From ron at resist.ca  Thu May  1 19:02:36 2003
From: ron at resist.ca (ron)
Date: 01 May 2003 19:02:36 -0700
Subject: [news] Nuxalk Blockade
Message-ID: <1051840956.15540.33.camel@murray>


From: sharai <sharai at resist.ca>
To: van-announce at resist.ca
Subject: Nuxalk Blockade
Date: 01 May 2003 11:44:05 -0700

Nuxalk Nation Hereditary Chiefs stop two trucks from passing through Nuxalk
Nation traditional territory.  For six hours April 30,2003 Members of the
Nuxalk Nation Hereditary chiefs and community stop two trucks carrying
farmed salmon originating from Marine Harvest in Kitasoo territory.  Nuxalk
Nation Hereditary Chief Snuxyaltwa parked his family truck in front of the
two trucks and went for assistance from the community.  Chief Qwatsinas
started to seek information from Marine Harvest on under whose
authorization were they granted permission to truck farmed salmon through
Nuxalk traditional territory. Response from Marine Harvest is that they got
permission from the tribal administrator, who works for Kitasoo as well as
the Nuxalk and Oweekeno Nations.  After several hours of negotiations the
trucks were permitted to leave.  With no more illegal transportation
of  farmed salmon through Nuxalk territory without prior approval of Nuxalk
Hereditary chiefs and it's citizens. Marine Harvest informed the Nuxalk
that it will not be ready to ship farmed salmon for the next eight months.




-- 





From pat_wobbly at hotmail.com  Fri May  2 19:42:09 2003
From: pat_wobbly at hotmail.com (Pat S)
Date: Fri, 02 May 2003 19:42:09 -0700
Subject: [news] Somerville Theater Projectionists Attacked on Picket Line
Message-ID: <Sea2-F10PQmfByZZA7Z0001830d@hotmail.com>

Somerville Theater Projectionists Attacked On Picket Line

When Somerville Theater projectionists approached their manager to demand
union recognition, he told them it had been nice knowing them. The
projectionists had been attempting for months to resolve low pay and
unhealthy working conditions before joining the International Alliance of
Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE, which represents projectionists in most
Boston cinemas) and demanding recognition April 30. When management
informed IATSE officials that they refused to recognize the union May 1,
the projectionists set up picket lines.

The striking projectionists were joined on the picket line by an IATSE
representative, by members of other local unions including AFSCME and the
IWW, and by dozens of community supporters. At its peak, the sidewalk in
front of the theater was lined with 50 pickets chanting "Recognize the
union, or the show will not go on."

After an hour of peaceful picketing, more than a dozen Somerville and
Medford police arrived on the scene, complete with a paddy wagon which
they parked in front of the theater entrance.  Police proceeded to mount
several assaults on the picketline, knocking several picketing workers to
the ground, throwing one into oncoming traffic on the adjacent street, and
hitting others with clubs.  A member of the IWW was taken to hospital
coughing up blood after he was attacked and choked by police. For several
minutes as films were scheduled to begin, police forcibly prevented any
picketing in front of the theater.

While the projectionists were picketing outside, films were shown inside
by a scab projectionist force lined up by the so-called Boston Independent
Film Festival and secretly trained on the Somerville Theater equipment in
the days leading up to workers' demand for union recognition.

Picketing continues on a daily basis outside the Somerville Theater,
beginning at 5 p.m.  Several members of the Industrial Workers of the
World will join the picketline Saturday, May 3, to protest the scheduled
screening of "An Injury To All," a documentary about IWW General Executive
Board member and organizer Frank Little, who was lynched by the copper
bosses during a strike in Butte, Montana. The IWW has written the
filmmaker, asking that the film be withdrawn from the festival as Frank
Little would never have crossed a picket line.

The striking projectionists can be contacted at
Pissed_Off_Projectionists at yahoo.com





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Iww-list mailing list
Iww-list at lists.iww.org
https://lists.iww.org/mailman/listinfo/iww-list


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From pat_wobbly at hotmail.com  Sun May  4 11:55:56 2003
From: pat_wobbly at hotmail.com (Pat S)
Date: Sun, 04 May 2003 11:55:56 -0700
Subject: [news] May 1st = Loyalty Day?
Message-ID: <Sea2-F63DWpmy20h08x0004c709@hotmail.com>

Bush declares May 1st as "Loyalty Day"

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/04/20030430-26.html




_________________________________________________________________
MSN 8 helps eliminate e-mail viruses. Get 2 months FREE*.  
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From sabate at ziplip.com  Fri May  2 13:11:32 2003
From: sabate at ziplip.com (sabate)
Date: Fri, 2 May 2003 13:11:32 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: [news] A History of Vancouver Police Violence on May Day
Message-ID: <FWICP4L5GOFQNVCPBWP0DTMBGDD0MLMGFTAPF4KD@ziplip.com>

A History of Vancouver Police Violence on May Day 

May Day 2000 

Police preemptively arrested 2 people before the demonstration began. Police later issued an arrest warrant for a demonstrator for ?causing a public disturbance? on May Day by entering a Starbucks cafe and addressing worker's struggle. 

May Day 2001 

Police arrested a group of demonstrators for postering bus shelters with information on worker's struggle and in reference to the bus driver's strike that was taking place at the time. Police pepper-sprayed the angry crowd as the arrested demonstrators were driven away. 

May Day 2002 

Police arrest one person inside Pacific Centre mall after May Day demonstration for ?attempted mischief? and ?causing a public disturbance.? Before being arrested this person had been hit in the face, causing cuts and bleeding, and knocked to the ground by a plain-clothes person who may have been a shopper, a security guard, or an undercover police officer. 3 police officers then tackled the person to the ground and kneed the individual in the back as he was handcuffed and taken away. A police officer punched another demonstrator in the face and broke the person's nose as the first demonstrator was being arrested. Later on, as the demonstration reached the jail where the first arrested demonstrator was being held, police attacked and arrested 3 homeless street youth. 

May Day 2003 

Several Vancouver police officers attacked a disabled man in a motorized wheel-chair during the May Day march. At Georgia and Granville the man in the wheel-chair attempted to burn an American flag. A police officer stepped in, ripped the flag out of the man's hand, the disabled man fell to the ground, the cop grabbed him, and several more officers ran in and surrounded the man. The violent cops wrestled with the man on the ground as many demonstrators rushed to his aid. Police attacked a demonstrator by ramming him with a bicycle. Eventually the disabled man was able to leave and he was not arrested. Later, at the Art Gallery, demonstrators managed to burn the American flag, to the displeasure of the violent cops. 


From ron at resist.ca  Tue May  6 14:35:46 2003
From: ron at resist.ca (ron)
Date: 06 May 2003 14:35:46 -0700
Subject: [news] City of Chicago GUILTY
Message-ID: <1052256946.837.54.camel@murray>

-----Forwarded Message-----

From: pippikrakra at resist.ca
To: copb-van-l at lists.resist.ca
Subject: [copb-van-l] City of Chicago GUILTY
Date: 06 May 2003 12:14:03 -0700

City of Chicago GUILTY of Covering Up Criminal Police Violence
by Chicago Anti-Bashing Network 11:36am Sat May 3 '03 (Modified on 10:50am
Tue May 6 '03) article#25654
phone: 888.471.0874 CABNstopthehate at aol.com

$1 Million Verdict in Federal Court
CHICAGO -- On Friday, a ten-person jury found the City of Chicago guilty
of systematically covering up criminal violence by its police officers, to
the point where officers felt they could commit crimes without fear of
arrest or discipline by the department.
The City has said it will appeal the decision.

The wide ranging civil suit, Garcia v. City of Chicago, examined all other
cases of police violence investigated by the City over a two year period,
and found that in only two of the 72 cases did the City refer a case the
States Attorney's office for criminal prosecution, in only one case was
there an arrest, and in none of the cases did sworn police officers face
employment-related sanctions such as suspensions or firings. Between 1999
and 2001, of the 135 cases where a citizen sued the police department for
misconduct by its officers, the Internal Affairs Department recommended
discipline in only one of them.

"If the accused is a civilian, and they know who he is and where he lives,
they put the cuffs on him. But if the accused works for the police
department, the accused is treated very differently," said Jon Loevy, lead
attorney in the case against the City. "It is a system where off duty
police officers have special protections, they are above the law, they can
get away with it." Other attorneys for the plaintiff firm, Loevy and
Loevy, were Mike Kanovitz and Arthur Loevy.

The landmark civil suit stemmed from the City's failure to act against one
of its officers before and after the severe beating of George Garcia, 23,
near the 20th District Foster station in February 2001. Officer Samir
Oshana allegedly repeatedly threatened Garcia after the latter's
ex-girlfriend began seeing Oshana, but continued to telephone Garcia.
Garcia, however, had a photograph of Oshana showing him flashing a Latin
Kings gang sign, and said he would turn the photograph over to the police
if Oshana didn't cease his physical threats.

When Oshana's threats didn't cease, Garcia visited the Foster District
police station on February 2, 2001 and asked that officers there take
action against Oshana. That evening Oshana and another alleged Latin Kings
gang member, Sargon Hewiyou, confronted Garcia and demanded that Garcia
turn the photo over to them. Both flashed badges and guns, even though
Hewiyou apparently is not a police officer. "I'm a fucking cop," said
Oshana. "You better give me the photo or I'll fuck you up."

In front of six corroborating witnesses, Oshana and Hewiyou then punched
Garcia in the face, knocking him down, and then kicked him in the face and
hip. Garcia, who suffered a fractured eye orbital and nose, escaped from
the beating, ran to the nearby Foster District station, and again made a
report. Like many of the victims in the 72 other cases of police violence
investigated by the City, Garcia vainly demanded that the police arrest
one of their own.

Later that evening, Oshana's partner radioed him to let him know that
Foster District police had identified Oshana as the suspected attacker.
Oshana in turn telephoned his watch commander, Lt. Cohnen, who told Oshana
to evade arrest. Instead of advising Oshana to turn himself in, Cohnen
told him to stay at home and that if located by police or arrested, to
phone Cohnen immediately. If police did not find him, Cohnen advised
Oshana, "then don't worry about it."

Over the next year and half, Garcia and his family received numerous
threats of violence, including death threats, from Oshana and his
associates, but still police refused to arrest or discipline Oshana, until
Garcia filed the civil suit naming a sergeant in the City's Internal
Affairs Department (IAD).

As part of the cover-up, evidence from States Attorneys' files shows that
IAD's Sgt. Joe Fivelson crudely backdated a request for prosecution to
make it appear as though Garcia's suit was not what caused the City to
act. However, in a supplementary report, Fivelson wrote that "the battery
victim filed a Federal Civil Suit (01 C8934) which prompted contacting ASA
Ann Head, Public Integrity Section for determination of possible charges."
In a deposition Fivelson testified that when he heard that Oshana told
Hewiyou that the police would "cover up" the fact that Hewiyou hit Garcia,
Fivelson "chuckled about it" and didn't bother to ask any follow up
questions.

In addition to their police being found guilty of covering up the criminal
violence by officers, the City potentially faces further sanctions as the
cover-up spread beyond the police department. City attorneys Darcy Proctor
and Sherry Baldwin, the police's Office of Professional Standards, and
their Internal Affairs Department are likely to face contempt of court
proceedings. Potentially critical pages were missing from many documents
ordered from the city, many were produced well after discovery, and a
critical witness was withheld until the last minute. At one point Judge
James Holderman angrily exclaimed to City attorneys, "I have the distinct
feeling that you don't want me to review the evidence." And then when the
City was caught concealing the witness, Holderman shouted at Baldwin, "Is
there anything else you want to lie to me about?"

The surprise witness turned out to be one Kenneth Boudreau, a Chicago
police officer with one of the most notorious reputations for misconduct
on the entire 13,500-member force. Boudreau once was a close associate of
Lt. Commander Jon Burge, the ringleader of an infamous police torture ring
at Chicago Area Two police headquarters during the 1970s, 80s and early
90s. Burge and other officers were found by Amnesty International and the
city's Goldston Commission to be conducting systematic torture using
electrical shock to the genitals, Russian Roulette, suffocations and
burnings of dozens of African American suspects to get them to "confess"
to crimes.

