[van-announce] Community Groups to Rally at City Hall, Sat. Nov.9

[Yang Chang]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
 
Community Groups to Rally at City Hall
 
On Saturday, November 9, one week before the municipal election, 
grassroots community groups and their supporters will rally for A 
People's Agenda at City Hall.  The Bus Riders Union, a 200 member strong 
group that has been fighting for environmental and social justice in 
Vancouver's transit system since October 2001, is organizing the rally.
 
"In the two years since the last election we have seen bus fares 
skyrocket, while transit service has declined," says Aiyanas Ormond, an 
organizer with the Bus Riders Union.  "We have seen the elimination of 
night owl service, meaning an effective curfew on transit dependent 
people in this region.  We have seen TransLink sit on their hands while 
transit dependent people suffered through a four-month lockout of transit 
workers.  Enough is enough.  It is time to tell these politicians that 
poor people, women and children, seniors and students, immigrants and 
refugees, must be put at the center of public policy planning in this 
region."
 
The rally has been endorsed by a broad range of grassroots community 
groups, including End Legislated Poverty, Redwire Magazine, the Vancouver 
Area Network of Drug Users (VANDU), Grassroots Women, and the Anti 
Poverty Committee. 
 
"We are working together so that the voices of marginalized people are 
heard," says Beth Grayer, an organizer with the Bus Riders Union.  
"Whether we are calling for more buses and lower fares, or more money for 
social housing and daycare centres, what we need is a shift in 
priorities.  A shift away from mega-projects like the skytrain and the 
2010 Olympics, which mostly benefit big business, developers and high 
paid bureaucrats, and onto the real needs of the vast majority of people 
in this region." 
 
The "Rally for a People's Agenda at City Hall", is will be held Saturday, 
November 9, at 1PM, at City Hall.
 
THE MEDIA CONTACT PERSON FOR THIS EVENT IS JENNIFER EFTING 604 255 4745 
OR 778 882 5967.