The Dominion - vancouver

We Need to Fight Back!

stephlaw — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 11:31:28 +0000

Community March Against Racism takes to Vancouver streets

VANCOUVER—Hundreds of people took to the streets of Vancouver on March 18 for the annual Community March Against Racism, marking the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination on March 21. The march, organized by No One is Illegal (NOII)–Vancouver, began at Commercial Drive and 14th Avenue and made its way along the Drive to Grandview Park.

Along the way, stops were made to gather for songs and speakers. After Coast Salish drumming and singing in the middle of the busy intersection of East Broadway and Commercial, Kat Norris of the Indigenous Action Movement asked for a moment of silence "for all of our people on the street, for all of our people incarcerated, for all of our people suffering in their homes..."

Further along the Drive, the march paused once again. "There was a man that was lit on fire on this street by neo-Nazis, and very little was done about it," explained rally emcee Harjap Grewal.

Robertson De Chazal and Alastair Miller, both reportedly members of neo-Nazi group Blood and Honour, have been charged for the 2009 attack against a Filipino man, who had been sleeping on a discarded couch near Commercial Drive. The attack was one of several in recent years that targeted people of colour.

"Feeling safe to walk these streets should not be just a Canadian fiction," a group from the Kalayaan Centre recited in a collective poem. "So-called progressive Van city, silencing histories."

NOII's Grewal highlighted the fact that in the early 1900s, Vancouver was home to race riots and racist legislation—and today racist attacks and legislation remain. "We need to see how these things are linked, and we need to fight back."

"Aqui estamos y no nos vamos. We are here and we're not going anywhere!,” said activist Richard Marquez. "We can't rely on the cops, the courts and the legislators. We’ve got to rely on the people's movement."

Sandra Cuffe is a writer and aspiring janitor currently living in Vancouver.

This article was originally published by the Vancouver Media Coop.

Community March Against Racism

Canada is a Racist State

No fences, no borders

Carnival Band

"Stand With Us to Fight"

Tim McSorley — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 12:42:20 +0000

Hundreds protest Enbridge pipeline and oil tankers at Heiltsuk-led rally

VANCOUVER—Hundreds of people from First Nations, environmental and community organizations, and others from Vancouver and beyond, rallied against Enbridge's Northern Gateway pipeline and coastal oil supertanker traffic earlier today, filling the Vancouver Art Gallery grounds.

A march led by the Heiltsuk Nation of the Central Coast departed from the Coastal First Nations office at Granville and Hastings Streets and wound its way through the downtown business district to join another group waiting at the Vancouver Art Gallery. The rally marked the 23rd anniversary of the Exxon Valdez oil spill off the coast of Alaska, which spilled hundreds of thousands of barrels of oil on March 24, 1989.

"Only seven percent of that oil was cleaned up," said Coastal First Nations Executive Director Art Sterritt of the Exxon Valdez spill. "Our well-being as First Nations is dependent on our lands, on our waters.

“Our people, the Heiltsuk people, have always had a position: No oil tankers on the coast! That position has never changed,” Heiltsuk elder Edwin Newman said, addressing the rally. “We are pleading with our coastal neighbours to stand with us to fight this issue.”

“When we stand together, we are a powerful people,” added Newman, whose call for unity was echoed by speaker after speaker.

"We are Canada's energy union and we stand with you on this issue," Jim Britton, Western Region Vice President of the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers' Union (CEP) told the crowd. "We do not support Enbridge. We do not support Northern Gateway...This isn't just about oil. This is about us. This is about our communities."

If built, the proposed 1,200-kilometre Northern Gateway oil pipeline would transport a half-million barrels of tar sands bitumen from Alberta to Kitimat, BC. The proposed twin pipelines' 30-metre-wide right-of-way would cross hundreds of rivers, streams and watersheds along its route through numerous unceded Indigenous territories. The crude oil would then be transported on massive oil tankers through delicate coastal ecosystems and Indigenous territories and finally across the Pacific to Asian markets.

"The world that we have lived in for the past 10,000 years is shifting around us," Bill McKibben, founder of 350.org, an organization dedicated to building a global movement against climate change, told the rally, situating the coastal struggle against pipelines and tankers within the global climate justice movement. "The planet is starting to become unglued because we are raising the temperature."