Boudreau's record of alleged brutality and misconduct lasted well past the
Burge era. A lengthy December 17, 2001 Chicago Tribune article about
Boudreau noted that

"He has obtained a [murder] confession from a man who, records show, was
in jail when the murder occurred He helped to get confessions from two
mentally retarded teenagers for two separate murder cases, but they both
were acquitted. And he got the confession of a 13-year-old with severe
learning disabilities who experts said could not understand his rights
Boudreau has been accused by defendants of punching, slapping or kicking
them; interrogating a juvenile without a youth officer present; and of
taking advantage of mentally retarded suspects and others with low IQs."

Little substantive testimony was given by Boudreau in the trial as he is
currently assigned to the Drug Enforcement Agency and the Federal Bureau
of Investigation, and federal regulations prohibit federal employees from
testifying in civil suits except with special permission by the Federal
Marshall's office. Thanks to the last minute revelation by the City that
Boudreau was a witness and employed by the DEA and FBI, it was impossible
to get that permission in time for the trial. When City attorneys claimed
that they didn't know of Boudreau's federal connections preventing his
testimony, Holderman exclaimed that "It seems to me that the City has put
its head in the sand for fear of finding out what it should know. Is it a
constitutional violation or ineptitude?"

Despite the City's best efforts at concealment, the Garcia v. Chicago
lawsuit forced it to reveal the City's systemic failure to discipline its
officers. Among the critical documents revealed was a policy memo from the
Office of Professional Standards (OPS), the police agency charged with
investigating alleged police misconduct. The OPS memo outlined the limited
criteria under which the City would refer alleged cases of criminal police
violence to the Cook County States Attorney's office for prosecution.
Though even these limited criterion were routinely ignored, they were
instructive as to how the City actually operates. Among the criteria for
referring a case for prosecution was not necessarily the facts of the
case, but whether the alleged violence was a "media case" - i.e., public
pressure, or the lack of it, determined whether or not OPS allowed the
incident to be criminally prosecuted.

Thanks to Garcia's lawsuit, Officer Oshana and his alleged associate in
the Latin Kings gang, Sargon Hewiyou, are now under criminal indictment
for felony aggravated battery in the Feb. 2, 2001 attack, and Oshana faces
several counts of official misconduct. In addition to the photo which
caught Oshana flashing a Latin Kings gang sign, Oshana's alleged boss in
the Latin Kings gang, Ozzie Younan, posed for a photo flashing the Kings
gang sign while wearing Oshana's badge hung around his neck with a gun in
his lap. Oshana is also under investigation for allegedly stealing drugs
from police drug busts, and giving them to his fellow Latin Kings members
for resale on the street. Hewiyou is accused of impersonating an officer
not only in the Feb. 2001 attack, but also in at least two other incidents
at the Chromium Nightclub, 817 W. Lake Street, where he worked as a
part-time bouncer.

The Chicago Anti-Bashing Network assisted George Garcia and the law firm
of Loevy and Loevy by organizing court watch and publicity for the case.

www.CABN.org add your own comments






_______________________________________________
copb-van-l mailing list
copb-van-l at lists.resist.ca
https://lists.resist.ca/mailman/listinfo/copb-van-l


From resist at resist.ca  Thu May  8 14:31:56 2003
From: resist at resist.ca (resist admin)
Date: Thu, 8 May 2003 14:31:56 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: [news] Saskatoon Credit Union Threatens to use Scabs
Message-ID: <Pine.LNX.4.53.0305081431010.7868@resist.ca>



Roughly 150 employees of the Saskatoon Credit Union are on
the picket line after being served a lock out notice on May
2nd.

Workers from all nine branches of the credit union in
Saskatoon and Warman are walking pickets.

Don Logan of the United Food and Commercial Workers union
says says the company told the employees that it would use
scabs to keep branches open.

"If the employer plans to grow its business, then
certainly, the employees should have an opportunity to have
their jobs grow with it," says Logan.

The union says it wants a new contract that would assure
job postings continue for all jobs and that job
displacement rules continue to apply for employees who are
laid off.

They also want to make sure that employees from any
subsidiary companies set up by the credit union are also
covered under their contract.


=====

Yours for the New Society,

Mark Dickson

From resist at resist.ca  Mon May 12 11:26:09 2003
From: resist at resist.ca (resist admin)
Date: Mon, 12 May 2003 11:26:09 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: [news] MISTRIAL!! (from OCAP)
Message-ID: <Pine.LNX.4.53.0305121125130.15641@resist.ca>



---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Sun, 11 May 2003 23:51:38 -0400 (EDT)
From: OCAP <ocap at tao.ca>
To: "ocap at lists.tao.ca" <ocap at lists.tao.ca>
Subject: MISTRIAL!!

MISTRIAL !!


On the fifth day of deliberations in the so-called 'Queen's Park Riot'
jury trial of John Clarke, Gaetan Heroux, and Stefan Pilipa, Superior
Court of Ontario Judge Lee Ferrier has declared a mistrial.

At 9:50 this morning,for the second time since deliberations began, a
juror was taken to hospital for stress-related reasons, and the judge
reconvened court in order to announce his decision to dismiss the juror.
While it is possible to drop up to 2 jurors, even during deliberations,
the circumstances of the previous days in this particular trial - the jury
sending a note to the trial judge describing their extreme exhaustion,
frustration, and division, including emotional outbursts and, most
importantly, a 9-3 split on whether or not the events on June 15th, 2000
at Queen's Park could even in fact be considered a 'riot' - led the judge
to pose questions to the jury this morning, as to whether or not they
could continue in their decision-making in a just and fair manner, in
accordance with the oaths they had sworn.

The jury responded to the questions with the following answer - 8 jurors
felt they could continue, 3 felt they could not. Upon confirming this
response with the jury, the judge declared that the trial could not
continue, and that he found it to be a mistrial.

While it is true that the defendants are theoretically still on trial,
until a decision with regard to re-trial is reached, and while this
decision will not be formally announced until June 18th in Superior Court,
the serious difficulty the jury had in breaking their obvious deadlock,
and their apparent inability to agree upon whether or not the events of
the day constituted a riot - the most fundamental premise of the charges
laid - is extremely significant. That the Tory government and the Toronto
Police were politically motivated in laying antiquated and serious charges
against three long-standing and deeply respected members of OCAP has
always been apparent - unless a government that shortchanges the people of
Ontario every single day is willing to put out even more than the
reprehensible amount of money it has already spent and to launch another
trial - this is a huge battle won.

Three years of stringent bail conditions, months in court, and years in
jail looming over their heads, the defendants and the organization as a
whole have refused to back down. Clearly, people living in Ontario have
been affected by the policies and realities of the Eves-Harris reign, far
beyond what is conveyed by polls and press.  The rage which brought people
to the steps of Queen's Park on that day in June runs deep.  The events
today should be seen as a vindication.

OCAP would like to thank counsel for the defendants - Peter Rosenthal, Bob
Kellerman, and Jeffrey House - for their diligence, commitment, untiring
effort and belief in the actions and principles of the men on trial. As
well, a heartfelt thanks to all those who attended the proceedings and
stood vigil during the past days, weeks, and months, and also to those who
sent messages and donations in solidarity and support.  And finally, to
all those June 15th defendants who did time, endured house arrest, were
found guilty, lived through stringent bail and probation conditions, and
continue to do so - to all those who stood up on that day and fought back.

As an organization that has had millions of state dollars thrown at it in
an attempt to shut it down, we wish to close this chapter with resilience,
in the wake of the failure of the state to neutralize forces of
opposition.  It is with this resilience that we send out the following
call, for another step forward in the fight in which the June 15th 'riot'
played such an important role.  As we move forward, we do so in the spirit
of those who have lost battles with judges and juries, and died at the
hands of politicians and police.


-------------------------------------

THE EVES GOVERNMENT MUST BE DEFEATED!

Since returning from his gold plated 'retirement from public life', Ernie
Eves has tried to suggest that his brand of Conservatism has more
'compassion' about it than came out of Queen's Park when Mike Harris was
in charge. This is nothing but a threadbare lie. He has reversed none of
the harsh measures that were adopted by the Tories during the period when
he was Finance Minister. The massive cut to welfare has been kept in
place. The Tenant Protection Act continues to put thousands on the
streets. The vicious Safe Streets Act is still there to enable cops to
harass those forced to beg on the streets.

It is more than clear that Eves wants to retain power so as to deepen the
attacks the Tories are dedicated to. He openly campaigned for greater
Canadian complicity in the US led slaughter in Iraq. His cohort, Bob
Runciman, assembles a special police snatch squad and shops for high
security jails to deal with so called 'illegals' seeking refuge in
Ontario. In the last number of weeks, reports of a set of vile new
policies, a 'Common Sense Revolution Part Two', have emerged. Eves wants a
two-year cap on the receipt of welfare, crackdowns on the homeless and a
ban on teachers' strikes. The only real difference between Eves and Harris
is a higher level of opportunism and dishonesty. In all other respects,
the apple hasn't fallen very far from the tree.

While they play for time and agonize over the calling of an election, the
agenda of the Tories becomes clear but ours is clearer still. There is
only one demand that can be put to a regime like that of Ernie Eves - "GET
OUT!"

The time has come to take our resistance to their constituency offices,
their public events and to the operations of their corporate backers. We
need a new level of opposition to the implementation of the Tory Agenda
and it is already beginning to take shape. In Belleville, the Tenant
Action Group has forced the County to step in and maintain hydro for
hundreds of families that Eves would have seen cut off. In Toronto,
provincially owned buildings are being identified with a view to their
being taken over as housing.

Regardless of election timing, a movement is called for that is
widespread, co-ordinated, capable of quick and decisive action and that
has Eves and his cronies squarely in its sights. Just as importantly, we
must make clear right now that the regime that follows Eves can expect no
peace if it leaves the damage done by the Tories unrepaired. OCAP will go
to the next Government as soon as it takes office with demands for:

  a.. Safe, accessible and affordable housing.
  b.. A minimum wage that is a living wage.
  c.. A social assistance system that enables people to live with dignity.

We hope that others will advance their just demands in the same spirit.

We are making plans for a series of actions against the Eves Government.

There are four immediate ways to get involved:

* If you live in Toronto and would like to work with OCAP directly, give
us a call. We can put you on a phone tree/e mail list that can be
activated when the Tories show their faces in this City.

* If you are elsewhere in the Province, we urgently need allies who can
organize the same kind of 'rapid deployment' mobilizing against the
Tories. There will be no more unchallenged baby kissing and ribbon cutting
for Eves and crew!

* If you work in an area that gives you access to information on Tory
plans and events, we need you to feed us that information. It's not
ratting when the target is Ernie Eves. Think of it as a morally superior
version of Crime Stoppers!

* Please watch for notices of a public meeting and other events coming
shortly.

We must not allow the Tories to prepare a second Common Sense Revolution.

We have to stop them and the time to act is now.

OCAP


















From resist at resist.ca  Mon May 12 22:53:38 2003
From: resist at resist.ca (resist admin)
Date: Mon, 12 May 2003 22:53:38 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: [news] Cuban Revolutionary Imprisoned by Cuban State
Message-ID: <Pine.LNX.4.53.0305122253100.29173@resist.ca>


-----Forwarded Message-----

From: Calvin Woida <calvinwoida at hotmail.com>
To: apc-discuss at lists.resist.ca, copb-van-l at lists.resist.ca
Subject: [copb-van-l] Cuban Revolutionary Imprisoned by Cuban State
Date: 12 May 2003 22:07:40 -0700



Cuba: Miguel Galvan Gutierrez sentenced to 26 years. Solidarity with the
Cuban people, not with the fascist State
>From Worker <a-infos-en at ainfos.ca>
Date Sun, 11 May 2003 16:36:34 +0200 (CEST)


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
________________________________________________
A - I N F O S N E W S S E R V I C E
http://www.ainfos.ca/
http://ainfos.ca/index24.html
________________________________________________

>From castellan in redlibertaria.org
He is an independent syndicalist, member of the National Centre
for Union Capacity coordination committee, journalist in the
independent news-agency HabanaPress and head of the Colegio de
Ingenieros y Arquitectos de Cuba (CIAC). He was transferred to
the Ag?ica prison in Matanzas (98 km from La Habana) Any
solidarity correspondence can be forwarded to his family at the
following address: Calle 52 No 9914 e/ 99 y 103, G?ines, La
Habana (send in a plain envelope, we cannot be sure that the
correspondence is delivered, and we were warned that some had
been intercepted by the political police, the Seguridad del
Estado).

