Anti-Olympics organizing:
www.no2020.com
apc.resist.ca
noii-van.resist.ca/anti-olympics.html