2010 Olympics Resistance

With one month till the opening ceremonies of the 2010 Olympic Games, a network of Downtown Eastside (DTES) groups and supporters are calling on the Government of Canada to prorogue the Olympics.

"Harper and other politicians are always quick to point out the undemocratic nature of other countries. To us, Canada is a failed state given the consistent and systematic failure of all levels of government to address the pressing issues of homelessness, gentrification, missing and murdered women, poverty, and criminalization in the DTES. We are demanding that the government prorogue the Olympics!" states Harsha Walia, Project Coordinator at the Downtown Eastside Womens' Centre.

The DTES Justice for All Network consisting of Carnegie Community Action Project, DTES Women Centre Power of Women Group, Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users, DTES Elders Council, Streams of Justice, Vancouver Action, Impact on Communities Coalition, PACE, DTES Neighbourhood House and others will be organizing and participating in a month long series of events. The launch will be taking place with a press conference on Tues Jan 12 at 3 pm at 133 Powell Street.

The Downtown Eastside of Vancouver is the poorest postal code in Canada, while British Columbia has the highest poverty rate in the country. Wendy Pedersen of the Carnegie Community Action Project states: "Money spent on the Olympics could have ended homelessness and poverty in my neighbourhood, the Downtown Eastside. Instead, the Olympics has been an informal target date for "revitalizing" the DTES which has made it easier for developers to sell condos in our area. Low-income residents have been pushed out by higher land prices which cause rent increases and evictions. The area is becoming more uncomfortable to those who have lived here for
decades."

The Olympic Charter states that the Olympic movement aims, "to place sport at the service of the harmonious development of man, with a view to promoting a peaceful society concerned with the preservation of human dignity". The Stopwar.ca coalition in Vancouver, Canada considers that this noble ideal is contradicted the by reality of the Games which reveals a consistent, predictable and historical pattern of militarization and anti-democratic acts everywhere that they are hosted. The 2010 Winter Games that will take place in Vancouver next February are no exception to this reality.

StopWar is especially concerned with the militarization of Vancouver and Whistler during the Games, with its accompanying restrictions on the democracy and safety of our community. Enormous resources, including one billion dollars of spending, considerable military personnel and equipment, and countless thousands of police and private security personnel are being deployed. Featured among the identified "threats" to the Games are domestic protest. The Games are accompanied by the largest domestic military and security operation in Canadian military history. It includes: 40 km of electronically monitored security fencing; over 1000 closed circuit cameras; the use of military aerial surveillance; the creation of new policing forces such as VISU (Vancouver Integrated Security Unit), JTFG (Joint Task Force Games), and participation of US security and policing agencies; and finally, the use of 4500 Canadian Forces troops, many of whom will be pulled from the war in Afghanistan to be relocated in 10 military camps between Vancouver and Whistler.

Money spent on the Olympics could have ended homelessness and poverty in my
neighbourhood, the Downtown Eastside.

Sad to say that's in no way true.

Money spent on the Olympics could have alleviated some of the suffering of some people but money alone is no panacea.

 

I'm going to side with Wendy Pedersen on this one. Wendy is a well respected long-time housing advocate in the downtown eastside, and I trust that she knows what she's talking about.