Colectivo de Solidaridad con Cuba

URGENT CALL TO SOLIDARITY: TO THE INTERNATIONAL WORKERS
ASSOCIATION, THE IWW AND ALL THE OTHER FREE SYNDICALIST
CONFEDERATIONS

La Habana, 5th May - The Ag?ica authorities imprisoned the
independent syndicalist, Miguel Galv?n Guti?rrez, in an
isolation cell. According to the prison authorities, he will
remain in punishment regime for two years. Galv?n Guti?rrez, who
is a member of the "Coordinating Committee of the National
Centre of Union and Labour Assistance (CNCSL)", had his last
family visit for one hour on 28th April. The visits are
appointed every three months. His brothers and sisters reported
that he had lost weight and had continuous diarrhea. The prision
officials said it was not allowed to deliever the medicine for
his digestive problems that his family was carrying and that
they, the prison personnel, were responsible for his health.

The prison authorities said that convicts had only the right to
40 pounds of food, items for personal hygiene and a bible. In
the cell next to Miguel Galv?n's, there are 80 prisoners
condemned to the death penalty. The Ag?ica prison is located 9?
kilometres from the town of Col?n in the Matanzas province, 98
km from Havana, where his family lives. Guti?rrez, who is 38
years old, has to serve a 25 prison sentence, without the right
to any reduction, and was accused of being a "mercenary in the
service of a foreign power", just because he claimed for union
freedoms. The Supreme Court has given no answer yet to the
counterclaim placed by the defendantss (the same as with the
other prisoners of conscience from the most recent repressive
wave of the fascist dictatorship) Colectivo de Solidaridad con
Cuba

NEWS FROM CUBA: ALERT TO THE ANTI-FASCIST INTERNATIONAL MOVEMENT

The World Union Federation (Federaci?n Sindical Mundial) and
Castro's fascist dictatorship, have taken the cynical position
of appealing for the constitution of an Anti-fascist
International Front. How can the last fascist dictatorship in
Latin America dare talk about anti-fascism. How dare the WUF/FSM
talk about anti-fascist unionism from Havana, a stronghold of
the last vertical union that was an instrumental of the dictator
Francisco Franco. Today, in face of the neo-nazi and forced
western rule imposed by the butcher Bush Jr., a union of
anti-authoritarian and libertarian forces in an international
anti-fascist coordination is becoming urgent, but we cannot fall
into the cynical and simplistic attitude of calling it from the
headquarters of Franco-Castrism, where social fighters, union
activists, poets and journalists are rotting in prison as
prisoners of conscience. Cuban anarchists have always stood on
the anti-fascist fight. Many comrades fought alongside the CNT
and the FAI against Franco's fascism. We reaffirm today our
anti-fascist stance in the belief that a union of
anti-authoritarian revolutionary forces is necessary against US
nazism, but we do also condemn Franco-Castrism which today
oppresses our comrades from the island.

?Health and SR!
Movimiento Libertario Cubano

******************

?SOLIDARITY WITH THE CUBAN PEOPLE, NOT WITH CASTRO!

Police harrass a dissident in Bataban?

HAVANA, 5th May

With the pretext that some meat was being hidden, the police
made a visit to the Aurora Pita Fern?ndez home in No.7702 68
Street, between 77 and 79 in the municipality of Bataban?,
Havana province. According to a neighbour, Pita Fern?ndez and
her husband Rafael Jim?nez, complained about the way the
officials from the Departamento T?cnico de Investigaciones (DTI)
and the policemen acted during the visit, at 8:30 pm. "Aurora,
her husband and both sons were pushed around and forced to keep
silent while the registration was carried out". At the end of
the police search the couple were taken to the municipal police
unit, where they asked for an explanation of the illegal
invasion of their home, without any proof of crime or witnesses
from the CDR.

The police and DTI members explained then that what they were
after was someone that had escaped justice and they thought he
was hiding in their home. Pita Jim?nez has denied having any
connection to this fugitive, who was sentenced in 1990 to three
years prison in his own residence for supposedly "enemy
propaganda" and, in 2000, to nine months for disobeying
authority.

_________________________________________________________________
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_______________________________________________
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copb-van-l at lists.resist.ca
https://lists.resist.ca/mailman/listinfo/copb-van-l


From resist at resist.ca  Tue May 13 14:58:49 2003
From: resist at resist.ca (resist admin)
Date: Tue, 13 May 2003 14:58:49 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: [news] Cheam Band Battles DFO And RCMP
Message-ID: <Pine.LNX.4.53.0305131456590.27487@resist.ca>


---------- Original Message ----------------------------------
From: UBCIC Press Release List <jpc1 at ubcic.bc.ca>
Date:  Tue, 13 May 2003 13:29:38 -0700


May 13, 2003

Cheam Band Officials And Membership Battle DFO Officers And RCMP
Officers On The Banks Of The Fraser River

(Coast Salish Territory/Vancouver, May 13, 2003)  Earlier this morning
Sidney Douglas, Head Band Councilor of the Cheam Indian Band, was
violently accosted by Department of Fisheries (DFO) officers while
operating a band-owned grader near the Fraser River.  Head Councilor
Douglas was beaten, pepper sprayed and handcuffed.

RCMP officers are now attending the scene in growing numbers.
Simultaneously, Cheam Band members are massing at the site.  The Cheam
has issued a call for support to the Bands in the immediate area.  Cheam
Band has also notified Canadian National Railway to curtail rail traffic
until the incident is fully resolved.

Chief Stewart Phillip, President of the Union of BC Indian Chiefs
stated, "I am outraged at the brutal, heavy-handed tactics of both the
DFO and the RCMP personnel involved in this incident.  Such senseless
and provocative actions shall only serve to escalate an already volatile
situation."

The Union of BC Indian Chiefs offers its full and unconditional support
to the Band Council and to the People of the Cheam Indian Band.

- 30 -


FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:
June Quipp, Cheam Indian Band        Cell: (604) 819-4805
Chief Stewart Phillip                Cell: (250) 490-5314

-- 

Established in 1969, the Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs is a
political organization protecting the Aboriginal Title and Rights of our
member communities. We are based in Kamloops and have an office in
Vancouver. For further details visit our website at http://www.ubcic.bc.ca

From pat_wobbly at hotmail.com  Sat May 17 06:09:00 2003
From: pat_wobbly at hotmail.com (Pat S)
Date: Sat, 17 May 2003 06:09:00 -0700
Subject: [news] NZ capital 'built on stolen land'
Message-ID: <Sea2-F18uFqqcnAZhzd0000bb88@hotmail.com>

NZ capital 'built on stolen land'

http://edition.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/asiapcf/auspac/05/17/nz.maori.ap/index.html



WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) -- New Zealand's capital, Wellington, is built 
on land stolen from its indigenous Maori owners in the mid-19th century, a 
government-funded report said Saturday.

The report found some 100,000 hectares (247,000 acres) of land was illegally 
taken from six Maori tribes, often through the use of fraudulent deeds.

Tribal descendants stand to receive tens of millions of dollars in 
compensation and the return of some of their lost land.

The government welcomed the report, which "sets the scene for (grievance) 
settlement negotiations to get under way," said Treaty Negotiations Minister 
Margaret Wilson.

She said "real and significant grievances are being recognized and settled 
peacefully within the law."

Wellington, a city of 400,000 on the southern tip of New Zealand's north 
Island, is home to the nation's Parliament and many other government 
buildings.

Colonists who began settling the area in 1839 took land using a deed that 
"was invalid, conferring no (ownership) rights" on the settlers, a statement 
from the Waitangi Tribunal said.

The tribunal issues reports on Maori grievances arising from the nation's 
founding treaty between Maori and European settlers, the 1840 Treaty of 
Waitangi.

Saturday's report, presented to local Maori, found that the treaty rights of 
Maori tribes of the area -- the Te Atiawa, Ngati Toa, Ngati Tama, Ngati 
Rangitahi Taranaki and Ngati Ruanui -- had been breached.

The report catalogues a series of land seizures, illegal documents, forced 
evictions and broken promises by settlers and the government of the time.

It said that Maori rights to their villages, gardens, burial grounds and 
native reserves were never adequately protected, as required under the 
treaty.

For example, the government set aside 48,600 hectares (120,000 acres) for 
Maoris in 1847, but a year later transferred the land's ownership to the New 
Zealand Company, which settled the Wellington area.

Maori owners received no compensation for the land, the tribunal said.

_________________________________________________________________
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From resist at resist.ca  Tue May 20 13:18:33 2003
From: resist at resist.ca (resist admin)
Date: Tue, 20 May 2003 13:18:33 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: [news] KW Youth Collective Members Snatched
Message-ID: <Pine.LNX.4.53.0305201317530.23857@resist.ca>


-----Forwarded Message-----

From: OCAP <ocap at tao.ca>
To: ocap at lists.tao.ca
Subject: KW Youth Collective Members Snatched
Date: 20 May 2003 12:13:56 -0400



Kitchener-Waterloo Youth Collective Members Snatched

People's Release:

On Friday, May 16 at approximately 7pm, a number of the K-W Youth
Collective were arrested and jailed in Kitchener by Waterloo Regional
Police.

The People's Community Defense Brigade, known as CopWatch, is an important
community function performed by the Spot, a collective, youth-run drop in
and organizing body located in downtown Kitchener.  CopWatch began as a
necessary reaction to the ridiculous amount of harassment of downtown
street/involved youth and homeless people by the Waterloo Regional Police.
It is a successful deterrent to police abuse of power, and for informing
those being stopped by the police of their rights.  This of course angers
the cops, and they have become even more beligerent and hostile while
performing their job.  They have taken to snapping pictures of the
CopWatchers, and threatening them with Obstruction for their advocacy.

On Friday they made good on their word. While providing support for a
homeless person being harassed by the police, Julian Ichim, Davin Charney
and 2 youth, Nik and Mark, were arrrested. These people are the key
organizers for the upcoming Kitchener May 24th May Day conference and
street party and action. This arrest is transparently opportunistic, an
attempt by the Waterloo Regional Police to sink the planning and
occurrence of this event by jailing the organizers. These members of the
K-W Youth Collective are asserting that this event will be taking place,
and ask for support in the form of as many people as possible attending.

They also ask for court support this week, at the courthose located at
Frederick and Lancaster in Kitchener, On. While Davin and Julian appeared
before a "justice" of the "peace" on Saturday May 17th, they were denied
bail for refusing to sign non-association conditions for release (more
see-through proof of the real reason for their arrest). They are currently
both being held in seperate units in the Maplehurst Complex in Milton,
Ontario. Davin is scheduled to be in court on Wednesday, May 21st at 9am,
and Julian is scheduled to appear on Thursday, May 22nd, at 9am. It is
expected that the Crown will continue to press for denial of bail unless
non-association conditions are agreed

Your presence is needed at the court dates and May Day event. Please join
the K-W Youth Collective in demonstrating that the tactics of the Waterloo
Regional Police and the "justice" system are not and will never be
effective in their attempts to defeat their work.


May Day. Uprising!
Saturday, May 24, 2003

1-3 pm:     Introductions of various community activists from Ontario,
discussing the work their groups are doing
3pm:         Lunch

4-6pm:      Panel Discussion. With representatives from OCAP, Toronto
Native Youth, Communist Party of Canada Marxist-Leninist, the Spot, and
others.

