[Indigsol] Resist the Olympics: Dominion Launch and Speakers, Tuesday, Dec. 8 at 7pm

[Indigenous Peoples' Solidarity Movement -Ottawa]

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Resist the Olympics: Dominion Launch and Speakers
Tuesday, Dec. 8 at 7pm
Exile Infoshop
256 Bank St.
Sorry this location is not wheelchair accessible
orottawa at gmail.com
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Guillaume Latendresse (Montreal Canadians) will be speaking about the
Olympics for the Olympics resistance Network
Other speakers TBC
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This event is both an educational event to raise awareness about the
destructive impacts of the Olympics and the launch party for the newest
issue of The Dominion. This most recent issue of The Dominion is a Special
Report on the Winter Olympics.

ALSO, The olympic torch will be in Ottawa between Dec. 12 - 14. Olympics
Resistance Ottawa will be organizing a demonstration to show that, despite
the constant propaganda, not everyone LOVES the Olympics. No Olympics on
Stolen Native Land!
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What is wrong with the Olympics?

The Olympics are not about the human spirit and have little to do with
athletic excellence. They are a multi-billion dollar industry backed by
real estate, construction, hotel, tourism and media corporations, and
powerful elites working hand in hand with government officials and the
International Olympic Committee (IOC). While public pressure is unlikely
to stop the 2010 Games from occupying Vancouver, critical resistance is
needed to expose deceptions about the Games’ impact and purposes, voice
our dissent to the world, and strengthen social movement solidarity.

Occupation of Stolen Native Land: The vast majority of B.C. is unceded
Native land, unlawfully occupied by B.C. and Canada. By Canadian law,
Native title exists unless yielded by treaty and little of B.C. is
covered, even by flawed treaties. Neglect of First Nations’ social,
environmental, and political rights by a state that benefits from
Aboriginal resources is a serious political crisis ignored by Canada and
the Games.

“Security” and Eroding Civil Liberties: Increasing political repression
and security build-ups accompany modern Games. Estimates for Vancouver of
at least 16,500 Canadian military, border guards, private security, VPD,
RCMP, and CSIS agents (plus foreign security) are unrealistically low: the
Sydney Games had 35,000 police and security (4 cops per athlete) with
4,000 troops and commando units and the Athens Games had 70,000 police,
security, and military forces. There will be at least 40 km of
crowd-control fencing, video surveillance, and airport-style security
zones around the city, including on public property. The monitoring and
intimidation of political opposition has already begun. Vancouver City
Council has followed the IOC requests to create an environment free of
protest by enhancing bylaws to restrict posters, signs, leaflets, marches,
noise-makers, and any possible “disturbance” to Olympic entertainment.
Many elements can become permanent (such as public video monitoring, new
security bodies and policing rules, and the criminalization of protest)
and security costs are up to $1 billion.

Environmental Destruction and Waste: The 2010 Games will be one of the
most ecologically damaging in history, featuring clear cuts, mountain
blasting, road construction (and expansion of traffic), gravel mining
(damage to fish stocks), massive amounts of steel, plastics, cement, wood,
etc., threats to animal populations, unnecessary luxury buildings, and
expanded infrastructure (with accelerated approvals) for mining, logging,
oil and gas exploration, ski resorts, and tourism. Approximately 100,000
trees have been cut down for Olympic development.

Corporatization: The Games are entirely commercialized, with pro athletes,
exclusive corporate sponsors, and crony deals for development,
construction, and media companies. Image control is crucial and all
outdoor advertising in Vancouver has been sold to the Games and their
sponsors for weeks around the Games. The anthem lyrics “with glowing
hearts” and words like “friend” have become trademarks related to the
Olympics. Games regularly benefit and are sponsored by companies with poor
human rights and environmental records, like Nike, Shell, McDonald’s,
Coca-Cola, Petro-Canada, Dow, Teck Cominco, TransCanada, and arms makers
GE and GM.

Damage to Communities: Racial profiling and lock-downs of ethnic
communities are common for the Games (black neighbourhoods in L.A. and
Atlanta, Muslims in Athens, etc.). More tourists increase abuses in the
sex trade. Host cities routinely criminalise the poor or homeless and
socially cleanse their cities (Vancouver relocated the homeless out of
sight for Expo 86 and Atlanta did the same for its Games). The Vancouver
Police crackdown on visible poverty has led to hundreds of tickets for
panhandling, jaywalking, second-hand sales on the streets, and sleeping in
parks. The sacrifice of housing, social services, and environmental and
labour laws also hurt the poor, homeless, women, minorities, Natives, and
workers. Since the 1980s, Games and their construction have displaced over
2 million people.

Honouring Exploitation: Despite Olympic claims, Games occur in places that
violate “international standards” (Nazi Germany in 1936, more than 300
students massacred in Mexico prior to the 1968 Games, political oppression
in China during the 2008 Games, etc.). Games are used to rally for
nationalist causes, impose social control, and attract corporate
investment, more than to celebrate “pure sport.” Past presidents of the
corrupt IOC (including colonialists, Nazi sympathisers, and officials of
fascist states) have used the Games to suppress dissent and serve their
political and economic interests. Like the WTO, FTAA, G8, and APEC, the
Games will use public funds to honour leaders from repressive regimes.

Lack of Affordable Housing: During a housing crisis,
single-room-occupancies (cheap hotels) and affordable rentals are
torn-down or converted to high-priced housing while the City lends money
to build Olympic condos. Promises of affordable and social housing and
shelter spaces are rarely met by host cities and Vancouver has already
admitted that commitments will not be met. In fact, since the bid in 2003,
we have lost over 850 low-income housing units and homelessness has
tripled. Salt Lake City Games planned for 2500 units of affordable housing
and created only 150; prior to Sydney’s Games, tenant evictions increased
400%; and Calgary failed to build any of its pledged social housing.

Public Costs and Debt: The $6 billion cost of Vancouver’s Games keeps
increasing with cost overruns and hidden transfers. Host cities take on
huge debts: Montreal’s 1976 Games were only paid off in 2002; Calgary had
a $910 million debt; Barcelona a $1.4 billion debt; Sydney a $2.3 billion
debt; etc. Claims of long-term economic benefits have been proven false in
previous Games. The Olympics are an expensive 17-day corporate circus
(during an economic crisis) that will cost us all for years to come.