8pm:          Street Party and Action!


the Spot
119b King Street
downtown Kitchener, ON
youth_space at hotmail.com
519-578-1425

(this is the regular contact information, but there is probably not
anyone available to respond to questions at this time. please call Kris
at 416-532-0817 or write at kris_pheasant at hotmail.com until their release)

http://www.ocap.ca/ontario/kwcopwatch.html

**ocap members interested in going to KW for MayDay, contact stef at the
OCAP office 416.925.6939 ** limited transportation space available **



			       **
		   Ontario Coalition Against Poverty
	517 College Street, Suite 234  Toronto, Ontario  M5G 4A2
	     416-925-6939   ocap at tao.ca   www.ocap.ca
			       **

From gflett1 at shaw.ca  Wed May 21 15:11:01 2003
From: gflett1 at shaw.ca (Gordon Flett)
Date: Wed, 21 May 2003 15:11:01 -0700
Subject: [news] Marijuana Law Dead since Aug 1 2001 - No Law Prohibits use
	and/or possession
Message-ID: <3ECBF975.70CBB7AE@shaw.ca>

Subject: (act-mtl-d) Marijuana Law Dead since Aug 1 2001 - No Law
Prohibits use and/or possession
Date: Wed, 21 May 2003 17:03:44 -0400
From: Freedom 4ME <freedom-4me at freedom-4me.com>
To: act-mtl-d at tao.ca

Date: Sat, 17 May 2003 19:09:25 -0400 (EDT) 
From: turmel at freenet.carleton.ca 
Subject: TURMEL: Justice Rogin rules law died on Terry Parker Day!!!! 

JCT: Wow. You'll remember that "In the belly of the beast" I mentioned: 

JCT: Yesterday I explained that the prohibition law has been dead since
Aug. 1 2001  even though no one noticed or argued it except me and my
medpot guerrilla lawyers, Parker, Paquette, Dupuis, and finally, Brian
McAllister in Windsor and then before judges in New Brunswick and Nova
Scotia. 

With all these judges saying that the prohibition of marijuana was
unconstitutional, I had to take a gamble to prove it before the
government could bring in new legislation to recriminalize it. 

Of course, we've all been waiting on the decision of Justice Rogin on
the Crown's appeal of the McAllister win in Windsor but with the judge
taking his sweet time to come to a conclusion, I considered that it was
a stall until the new law could come in and then, whether yes, or no,
with new laws, our win would be worthless. 

JCT: So on Wednesday May 14 I went up on Parliament Hill with a
life-time-in-jail supply of marijuana to smoke a joint and proclaim the
prohibition of laughing grass dead before Justice Minister Cauchon could
make it illegal again. I was released on Thursday and penned by beef. 

Then, on Friday, Justice Rogin handed down his decision backing up my
claim that prohibition on possession and everything else died two years
ago and they were going to have to erase everyone's convictions
including my upcoming one. 

It was the biggest gamble of my life and the very next day, the Queen of
Spades hits to back up my draw to the Royal Flush. 

The Globe and Mail 
Sat May 17 2003 04:30 AM 
No laws ban possession of marijuana, court rules 
By COLIN FREEZE AND KIM LUNMAN 

CF: Landmark Ontario decision goes beyond the decriminalization proposed
by Ottawa 

TORONTO and OTTAWA -- Canada has no laws prohibiting marijuana
possession, an Ontario Superior Court judge said yesterday in a ruling
that will be binding on judges in the province and may soon be picked up
across the country. "For today, and for the Victoria Day weekend, it's a
very pleasant state of affairs for recreational pot smokers," said
criminal lawyer Paul Burstein, who helped argue the case successfully. 

JCT: But had Cauchon recriminalized it last Thursday, there would have
been no weekend pleasant state of affairs. And the media keep pointing
out that it was the US Drug Czar who talked Cauchon out of
recriminalizing. Thanks loads. 

CF: It was the second time that a Windsor teenager who was caught
smoking pot while playing hooky in a park has been found not to have
broken any law because, the courts ruled, there are effectively no
longer any marijuana laws to break. 

JCT: Music to my ears after raising the stakes. 

CF: Mr. Justice Steven Rogin upheld yesterday a lower-court decision,
based on complex arguments, that has already had far-reaching influence. 

JCT: Nothing complex about it. They had to build a new law with medical
loopholes and when the old law fell, they blew the new prohibition. 

CF: The new ruling means that proposed federal legislation to
decriminalize possession of a small amount of marijuana would actually
"recriminalize" it, defence lawyers said yesterday. 

JCT: And there's been no law since Terry Parker Day, Aug. 1 
2001. Almost 2 years that people have been suffering and dying with no
law to stop them from saving themselves. It's truly the prisoners who
hadn't checked and only found out after 2 years that the lock on their
cell didn't work. 

CF: While the new law would impose fines for pot possession, yesterday's
ruling effectively eliminated any sanctions for simple pot possession in
Ontario, they said. The decision "has effectively erased the criminal
prohibition on marijuana possession from the law books in Ontario," said
Brian McAllister, the lawyer for the accused teenager. 

JCT: Actually, the Parker decision by the Ontario Court of Appeal erased
the criminal prohibition. Justice Rogin on presided over the funeral,
not the death by the Court of Appeal. 

CF: Courts in Nova Scotia and PEI have already put prosecutions on hold
pending yesterday's ruling, he said, and lawyers in other provinces were
similarly watching for this decision. 

JCT: Now judges are all going to jump on the bandwagon to erase their
workloads. But then arises the necessity for the Government to apologize
and erase everyone's convictions. No one's talking about that. Yet. 

CF: The initial ruling in favour of the Windsor teenager, identified
only as J. P., had a significant spillover effect and the higher-court
decision is expected to be even more influential. The federal Department
of Justice, which appealed the initial ruling, is planning another
appeal. 

JCT: And my Charbonneau appeal is already there to make sure there's no
funny business. 

CF: The government still plans to introduce its marijuana-
decriminalization legislation later this month. Most Canadians are
behind the idea, according to an Ipsos-Reid poll released yesterday. 

JCT: Not if it's going to violate the right to life, they won't. And not
without now proving the dangers while making the same case to
recriminalize alcohol and tobacco. 

CF: It found that 55 per cent of Canadians did not believe smoking
marijuana should be a criminal offence, while 42 per cent thought it
should be. 

JCT: That sounds crooked. Every poll I've heard recently is 
4:1 in favor. They say it's 4:3. That's too off to be true. They're
lying. 

CF: More telling, 63 per cent of respondents supported Ottawa's plans to
issue tickets and fines similar to traffic violations to those caught
with 15 grams or less of marijuana, the poll found. 

JCT: Do a search for "Turmel" and "Humphrey Appleby" to find out how
they can fix polls with leading questions and only the published answer.
4:3 is too far off 4:1 to be honest. And also keep in mind that polls of
the hypnotized don't mean anything anyway. 

CF: Justice Minister Martin Cauchon has said he is seeking the changes
so that people who are caught with small amounts will not clog up the
court system, potentially receiving criminal records. 

JCT: But they're still going to be clogging the court system with people
trying to beat a rap that will kill their chances for international
travel. It's still a fine that will cause you trouble in Amerika. 

CF: For the moment, however, marijuana possession remains the most
frequently laid drug charge in Canada even though courts are becoming
increasingly resistant to hearing those cases. Jim Leising of the
federal Justice Department said in an interview that he was
"disappointed" by yesterday's decision and will push to have the case
heard quickly in the Ontario Court of Appeal. 

JCT: We know how quickly they don't go though they might want to fly
here. Still, I don't think they'll be able to catch up with our
Parker-Turmel-Paquette Charbonneau appeal that simply awaits my Appeal
Book and Factum. With the Rogin decision backing us up, we just won. 

CF: "We are are still of the opinion that the law against marijuana is
valid," he said. Mr. Leising said prosecutions will continue, although
some may be put on hold. 

JCT: It's like saying "we retain the right to remain unconvinced." 

CF: But defence lawyers involved in J.P.'s case said Ontarians facing
possession charges should fight Crown prosecutors' attempts to delay
their cases until the law is clarified. Ontarians who are charged with
marijuana possession after yesterday's ruling could consider suing
police for wrongful arrest, they said. "Anybody who's got a charge
before the court should definitely take advantage of this," Mr. Burstein
said. 

JCT: They should have been doing it a lot longer ago since I've been
screaming it for almost 2 years. Why did it take Rogin's opinion to
convince Paul the law was dead and my exhortations fell on his deaf
ears? 

CF: Multiple court battles to strike down the marijuana laws are taking
place, he said, leaving Ottawa besieged from many directions. "The
courts keep firing big shots into the sides of the government's ship,"
Mr. Burstein said. "They're sinking lower and lower. They are bailing it
out with a cup." 

JCT: He makes it sound like there is still some fight left in the corpse
that I'm trying to end the funeral for. The law died 2 years ago.
There's no bailing going on, just a refusal on all parts to accept the
consequences. 

CF: The Ipsos-Reid poll -- of 1001 people, conducted between May 13 and
May 15 -- found people still have some reservations about
decriminalization. 

JCT: I have reservations about decriminalization so that's a fixed
question. I have no reservations about legalization. 

CF: The poll results are considered to reflect accurately the feelings
of the entire country to within 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of
20. 

JCT: Bull feathers. They reflect the manufactured consent for the
probable conclusion the train of questions was designed to elicit. As
Yes Minister's Sir Humphrey Appleby so clearly pointed out.
theglobeandmail
<http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20030517/UMARIM/National/Idx> 
======

Marijuana possession law 'erased' Sat May 17 2003 05:14 AM Marijuana
possession law 'erased' Ellen van Wageningen The Ottawa Citizen 

EW: WINDSOR -- Possessing less than 30 grams of marijuana is no longer
against the law in Ontario, a Windsor judge says in a ruling released
yesterday that compounds the chaos over Canada's pot laws. Superior
Court Justice Steven Rogin's decision has "effectively erased the
criminal prohibition on marijuana possession from the law books in
Ontario," said Brian McAllister, the Windsor lawyer who challenged the
law on behalf of a 17-year-old client. 

JCT: Again, his decision has enforced the erasure two years ago by the
Court of Appeal. It's important that people not think that it's the
Rogin Superior Court decision that invalidated the CDSA prohibition but
that it was the Parker Court of Appeal decision that slew the beast.
Rogin's decision is the eulogy at the funeral. 

EW: Judge Rogin's decision is almost certainly to be followed by judges
of Ontario's lower court, where nearly all marijuana possession cases
are decided. "This decision is also likely to have significant
repercussions on the viability of marijuana prosecutions across the
country," Mr. McAllister said. 

Hundreds of marijuana possession cases in Ontario have been put on hold
pending Judge Rogin's ruling and the outcome of other cases currently
before the Supreme Court of Canada. That shouldn't change until the
Ontario Court of Appeal reviews Judge Rogin's decision, said Jim
Leising, the Justice Department official responsible for drug
prosecutions in Ontario. "We certainly continue to maintain that
possession of marijuana is prohibited by the Controlled Drugs and
Substances Act, and we'll be moving quite quickly to appeal this
judgment," he said. Mr. McAllister said police in Ontario should note
Judge Rogin's judgment and stop laying charges for marijuana possession. 

JCT: Actually, they should stop laying all charges, not just for
possession. Oops. Too late to not charge me. 

"Otherwise, the police will be arresting people for an activity which is
no longer outlawed," he said. Judge Rogin upheld Ontario Court Justice
Douglas Phillip's decision to quash a charge against a Kingsville youth
for possessing less than 30 grams of marijuana because the law is no
longer valid. 

The government needed to pass a new law prohibiting marijuana possession
after the current one was struck down by the Ontario Court of Appeal two
years ago, Judge Rogin agreed. 

JCT: So it's pretty clear. The law was slain by the Court of Appeal and
Justice Rogin is just admitting it. 

EW: The appeal court ruled in favour of severe epileptic Terry Parker,
of Toronto, saying the law violated the constitutional rights of sick
people who used marijuana for medical reasons. It gave the government
until July 31, 2001, to remedy the situation or the law would be
invalid. The government responded by passing the Marijuana Medical
Access Regulations, which were found to be unconstitutional by a Toronto
judge in another case involving Mr. Parker. 

JCT: They always forget to mention the first Superior Court judge,
Justice Romain Pitt, who only needed to see that Parker's situation had
not been remedied with an expired exemption and the OMA telling his
doctor not sign. But he was first and we're going to be consolidating
the appeal against Alan Young getting the Pitt decision set aside with
the Lederman appeal. Won't that put Alan in a horrible predicament.
Arguing the MMAR did not save the CDSA and then explaining why he helped
get the Pitt decision that the MMAR did not save the CDSA set aside. 13
months ago on April 17. 

EW: That judge said the problem is there is no legal supply of marijuana
for sick people. 

JCT: And Pitt said the MMAR was no remedy for Parker. 

EW: Meanwhile, the federal government is attempting to get new
legislation dealing with marijuana before Parliament by the end of the
month. 

JCT: Now comes the biggest fight of them all, to get them to explain the
harms they didn't have to explain in 1923 when they just slipped
marijuana on the prohibited list. 

EW: It is proposing to make possessing 15 grams or less of marijuana a
non-criminal offence for which people could be fined as little as $100.
The relaxing of the pot possession laws would be accompanied by stiffer
penalties for drug traffickers and marijuana growers, as well as drug
use prevention, education and treatment strategies. 

JCT: And it's touted like a liberal change when it's reported that when
they decriminalized in New Zealand so people only faced fines and not
jail, prosecutions tripled. More jobs for judges, clerks, lawyers when
cops can lay more jobs because they're not ruining people's lives as
badly. 

So ends Alan Young's equation of responsibility. We could have had the
same declaration 13 months ago on April 17 2002 and Alan Young conspired
with the government to get this declaration delayed that whole 13
months. In the extra 13 months that Young managed to delay it, almost
4000 extra epileptics died who would have lived had it not been for his
helping the Crown to delay liberation until now. 

Of course, he doesn't understand where I get my estimate of the 4000
epileptics he helped die. But everyone with some basic math skills knows
the Wizard of Odds ain't wrong. 

Now to get to work on the motion to have my life-sentence- threatening
charge thrown out next week. With the Rogin decision now in hand, it
will be a pleasure. Who knows, I might be the very last Canadian ever
busted for trafficking in this now-legal substance on Parliament Hill. 

Might be able to soon get back to work full time installing my
world-wide UNILETS anti-poverty system and abolishing the interest rate
that takes from the poor to give to the rich, my number one major
political reform program. 


--
Abolitionist Slave Leader John C."The Banking Systems Engineer" Turmel
for UNILETS interest-free time-based currency in U.N. resolution C6 to
Governments in the http://www.un.org/millennium/declaration.htm
http://www.cyberclass.net/turmel / http://www.medpot.net 613-562-0669

From noii_van at hotmail.com  Wed May 21 16:35:21 2003
From: noii_van at hotmail.com (No One Is Illegal - Van)
Date: Wed, 21 May 2003 16:35:21 -0700
Subject: [news]  =?iso-8859-1?q?Immigrants_and_Supporters_Disrupt_Immi?=
 =?iso-8859-1?q?gration_Minister=92s_Dinner_in_Vancouver?=
Message-ID: <Sea2-F58l3xbYiMCIqt0000015e@hotmail.com>

vancouver.indymedia.org

Immigrants and Supporters Disrupt Immigration Minister?s Dinner in Vancouver
by Direct Action ? Wednesday May 21, 2003 at 12:14 PM

Immigrants and Supporters Disrupt Immigration Minister?s Dinner in Vancouver

On Tuesday, May 20, about 75 people marched from Victory Square in downtown 
Vancouver to Floata restaurant in Chinatown to confront Denis Coderre, the 
federal Minster of Immigration, as he was eating an expensive dinner. The 
protest was organized by the No One Is Illegal May 20th Ad Hoc Committee, 
which was made up of members from a number of different groups.

The Committee drafted a series of demands and planned to press for a 
delegation of refugees to meet with Coderre. The demands were:

- Stop Deportations!
- Open the Borders!
- Abolish Bill C-18!
- Scrap the Safe 3rd Country Agreement!
- Stop Military and Economic Interventions at Home and Abroad!

Coderre has been instrumental in passing new anti-immigrant laws in Canada, 
such as Bill C-18 and the Safe 3rd Country Agreement, which are increasingly 
subjecting immigrants and refugees to arbitrary detention and deportation. 
Coderre also advocates for the creation of a Permanent Resident Card, and 
new screening technologies, such as iris scans and finger print recognition.

As immigrants and supporters rallied at Victory Square, speakers from No One 
Is Illegal ? Vancouver spoke against the oppressive policies of the Canadian 
government and Denis Coderre, and urged the crowd to express their anger.

After a march down Hastings Street the group arrived at Floata restaurant, 
where they were blocked by a small group of police officers. The group 
chanted and screamed out in rage against Coderre?s policies and challenged 
him to come down to the street and show his face. A fire alarm went off in 
the mall complex where the restaurant is located, a fire truck arrived and 
firemen prepared to enter the building with axes and other equipment, but 
were stopped by police and informed that it was a false alarm.

Protesters then marched through the parkade of the building, blocked both 
exists and set up check points with pylons, signs and a large wood-frame 
bed. Protesters did not allow any more vehicles into the parkade. When the 
Member of the Legislative Assembly representing Burnaby was spotted he was 
confronted and screamed at by demonstrators. Fire alarms were set off 
several more times. A police officer drove his bicycle into the leg of a 
protester at one point, but there were no arrests. The protesters dispersed 
after about an hour of disruptive action.

_________________________________________________________________
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From resist at resist.ca  Thu May 22 21:25:35 2003
From: resist at resist.ca (resist admin)
Date: Thu, 22 May 2003 21:25:35 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: [news] Squat goes public in Nelson
Message-ID: <Pine.LNX.4.53.0305222124370.12752@resist.ca>


----Forwarded Message-----
From: classwar-van <classwar-van at ziplip.com>
To: vanarchy at yahoogroups.com
Subject: [vanarchy] Squat goes public in Nelson
Date: 22 May 2003 11:34:59 -0700

Squat goes public in Nelson
by Michelle Mungall  Wednesday May 21, 2003 at 09:40 PM
junipertree at netidea.com
http://vancouver.indymedia.org/news/2003/05/48360.php

Young and homeless people in Nelson BC bring their issues public at this
the Front St. Squat.

Nelson is a small West Kootenay city where the word community has solid
meaning. People here not only help our neighbours, but are politically
activated. High voter turn-out, regular rallies, demonstrations and
protests, and vociferous residents are all a part of Nelson. So really, it
was about time when some of the homeless young people in the community
decided to stop being a statistic on a piece of paper. Rather than
continue as underground folks who try to find somewhere to crash each
night, they made their faces and their issue public. They squatted in a
house owned by our Regional District of Central Kootenay (RDCK). 808 Front
St. Squat became public on Friday, May 9, 2003.

Since then, the squat has survived on a day-by-day basis. After an
afternoon of cleaning the house and planting a garden, squatters received
news that they may be forced to leave within the next 24 hours if an
injunction were to go through.

However, the injunction wasnt served until Tuesday, May 13. After
receiving the injunction, squatters were faced with a legal challenge in a
city 12 hours away. The RDCK had gone through Victoria courts to get the
injunction, and it was Victoria that squatters would have to go to delay
enforcement of the injunction and transfer the case to Nelson. One of the
people staying at 808 Front St. was able to catch a ride to Victoria to
address the legal situation. The results were a ten-day term so that the
defense can mount a case and bring it to court in Nelson.

Since May 9th, other people staying at the squat have made presentations
to Nelson City Council and the RDCK at their regular meetings. Josh Garvin
spoke about the realities of homelessness, its causes in this rural area,
and the squats impact on people in the community over the past week. At
the Nelson City Council meeting, Garvin asked the City to turn on the
water, as the house has both hydro and heating, but lacks running water.
Although the City is unable to turn on the water unless requested by the
property owner, the City continues to work with squatters through the
Council liaison for youth and homeless issues, Michelle Mungall.

At the RDCK Saturday meeting, Directors referred the matter to an
in-camera decision. Originally, the RDCK bought the property for the
specific purpose of expanding the Aquatic Centre that is next to the
house. In the meantime, the house has been vacant while waiting
demolishing or removal. Hans Cunningham, RDCK Board Chair commented that
the RDCK options are limited, as they are not permitted by law to purchase
property without a specified purpose. Legally, RDCK must live up to that
purpose, and the house will have to be removed in the short-term. What to
do with the house in the meantime is still up for discussion.

The response from the Nelson community has been, for the most part,
positive and supportive of the squatters initiative. Regular donations of
food, water, clothing, laundry, toiletries, and kitchen items have been
pouring in over the past week. People at the squat have responded by
cooking three daily community meals and welcoming travelers, often
referred to as the transient homeless population, to stay for a night or
two. There is also an info bulletin board for people stopping by to learn
more about what people are doing at the house. While many have stated
their concerns with the partying they see at the house, people in the
house contend that it is better for them to party in the house than on the
streets.


From pat_wobbly at hotmail.com  Fri May 23 17:42:52 2003
From: pat_wobbly at hotmail.com (Pat S)
Date: Fri, 23 May 2003 17:42:52 -0700
Subject: [news] 
 Fwd: Oakland City Council Honors Wobbly: Judi Bari Day is official! 
Message-ID: <Sea2-F30NCF6TMlz9K90000cff0@hotmail.com>



I am sure you all know what May 24 is--the (now 13th) anniversary of the car 
bomb attack on Judi Bari and Darryl Cherney. It falls this Saturday, and the 
difference this year is that the Oakland City Council just approved Judi 
Bari Day, so this is the 1st annual.

The bombing will be commemorated, not by a fiddle-down this year, but by a 
gathering at the site of the explosion, at Park and MacArthur in Oakland. 
The bomb exploded minutes after noon, so we will gather at 11:30 to be there 
at that moment.

Hope to see you there. Details below.
   -karen
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

News Release:   Oakland City Council Honors Judi Bari with her Own Day; 
Gathering to Commemorate Anniversary of Bombing This Saturday in Oakland.
Contact: Darryl Cherney 707/923-4949; Karen Pickett 510/548 3113; 
judibari.org

The City of Oakland has gone from proclaiming Judi Bari to be a terrorist to 
honoring her with her own official city day.  This remarkable turnaround was 
proclaimed May 20 in the chambers of the Oakland City Council nearly a year 
after a jury awarded Bari's estate along with fellow activist Darryl Cherney 
$4.4 million for violations of their civil rights committed by Oakland 
Police and FBI agents thirteen years ago.  Bari and Cherney were falsely 
accused of bombing themselves while on a musical organizing tour for Redwood 
Summer 1990.   The First Annual Judi Bari Day of Oakland will take place 
this Sat., May 24 at 11:30 am and consist of a quiet anniversary gathering 
at the site of  the bombing at Park Blvd. and MacArthur in Oakland, in front 
of Oakland High School.   The public and media are invited to attend.  The 
resolution follows below this release.

Activist Darryl Cherney, who was riding with Judi Bari the day a car bomb 
almost killed her noted that in these days of the war on terror, "The 
government can not be trusted to decide who is a terrorist and who is not in 
many cases."  Cherney said, "There is a political agenda that the federal 
government follows in declaring peaceful activists  to be terrorists while 
anti-abortion groups and the Ku Klux Klan remain unscathed. Thankfully, the 
City of Oakland has righted a wrong.  They should do this more often, like 
in the case of the activists who were shot by police at the port of Oakland 
during a peaceful anti-war rally.  It's OK to admit you're wrong and make 
amends."

Cherney presented the Oakland City Council with a statue of "Gaia," the 
ancient Greek Goddess representation of the living, breathing Mother Earth.  
He said that she would be watching over them as they make their decisions 
about school closures and police brutality.  The statue is the work of 
Oberon Ravenheart of Mythic Images in Sonoma County.
======================

OAKLAND CITY COUNCIL
RESOLUTION NO.         C. M. S.

INTRODUCED BY COUNCILMEMBERS         Nancy J. Nadel

Resolution to Declare May 24, 2003 as Judi Bari Day in the City of Oakland

WHEREAS, Judi Bari was a dedicated activist, who worked for many social and 
environmental causes, the most prominent being the protection and 
stewardship of California?s ancient redwood forests; and

WHEREAS, examples of Judi Bari's efforts include the preservation of the 
Headwaters Forest in Humboldt County, the protection of the Cahto Wilderness 
area and the Albion River Watershed in Mendocino County, and the formation 
of a timber worker-environmentalist alliance; and

WHEREAS, prominent environmental activist David Brower stated on the 
occasion of her untimely death from cancer at the age of 47, "Judi always 
projected an unwavering commitment to her values and her continued urgings 
to effect apathy into action. We will miss her commitment and compassion, 
her strength, courage and conviction. We can honor her by sharing it"; and

WHEREAS, on May 24, 1990, Judi Bari was the victim of a car bombing in 
Oakland that nearly took her life; now therefore be it

RESOLVED, that the City of Oakland shall designate May 24 as Judi Bari Day 
and celebrate and honor the work of Judi Bari in advancing the causes of 
forest protection, eco-feminism, labor organizing, bridge building between 
environmentalists and timber workers, and civil rights for political 
activists; and be it

FURTHER RESOLVED, that the City shall encourage its schools, civic 
institutions and citizens to memorialize Judi Bari's work through art, 
media, festivals, school assignments and other creative means.


IN COUNCIL, OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA,     May 20 , 2003

PASSED BY THE FOLLOWING VOTE:

AYES BROOKS, BRUNNER, CHANG, NADEL, QUAN, REID, WAN AND
PRESIDENT DE LA FUENTE,
NOs 0
ATTEST:
    CEDA FLOYD, City Clerk and Clerk of the Counci of the City of Oakland, 
California


Yours for the One Big Union,
Steve Ongerth x344543, IWW Web Site Administrator
HOME - (415) 626-1763 || CELL - (510) 459-6586

Join the One Big Union - http://www.iww.org/
Have labor news, announcements, or events?  Post them at 
http://media.iww.org/

_________________________________________________________________
The new MSN 8: smart spam protection and 2 months FREE*  
http://join.msn.com/?page=features/junkmail


From resist at resist.ca  Sat May 24 12:05:15 2003
From: resist at resist.ca (resist admin)
Date: Sat, 24 May 2003 12:05:15 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: [news] Sun Peaks Related Obstruction Charge Dismissed
Message-ID: <Pine.LNX.4.53.0305241203200.24063@resist.ca>


----------------------------------
From: UBCIC Press Release List
<jpc1 at ubcic.bc.ca>
Date:  Fri, 23 May 2003 09:15:12 -0700
------------------------------------------

PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Skwelkwekwelt Protection Center
c/o George Manuel Institute
P.O. Box 608
Chase, British Columbia, Canada, V0E 1M0
Tel: (250) 679-3295 Fax: (250) 679-3052


SUN PEAKS RELATED OBSTRUCTION
CHARGE DISMISSED


(Neskonlith Indian Band, May 22, 2003) Beverly Manuel of the Neskonlith
Indian Band and mother of Amanda Soper (Kanahus Pellkey) had obstruction
charges against her dismissed. The obstruction charge was related to the
effort of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) to arrest Amanda Soper,
who was alleged to be in Beverly Manuels vehicle. Amanda Soper at that
time had outstanding warrants for her arrest respecting her participation
in demonstrations to stop the expansion of Sun Peaks Resort. The judge
ruled that there was no vivid evidence that showed Beverly Manuel
obstructed the RCMP in their police efforts to arrest Amanda Soper.

Janice Billy, Spokesperson, Skwelkwekwelt Protection Center said I am
delighted that the obstruction charges against Beverly Manuel were
dismissed. Janice Billy said we are still struggling to stop the expansion
of Sun Peaks from 5,000 to 24,000 bed units. She said we have been picked
on by the authorities with numerous charges and it is good that we can
from time-to-time get justice in the courts.

Amanda Soper who has since dealt with her outstanding warrants said I am
glad my mother had these charges dismissed because I was not in her
vehicle at that time. She said my twin sister was in the truck.  Amanda
Soper said that the reason I had outstanding Warrants for my arrest was
because I was unnerved by a violent demonstration that occurred at Sun
Peaks, between the RCMP and the NYM on November 16, 2001.

Arthur Manuel, former chief of the Neskonlith Indian Band, said that I am
glad that Mr. Rodolfo Stavenhagen, the United Nations Special Rapporteur
for Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms of the Indigenous People went to
Sun Peaks and visited the Skwelkwekwelt Protection Center on May 2, 2003.
Mr. Manuel said I am disappointed however that the local media did not
cover his visit. He said the local media systematically boosts the image
of Sun Peaks and undermines any serious efforts to resolve this conflict
fairly. He said that is why international observation like that of Mr.
Stavenhagen is so important.

Arthur Manuel said Mr. Stavenhagen is planning on coming back to Canada
next year. Mr. Manuel said the struggle to stop Sun Peaks expansion is not
over until it is stopped.


Contact: Janice Billy (250) 318-4290
Beverly Manuel (250) 371-0361
Arthur Manuel (250) 319-0688


-- 

Established in 1969, the Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs is a
political organization protecting the Aboriginal Title and Rights of our
member communities. We are based in Kamloops and have an office in
Vancouver. For further details visit our website at
http://www.ubcic.bc.ca.


From ron at resist.ca  Sat May 24 22:11:46 2003
From: ron at resist.ca (ron)
Date: 24 May 2003 22:11:46 -0700
Subject: [news] Woodwards "Ideas Fair" Ends in Police Violence
Message-ID: <1053839505.18124.154.camel@murray>

-----Forwarded Message-----

From: Friends of the Woodwards Squat <violetta_sera at hotmail.com>
To: apc-discuss at resist.ca
Subject: [APC-Discuss] Woodwards "Ideas Fair" Ends in Police Violence
Date: 24 May 2003 21:43:45 -0700

Random Violent Arrest at "Ideas Fair"; Bread Blockade @ Main & Cordova
by fennel -  Saturday May 24, 2003 at 08:48 PM
Vancouver Independent Media Centre
http://vancouver.indymedia.org/news/2003/05/48934.php

Peaceful bystander arrested for "obstruction" at the Woodwards Ideas Fair 
today, still in custody, street blockade on Main St. btwn Cordova and 
Hastings to protest.

At the end of the city council sponsored "Woodwards Ideas Fair" today (May 
24) at the Chinese Cultural Center at 50 E. Pender, Trevor was arrested at 
approx. 3:30pm while standing by and peacefully observing another man being 
arrested for suspected marijuana possession. Several witnesses described 
Trevor as standing peacefully by observing, when he was approached by police 
who arrested him for "obstruction". Trevor was thrown against a brick wall 
by police, handcuffed and carried face down by his elbows and feet 
(straining his elbows and shoulders with his entire body weight). This was 
videotaped by at least two bystanders. Trevor at no point resisted the 
police. His face was dragged on the concrete at one point by police, and 
then he was thrown (with force) head first into a paddywagon. All of this 
was witnessed by approx. 15 people. He was then taken to an as yet 
undisclosed location, as police at nearby holding cells at Main and Cordova 
were denying having him present at 6pm.

Several of the people who witnessed Trevor's arrest marched to the police 
station on Main St., blocking traffic along the way. They then occupied the 
street in front of the police station on Main between Cordova and Hastings, 
where they are now, at 8:30pm. Trevor's mother and a lawyer arrived, and 
both have been repeatedly denied access to Trevor (access to a lawyer after 
arrest is a constitutional right).

The protestors in the street have pledged to stay there blocking traffic 
until Trevor is released. Trevor's mother is present at this time, wearing 
one of the many "Free Trevor" signs. CTV and BCTV camerapeople were on site 
for periods of time, filming the situation. Police watched and laughed while 
a man twice the size of a protestor repeatedly threatened violence to the 
protestor; immediately afterwards the same police threatened Trevor's mother 
with a ticket as she crossed the street with food for the protestors.

Large bags of bread were brought to the protestors with the intention of 
providing them dinner (including a 2.5 ft. square focaccia); however, they 
were recognized also for their blockade potential, due to their size. 
Supporters are encouraged to bring bags of bread, so that as one observer 
noted, "the police will have to eat their way through, and will become 
sluggish".

A police photographer appeared on the roof at one point, prompting those on 
the street below to begin chanting "Jump! Jump!"

All are encouraged to come out and support this protest, and to demand 
Trevor's immediate release.

_________________________________________________________________
Protect your PC - get McAfee.com VirusScan Online  
http://clinic.mcafee.com/clinic/ibuy/campaign.asp?cid=3963

_______________________________________________
APC-Discuss mailing list
APC-Discuss at lists.resist.ca
https://lists.resist.ca/mailman/listinfo/apc-discuss


From ericr at zoolink.com  Sun May 25 13:59:13 2003
From: ericr at zoolink.com (Eric R.)
Date: Sun, 25 May 2003 13:59:13 -0700
Subject: [news] The social movement in France
Message-ID: <004801c32300$7fd455a0$03000004@oemcomputer>

The social movement in France, against the reforms of the pension 
system and "decentralization" in schools, develops and tend to harden, in 
particular in the education sector, where some establishments are in 
strike since March. The Minister for education, Luc Ferry, denounces "the 
spirit of 68 at work in the education sector". The general-secretary of 
the main trade union, the CGT, announces a million people in the 
streets during the demonstrations of tomorrow May 25. For the two next weeks, 
many strikes and demonstrations are planned, of which the "renewable" 
strike of the Parisian subway and the national railroads as from June 3. 

In the sector of education one attends true attempts of 
self-organisation apart from the trade unions (some of them accepted the reforms), 
even if it is not yet "against" them. "Coordinations" multiply and seek to 
be centralised. This activity was largely facilitated by the recourse 
to a not-trade-union Internet site, created by a "coordination", and 
maintained by six volunteers "who know data processing". Updated 
permanently, it informs on unfolding of the fight in all the country and 
constitutes a forum of exchanges on what is to be done.

The existence of Internet makes it possible not to depend more on the 
trade unions for the information flow. This monopoly of information is 
(was?) one of the most frightening weapons of the trade unions against 
the combativeness of the fights when those tend to overflow them. In May 
68, for example, they made use of it abundantly to facilitate the 
general resumption of work, announcing untruthfully the end of the strike 
for places which were still in fight. But, the monopoly of information is 
(was?) also the principal pretext to have the monopoly of the 
negotiation and decision-making power in the fights. 

A visit to the site of the "coordination" of the teachers, 
"ReseauDesBahuts" 

http://reseaudesbahuts.lautre.net 

(for those who read some French) makes possible to have:

- "on line" information on the fight of the teachers (and parents of 
pupils) and on the feverish debates on how to self-organise apart from 
trade-unions ("dismissible delegates ", etc.) 

- an illustration "in vivo" of what new technologies can bring to the 
workers' fight and the development of the capacity to self-organise.

[from a contact in Paris]


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From resist at resist.ca  Sun May 25 18:59:45 2003
From: resist at resist.ca (resist admin)
Date: Sun, 25 May 2003 18:59:45 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: [news] Cops Arrest & Charge APC Memeber for Watching Them
Message-ID: <Pine.LNX.4.53.0305251858410.9213@resist.ca>



From: Calvin Woida <calvinwoida at hotmail.com>
To: apc-discuss at lists.resist.ca, apc-announce at lists.resist.ca, copb-van-l at lists.resist.ca, van-announce at lists.resist.ca
Cc: apc at resist.ca, lmcsj at resist.ca
Subject: Cops Arrest & Charge APC Memeber for Watching Them
Date: 25 May 2003 14:25:21 -0700


PLEASE FORWARD WIDELY (APOLOGIES FOR ANY CROSS POSTINGS)


Yesterday afternoon, right after one of COPEs "community consultations"
regarding the future of the Woodwards building, an APC member, who is also
a former Woodward's Squatter, was being jacked up by Vancouver cops for the
crime of being too poor to have enough tobacco to roll a proper sized
cigarette (they thought it was a joint!).  Some APC members proceeded to
observe the cops to ensure that our comrades rights would be respected.
The cops demanded they move around the corner or they would be arrested for
obstruction (they were simply observing and not interfering with the cops
in any way).  When they insisted on exercising their rights, the cops
charged Trevor, threw him against the wall, put handcuffs on him and took
him to jail (it should be pointed out that this all happened with the
knowledge of at least some prominent COPE members, including City
Councillors; when we appealed to one Councillor, who happens to be a lawyer,
for assistance, we were told to "go call a lawyer"!).

We mobilized quickly:  APC members, our allies from VANDUs Housing Action
Committee (HAC), and others from the community (including Trevors Mom)
staged a sit-in outside the Cop Shop near Main & Hastings.  After a few
phone calls, more folks came down to give their support.  Throughout the
night a few came and went, and we maintained a steady 30 or so people.  We
had one demand:  RELEASE TREVOR IMMEDIATELY!

While we occupied the road outside the police station and blocked traffic
from the north (except for buses and local residents), the cops eventually
called for City crews to bring barricades and set them up at the other end
of the street.  Soon the entire block resembled a protest camp with Free
Trevor banners and signs, black flags, food and water to keep us energized,
Taums poetry, and frequent chants of Let Trevor Go!, No More Pigs in Our
Communities! and other favorites (at one point, a supporter used the
megaphone to screech irritating noise while another gave the cops inside the
one finger salute).  As long as the cops held our comrade in jail, they
would not receive a moments peace!

The cops toyed with us by giving our representatives conflicting information
and promising to release Trevor at various times and then not doing so.
Around 11:00 PM they told us they would release Trevor if we all left the
street, except for a small group that would wait for him outside the City
jail.  Most of us headed back to the safe injection site.  The deadline for
Trevors release came and went; feeling that the cops promise to release
our friend was a ploy to reduce our numbers and get us off the road, we all
headed en masse to the City jail, right beside the Police Station,
determined to stay as long as it took.

Eventually people grew tired of the cops bullshit and proceeded to block
off the street outside the jail.  We then marched to Main and Hastings,
toting the barricades that had been brought by earlier.  Despite our small
numbers, courageous supporters began setting up the barricades to completely
block the intersection while cops raced to the scene to clear them away,
receiving much abuse as they did so!

Finally word came to us that our determination and persistence had paid off:
  Trevor was released!  We left Main and Hastings triumphant to welcome our
friend and comrade who had just spent hours in jail for having the audacity
to watch the cops using their power against a poor person and political
activist.

This incident was important in many respects:  first, it showed what can be
accomplished when poor people refuse to be intimidated, stand together in
solidarity and fight back!  Second, it demonstrated that direct action,
maintaining a physical presence in the face of injustice, is more effective
than going through the official channels:  if we had simply waited for the
legal system to run its course, Trevor could have been in jail overnight,
even until Monday, and very well may have lost his job.  Finally, by taking
direct action we forced the cops to divert resources away from their
aptly-named Operation Torpedo which has been terrorizing drug users and
others in the Downtown Eastside and keeping them in their hotel rooms and
away from life saving services such as the needle exchange and the safe
injection site.

The struggle is not over; Trevor has been charged with Obstruction" and has
been red zoned out of a large area of the Downtown Eastside, places where
Trevor goes to be with friends, do political work and hang out.  He must now
abide by these onerous conditions until his first court appearance in a
month (if he does not, he could be charged with breaching his conditions
which is a criminal charge in itself).  The Anti-Poverty Committee and our
supporters will not rest until all charges against Trevor are dropped!

We will keep you informed of all developments in this case, including
Trevors first court appearance.

This is not the first time that an APC member has faced an attack by the
police and legal system:  currently, about half our members are facing
criminal charges.  The APC Legal Defence Fund desparately needs donations.
If you can donate any amount, large or small, please make out a cheque to
"Anti-Poverty Committee," write "Legal Defence Fund" on it, and mail to:

APC Legal Defence Committee
c/o Anti-Poverty Committee
108-119 West Pender Street,
Vancouver, Coast Salish Territory, "BC"
V6B 1S5


NO JUSTICE, NO PEACE!
FIGHT TO WIN!


The Anti-Poverty Committee (APC)


From resist at resist.ca  Thu May 29 13:59:52 2003
From: resist at resist.ca (resist admin)
Date: Thu, 29 May 2003 13:59:52 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: [news] Canada the Global Arms Dealer
Message-ID: <Pine.LNX.4.53.0305291350160.9701@resist.ca>


Meet Canada The Global Arms Dealer

by Stephen James-Kerr; May 25, 2003

"Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired
signifies in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed,
those who are cold and are not clothed. This world in arms is not spending
money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its
scientists, the hopes of its children."

Dwight D Eisenhower

When Americans think of Canadians these days, it's usually as the laid back
folks who sat out the war on Iraq. Our national myth is 'Canada the
peacekeeper,' but it's a myth, not a fact.

The facts are hard to mythologize.

The Canadian government was the fourth largest contributor to the attack on
Iraq after Australia, ahead of most members of Bush's 'coalition of the
willing,' who offered only moral support. Canada topped Colin Powell's list
of countries who didn't want their names mentioned while they helped Uncle
Sam take over Iraq.

While many Americans were cursing Canadian 'non-participation' three
Canadian warships equipped with surface to air missiles and anti-submarine
capability were escorting the US fleet that fired Tomahawk missiles at
innocent Iraqis. Our government calls this mission Operation Apollo,
insisting that these ships are deployed in the 'war on terrorism.' Not a
shot has been fired at a Canadian ship.

While some US peace activists were praising Canada's 'bold stance' ten
Canadian soldiers were manning AWACS radar aircraft, directing those
missiles to their targets. No reports of any terrorists killed in Iraq.

While 6457 Iraqi civilians had been killed as of May 23rd according to
www.iraqbodycount.net Canadian officers continued to sit in the air
conditioned offices of CENTCOM in Doha Qatar, deep in the logistical details
of escorting American ships, and planning for war.

While Canadians slept, US troop transport planes carried the invading army
silently over our heads thanks to the Canadian government's offer of
over-flight privileges and refueling to the US Air Force at Gander airport.
US military doctrine describes refueling as the "key" to us global airpower.
This reporter's request for a full accounting of these over-flights was
refused by the Canadian Department of National Defence.

When US Marines left their posts in Afghanistan for the Iraqi front, 1000
Canadian soldiers spelled them off, taking up the 'war on terror' in
military engagements which are kept secret from the Canadian public. Next
year Canada will take over command of the Afghan occupation.

While Canadians, who supported their government's decision to 'sit out the
war' protested US imperialism in small towns like Cobourg Ontario and
Moosejaw Saskatchewan, 30 odd Canadian soldiers were quietly serving 'on
exchange' with US and UK invasion forces in Iraq. One young Canadian soldier
died.

The Canadian government has tried desperately to paint the blood red reality
of Canadian imperialism in teal blue.

In response to Bush's 48 hour deadline for Saddam Hussein and his sons to
leave Baghdad or die, Canada's Foreign Minister, Bill Graham declared that
"Clearly I very much welcomed his (Bush's) reference to the United Nations,
and clearly the President has demonstrated a willingness to work within the
international system to date." This is how Graham described Bush's threat to
invade a UN member state based on forged documents, for the profit of the
oil and construction companies that put Bush in office.

Graham was only dipping from the Prime Ministerial whitewash bucket.

"Mr. Speaker, We have always made clear that Canada will require the
approval of the Security Council if we were to participate in (a) military
campaign. Over the last few weeks the Security Council has been unable to
agree on a new resolution authorizing military action. Canada worked very
hard to find a compromise to bridge the gap in the Security Council.
Unfortunately (emphasis mine) we were not successful. If military action
proceeds without a new resolution of the Security Council, Canada will not
participate." Such were the assurances of Graham's boss, Prime Minister Jean
Chr?tien to the House of Commons, on March 17.

Graham reinforced the message with the press the next day. "We require a
clear United Nations mandate if the use of force is to be used to resolve
potential conflicts between states," said Graham with his trademark poker
face.

That 'requirement' is becoming harder to justify to Canada's growing arms
industry, and to the politicians like Graham who are now openly beholden to
it. Thus the desperate and contradictory Iraq policy of the Federal Liberal
government, caught between the Canadian public, which overwhelmingly opposed
the attack on Iraq, and the Canadian military industrial complex which
profited from it.

Canadian foreign policy publicly postures for peace while pimping for
private profit.

In its self contradictory editorial of May 7, the Toronto Star, which
opposed the attack on Iraq, rationalized the recently revealed Liberal
government support for US National Missile Defence (NMD) because it "relies
on conventional, non-nuclear rockets based on the ground to shoot down enemy
missiles." The Star, itself an unofficial organ of the governing Federal
Liberal Party had to acknowledge that "Canada has no credible enemy, and no
immediate need for missile defence," but still urged participation, "in
Canada's interest."

What The Star left out was the exact nature of that interest, the great
taboo of Canadian journalism.

According to the Canadian Defence Industries Association, (CDIA) "Under the
existing conditions, Canada can expect, at a minimum, about $270 million in
NMD-related exports over the next 15 years. With appropriate levels of
Government and industry action, (emphasis mine) there is a potential for
that to increase to more than $1 billion in exports."

CDIA figures show that Canadian 'defence' industry revenues grew 35% between
1998 and 2000, far outpacing growth of the rest of the economy, which grew
at approximately 3%. Canada's 'defence' market grew from $3.7 billion in
1998 to $4.08 billion in 2000, up 22.6%. Exports to the USA grew by 17% from
just under a billion to $1.25 billion. And our arms exports to the rest of
the world grew a staggering 75% in the same period from $798 million to $1.5
billion.

Meet the Canada you never knew, the global arms dealer with a heart of gold.

Most Canadians don't know that much of the Canadian arms trade is guaranteed
by the Canadian government through the Canadian Commercial Corporation
(www.ccc.ca) and other government agencies. Our ignorance is the result of a
total failure by the media to report basic facts about the Canadian arms
economy.

The CCC, "Canada's export contracting agency" does more than $1.2 billion in
business annually, approximately 70% of it weapons, weapons components and
services to the Pentagon and NASA, just in case 'force must be used to
resolve conflicts between states.' Making weapons is big business in this
country. Canada's defence industry accounts for 650 firms, and 57,000 direct
jobs, says the CCC, while the Canadian Defence Industries Association puts
the figure at 1,559 firms. CDIA employment numbers roughly match those of
the CCC. The Canadian defence industry sells about $5 billion dollars of
goods and services per year, half of which are exported. Though weapons
account for just over 1% of economic output, it is one of the most heavily
subsidized and protected sectors of the Canadian economy. This reflects the
political importance of arms, and their role as a bargaining chip in Canada
US relations for the Canadian elite. It is also a reflection of the
connection between militarism, imperialism and Canada's need to force weaker
states to accept heavily subsidized Canadian exports.

Canada's hospitals are collapsing, public schools are being closed, and the
ranks of our homeless increase, but weapons exporters take shelter from the
economic storm under the Canadian flag.

"For Canadian Exporters, CCC wraps the Canadian flag around their proposal,
providing a government-backed guarantee of contract performance," says the
CCC. We go all the way for the USA.

The US Department of Defence takes care of friends like Canada, who treat
their flag with such reverence. "All purchases from Canada over U.S.
$100,000 must be contracted through the Canadian Commercial Corporation,"
according to the Defence Production and Sharing Agreement, in effect since
1956.

Dealing through the CCC means that Canadian companies get treated not just
like American firms, but one better. They are exempted from US Federal cost
accounting standards and from import taxation, as well as parts of the Buy
American Act.

Canadian taxpayers pick up the tab.

The CCC is a Crown Corporation, wholly owned by the Canadian people, managed
by our government. Thus when Canada "becomes the prime contractor," for the
US Department of Defence, as it is whenever a Canadian firm makes a sale
greater than $100,000 Cad to the Pentagon, Canadian citizens are
underwriting the American Empire.

But it's a well kept secret. When the Canadian government reports its arms
exports each year, sales to the US military are not included. (see below)

The Canadian economy is uniquely dependent on exports. In 1993 total
Canadian exports were valued at approximately $176 billion dollars, but by
2000 exports increased to approximately $400 billion according to Statistics
Canada, or nearly half of the output of the entire economy. In comparison,
China, with 37 times the Canadian population, exported only 20% more goods
and services than Canada in 2002. The USA is the world's largest single
exporter, but exports account for only 11% of the US economy. Canadians
export more per capita than any other nation on earth, yet this wealth is
concentrated in only a few hands.

Only 5 firms account for 20% of total exports, and 100 firms account for
more than 50%, with US trade accounting for 85%, according to the Canadian
government. Thus it should come as no surprise that catering to big
businesses that export to the USA is what the Canadian government is
politically committed to. Compare how the CCC helps Canadian weapons
exporters with how the Canadian government treats people.

If you own a small electronics firm that has never sold a circuit to the
Pentagon before, have no fear of economic hard times. The CCC will assist
your sale to a foreign government at every step of the way, from contract
negotiation, to providing a letter of introduction and support which
"carries the weight of the Government of Canada."

Got cash-flow problems? Over one million Canadian children live in low
income households according to the Canadian government's own records, but
poor kids don't export missile components. For weapons exporters the CCC has
a Progress Payment Plan which provides a line of credit up to two million
Canadian dollars to companies with insufficient working capital to fulfill
an export contract. Canadian exporters sold $69 million dollars worth of
goods using this subsidy in 2001.

All the major Canadian Banks provide lines of credit for the CCC. The
Canadian people sign the contracts, and we write the cheques, for buyers and
sellers alike.

But if you are an unemployed Canadian in need of financial assistance, the
Canadian government's attitude is 'Get a job.' During the 1990's, the
Federal Liberal government tightened up restrictions on Unemployment
Insurance. In 1989, 53% of unemployed Ontarians received UI benefits. By
1997, only 25% of the unemployed were eligible according to the Ontario
Federation of Labour. The Liberal government cut more than $ 45 billion
dollars from the employment fund between 1993 and 2001. In a typical year,
the Feds take in $5 billion more in unemployment premiums than they pay out.
They've been sitting on the surplus, but the Liberals won't raise benefit
rates, or let more unemployed workers into the system. The Canadian Labour
Congress has documented that one million Canadian workers have paid UI
premiums from their paycheques, but are unable to collect UI when they are
out of a job. "It's a scam," says the CLC.

It's not the only one.

If you own a small business that does not sell weapons or export to foreign
governments, you are on a tight budget. Throughout the 1990's Canada's
chartered banks tightened up credit availability to small business and
individuals. The Canadian Community Reinvestment Coalition, a broad grouping
including the Canadian Labour Congress and Canada's largest NGO the Council
of Canadians with over 100,000 members, have criticized the banks for
attempting to hide their lending statistics. (http://www.cancrc.org/)
Whereas in the USA, banks are obliged to track how many loans are granted or
rejected by gender, race income level and other stats, Canadian banks keep
this data under wraps.

If you are a Canadian university student, you already know the banks,
because they keep calling you for money. In 1998 the Liberal government took
away the rights of students to declare bankruptcy if they default on student
loans. Nearly half of students who apply for financial assistance in Canada
are disqualified, according to the Canadian Federation of Students, Canada's
national student union which has been calling for a tuition freeze for
years. From 1990 to 2000, the average undergraduate tuition fee rose from
$1,500 to $3,500.

While Canadians got cut off, Canadian weapons makers cut deals. Here are a
fraction of the weapons systems Canada sold with the help of the CCC and a
small army of bureaucrats.

Bombardier, a corporation whose board is peppered with powerful Liberals
including the Prime Minister's son in law, got the deal with US Army TACOM
to build transportable bridges, for the next time the US Army needs to cross
the Rubicon.

A bridge without a Light Armoured Vehicle to drive across it would be like a
Canadian Cabinet Minister without a needy relative.

LAVs driven by US Marines across the long Iraqi supply lines were largely
made in Canada, by GM Defence in London Ontario. "With CCC's export sales
and contract management assistance, GM has accumulated worldwide LAV sales
of more than $2.5 billion. About two-thirds of the company's production is
exported," says the CCC. Saudi Arabia is also a good customer for Canadian
LAVs.

Pivotal Power in Nova Scotia makes uninterruptible power systems, batteries
and other gear, some of which can be found aboard the US Navy's DDG-51
Burke-class destroyers. This is the platform from which the Mk 41 Tomahawk
missile was fired at Iraqis.

CPI Canada has been dealing with the Canadian Commercial Corporation for 45
years. CPI is "the world's leading design, development and manufacturing
specialist of microwave and millimeter wave tubes and complex electronic
equipment for communications and medical applications," according to the
CCC.  CPI does $35 million dollars of business per year, and 98% of that is
exported. Today, when the U.S. Army's Communications and Electronics Command
(CECOM) is in need of a good Klystron, they come to CPI.

Winnipeg based Bristol Aerospace is busy making everything from missiles, to
the M1 Abrams Tank engine housing, and the targeting systems for the Patriot
missile.

CAE Systems manufactures flight simulators used to train US Air Force Apache
helicopter pilots. When the missiles hit their targets, it's thanks in part
to Canadian ingenuity.
For Canadian capitalists at least, the weapons business is not a waste of
time, resources and human labour. In 1998, Canada, thanks to the CCC was the
66th biggest defence contractor to the US Department of Defence, ahead of
big American firms Mitretek and Honeywell. The results are profitable for
Canadian weapons system makers.  "CCC flies the Canadian flag and we benefit
from standing under it," says one happy corporate Vice President.

Once the profits start flowing, it's impossible for Canadian capitalists to
'just say no' to war. They're hooked and looking for a fix.

The Canadian Commercial Corporation is encouraging Canadian companies to
participate in the $200 billion dollar Joint Strike Fighter programme, and
has set up an entire team of government bureaucrats to make sure Canadian
firms get in on the lucrative global arms race. They are drawn from a
tangled web of state agencies, all dedicated to corporate welfare.

Team Canada Inc. is the high level government lobbying agency led by the
Prime Minister, and his 'team' of ten provincial Premiers. Jean Chr?tien
loads up on frequent flier miles while on business junkets to China, Africa
and other locations to have his picture taken while Canadian CEOs sign
multi-million dollar contracts.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT) at used to
be two separate ministries. The Liberal Party brought them together
immediately after coming to power in 1993, and DFAIT has led the drive to
put Canadian corporate profit at the heart of our foreign policy ever since.
DFAIT's mission is "advancing Canada's interests abroad." These interests
are indistinguishable from the corporate interest. "It is in Canada's
interest to pursue deeper integration with American defence industry while
looking for niches in the emerging transatlantic defence market," according
to DFAIT. Amnesty has condemned Canada for exporting arms to repressive
governments which abuse human rights, including Israel, the Philippines,
Saudi Arabia and Indonesia. When DFAIT promotes arms deals, how credible is
'Canada the peacemaker'? Check out DFAIT's website and see for yourself,
then go to check out how the DFAIT helps Canadian companies cash in on the
lucrative business of Iraqi reconstruction. DFAIT and the Minister of
Foreign Affairs Bill Graham is the bland public face of Canadian
imperialism.

Export Development Canada (http://www.edc.ca/) has been criticized by Probe
International for its tendency to award export development grants and loans
to benefit Canadian companies owned by paid up Liberal party donors. EDC is
also pushing weapons. "EDC helps absorb risk on behalf of exporters, beyond
what is possible by other financial intermediaries," according to its sister
corporation, the CCC. Probe International isn't impressed. "As a result EDC
makes otherwise uneconomic investments proceed. It has become clear that a
number of the larger EDC-supported projects are socially and environmentally
destructive." The EDC uses 'vendor financing' - loaning Canadian taxpayer
dollars to foreign customers in order to purchase Canadian subsidized
weapons and nuclear technology that nobody really needs. Four billion
dollars of EDC financing has allowed China, India, Pakistan and South Korea
to purchase CANDU nuclear reactors. Normally if your customer can't afford
to buy your product you go out of business, but Ottawa is busy promoting
failure, while distributing nuclear technology to belligerent governments.

"Industry Canada ( http://www.ic.gc.ca/ ) works with Canadians throughout
the economy to improve conditions for investment, improve Canada's
innovation performance, increase Canada's share of global trade and build a
fair, efficient and competitive marketplace," according to Industry Canada.
Given the record of the EDC, this self-description seems barely credible.
Industry Canada works with corporations to deregulate and privatize the
economy using over 150 programs, many of them pure corporate welfare. See
http://www.ic.gc.ca/cmb/welcomeic.nsf/icPages/Programs#IC for details.

There is no end to the largely invisible bureaucracy that supports business
in Canada where the social welfare system has been mythologized in order to
cover up its near destruction by the growing corporate welfare system.

Because Canada is a regional nation, with disparate populations concentrated
in a few isolated capital cities, Provincial governments, alone or in blocks
also have their overlapping trade promoting bureaucracies. Ontario Exports
Inc, the Alberta Economic Development, the Atlantic Opportunity Fund are
only three.

Throw in the Canadian Defence Industries Association, the Aerospace
Industries Association of Canada, Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters, Nav
Canada which runs Canadian Air Navigation Services and the Canadian
chartered banks, and you have a family portrait of the Canadian military
industrial complex, minus the more than one thousand children produced by
this orgy of state subsidy - the Canadian companies that make the weapons
and reap the profits, but who choose to remain anonymous from the public
which finances their otherwise uneconomic and socially destructive
operations.

But the real nature of the family business is getting harder to hide from
the kids.

At the bringing of May, a split opened up in the Liberal government over the
next big foray into the arms business, Canadian government support for the
Star Wars system, a US project to provide a missile shield from behind which
the USA could launch a nuclear strike. Cabinet Ministers like Herb Dahliwal
(Dhaliwal.H at parl.gc.ca ), and MPs like John Godfrey, (Godfrey.J at parl.gc.ca )
and others on the left wing of the Liberal backbench spoke out against their
own government's stated intentions. The caucus was also split along similar
lines over Canadian participation in the war. Fearing his caucus more than
American wrath, the Prime Minister put the missile defence decision on hold,
then switched gears to promote the decriminalization of marijuana
possession.

Somebody forgot to tell Chr?tien the sixties ended a long time ago. Today's
peace movement is addicted to political protest, not pot.

With an unprecedented number of Canadians mobilized against the war on Iraq,
there is a growing movement to expose Canadian arms makers and the effects
of the weapons they produce. At the forefront of this activity are a number
of groups, including the Canadian Peace Alliance, the New Democratic Party,
Science for Peace, and Toronto Homes not Bombs.

Sid Lacombe is with the Canadian Peace Alliance. The CPA has launched a
national campaign to keep Canada out of National Missile Defence. "Star Wars
represents a new arms race," says Lacombe. It's another escalation of
military spending. This is money that should be going into healthcare,
education and housing."

Lacombe's schedule is busy. "The next step is to educate the Canadian public
and step up our activity. We have hundreds of petitions filled out, and we
are distributing them across the country." The Liberal purple haze may blow
over quickly. Lacombe says "It's very urgent. They are beginning discussions
with the Americans this week. Bill Graham says that missile defence is
Canada's 'insurance policy.'"

Having paid the premiums for years, Canadians are now starting to read the
fine print, and they do not like what they see. Groups across Canada are
planning actions in the coming weeks and months that target corporate war
profiteers. In Montreal one group is offering a bus tour of local weapons
makers. Direct actions are being planned in Toronto. The 'insurance policy'
might protect Canadian corporate profits in the short term, but the
increasing dependence of Canadian industry on arms exports exposes the
Canadian business elite to increasing risks from an angry public armed with
the ugly truth about Canada the global weapons dealer.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


* all figures are in Canadian dollars unless otherwise stated. At the time
of this writing, the Canadian dollar was rapidly rising against the US
dollar, at .7430 US cents to the Canadian dollar.

The author, Stephen James Kerr stephen.kerr at sympatico.ca  is an
investigative journalist in Toronto, and the co-host of Newspeak on CIUT
89.5 FM www.ciut.fm .


What you can do:

Write to Canada's Minster of Foreign Affairs Bill Graham at
Graham.B at parl.gc.ca and Canada's 'Defence' Minister, John McCallum at
McCallum.J at parl.gc.ca and tell them you want Canada to stay out of Star
Wars. Please send a copy of your letter to the Canadian Peace Alliance at
cpa at web.ca .


For more information see:

Ploughshares Canada at www.ploughshares.ca for weapons sales to USA.

Amnesty International criticizes Canada for weapons sales to repressive
governments

Canadian small arms may have killed protestors in Papua New Guinea

Canadian weapons exports to Saudi Arabia

Export of Military Goods from Canada 2001 (not including USA)

Canada exports $26 million in weapons to Indonesia

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