"We know, we absolutely know that this fight is going to completely eclipse the [fight for] Clayoquot Sound," Grand Chief Stewart Phillip, President of the Union of BC Indian Chiefs said. "We know that this fight is going to intensify."

While the struggle against Northern Gateway has garnered massive support and international attention, it is not the only pipeline project facing opposition in the province. Grassroots Wet'suwet'en community activists have been resisting the proposed Pacific Trails natural gas pipeline that would connect to a new Liquefied Natural Gas port on the Central Coast. The project would traverse the unceded lands of many of the same First Nations opposing the Enbridge project. In its case, however, the elected leadership of several First Nations along the route are supporting the Pacific Trails project.

Another lesser-known pipeline project already runs through the lower mainland. The Kinder Morgan oil pipeline brings tar sands crude across the Rockies along its Trans Mountain pipeline to terminals in both Burnaby and Washington State. Only two months ago there was a spill in Abbotsford, BC, following a major oil spill at the Burnaby terminal site in 2007.

Kinder Morgan is expected to announce its expansion plans for the pipeline, according to Ben West, Healthy Communities Campaigner for the Wilderness Committee. The company is reportedly looking to increase the quantity of crude transported from 300,000 barrels per day to 600,000 or 700,000.

"Kinder Morgan has been trying to do this as quietly as possible," West told the rally. "We have to stand together to say no to all these projects!"

As the rally wound down after two hours in the rain, the loudest expressions of support were heard for 11-year-old Sliammon First Nation singer-songwriter Ta'Kaiya Blaney. She recalled going to the Enbridge office in Vancouver one year ago to express her opinion about the Northern Gateway pipeline.

"I was escorted out and I was told that if I didn't leave I would be charged for trespassing," Blaney recounted to the ralliers, who showed their support with enthusiastic cheers.

Before performing her song "Shallow Waters," Blaney told the hundreds gathered on the Monday afternoon of the message found in the song: "If we do nothing it will all be gone."

Sandra Cuffe is a writer and aspiring janitor currently living in Vancouver.

This article was originally published by the Vancouver Media Co-op.

Questions? Comments? Drop us a line: info@mediacoop.ca

Heiltsuk Nation elder Edwin Newma

Rally against pipelines at Vancouver Art Gallery

Khader Adnan's Unpublicized Hunger Strike

stephlaw — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 09:26:43 +0000

Vigil called on CBC to end the silence

VANCOUVER—Khader Adnan, a Palestinian political prisoner, ended his 66-day hunger strike on February 21, after reaching an agreement with the Israeli government in which he will be released on April 17, four months after he was first detained. During his strike, Adnan lost about one-third of his body weight and put his life in danger, according to a doctor who examined him last week on behalf of Physicians for Human Rights.

There was next to no mention of Adnan's strike in Canadian media, though, according to Vancouver Palestine activists who held a vigil and picket at the CBC building in downtown Vancouver on February 16. The activists were calling for CBC to end its silence about his case.

"Khader Adnan is invisible in Canadian media. We see [Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister] John Baird saying that Israel has no greater friend than Canada, at a time when Khader Adnan is protesting his arbitrary detention without charge, settlements are expanding and the illegal occupation continues," said Khaled Barakat, a Palestinian community activist. "We think it is very important to say that Baird does not speak for all Canadians."

Activists from a number of Vancouver-based organizations, including the Boycott Israeli Apartheid Campaign, Canada Palestine Association, Canadian Boat to Gaza, Independent Jewish Voices, Seriously Free Speech, Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network, and others joined the picket, where protesters distributed flyers informing the public about Khader Adnan's case, held signs with his image and candles honoring his struggle and sacrifice.

Khader Adnan is a Palestinian political activist, baker, husband and father, and was put into administrative detention by the Israeli occupation military forces. His hunger strike was undertaken to demand the end of administrative detention in Palestine.

Administrative detention is detention without charge, based only on secret evidence, indefinitely renewable by Israeli military judges.

“My husband is dying inside an Israeli jail. The world should make sure I am able to see him,” said Randa Adnan, Khader's wife, before Tuesday's announcement was made. “And it should pressure the Israeli government to release him before it’s too late…Israel denied Khader any fairness or decency…But maybe the rest of humanity will show more mercy."

Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch had also called for Khader Adnan to be charged or released. Thousands of people around the world called for his release. In Palestine, dozens were injured at protests calling for his release, where they were attacked with tear gas and rubber bullets.

Despite those calls, domestically and internationally, an Israeli military court of appeal upheld Khader’s administrative detention as late as Monday, Feb. 20. That was before Khader struck the agreement for his release in April. He has still not been charged with any crime.

Charlotte Kates is a Palestine solidarity activist with the Boycott Israeli Apartheid Campaign and Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network in Vancouver, unceded Coast Salish territories. This article was originally published by the VMC.

Questions? Comments? Drop us a line: info@mediacoop.ca.

khader

Khader2

Vancouver Media Co-op Tour, Days 3-7

Maya Rolbin-Ghanie — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 01:51:49 +0000

The Vancouver Media Co-op held a meeting several days ago for folks who are interested in helping with organizing, promoting events, and covering stories. About 7 or so amazingly solid folks showed up to our meeting on the back balcony of Spartacus Books. People threw around some great story ideas, agreed to taking on specific tasks (ie postering and flyering), planned a group trip to Sutikalh, talked about the structure and purpose of the co-op, as well as its goals, and shared contact information. It was an impressive tone-setter to say the least.

The bulk of Media Co-op work so far has consisted of talking to or emailing people, getting contact info for other people, talking to them, setting up meetings, and then talking some more. Several meetings with a diverse cross-section of folks linked to media production, cooperatives, and unions have been arranged and are slowly filling up the VMC calendar.

Picture 1: A demonstrator at a women's housing march put on by local group Power of Women (POW). The march was a dignified expression of anger at the government for authorizing mass evictions in poorer areas of the city (most notably the downtown eastside), as well as destroying potential social housing sites in favour of making way for the Olympic Games in 2010. Aboriginal people comprise about 3 per cent of BC's population yet make up over 32 per cent of the homeless population. Aboriginal women are particularly vulnerable to losing their homes.

Vancouver Media Co-op Tour, Days 1-2

Maya Rolbin-Ghanie — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 04:59:17 +0000

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Picture 1: The Vancouver Media Co-op tour kicked off in Victoria BC at the Camas Bookstore and Infoshop. About a dozen people showed up, and in spite of technical difficulties which prevented us from showing the Media Co-op's promo video (filmed in Halifax during our February tour), the discussion was a success, as folks were enthusiastic and interested in finding ways of supporting and collaborating with the Media Co-op on independent media projects that are already up-and-running in Victoria. An organizer from Indymedia Victoria attended the event and gave an update of events after the talk. Another organizer there is starting a news site called B Channel News in response to Victoria's mainstream A Channel.

Picture 2: After Victoria we headed to Nanaimo to speak to people at Radio Malaspina(CHLY), the town's campus community station. Four people came out, but they were incredibly enthusiastic and spent some time brainstorming ways that Nanaimo could fit into the Vancouver Media Co-op picture.

Picture 3: After the talk in Nanaimo we were interviewed on the Popular Participation Movement (PPM) news show. The PPM is a a group that mobilizes against war and empire. Most notably, they have staged theatrical demonstrations for four years in a row now to oppose Nanaimo's annual Empire Day celebration. The following morning, the Media Co-op snagged an interview on CBC Victoria news.

Finer than Vancouver's finest?

dawn — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 21:43:27 +0000

The "Downtown Ambassadors" are a public/private security force funded by the Downtown Vancouver Business Improvement Association and the City of Vancouver. In this video, a red-jacketed "ambassador" is caught in action in Gastown.

Vancouver's new Mayor Gregor Robertson has promised to scrap city funding for the program.

Downtown Eastside's Poverty Olympics

Stuart Neatby — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 17:48:11 +0000

Vancouver residents deem Olympics a "countdown to international embarrassment"

On February 3, 2008, the first annual Poverty Olympics were held at the Carnegie Library in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside. Just in time for the two-year countdown to the 2010 Winter Games, the event was held to inform international media of the current poverty and homelessness situation in Vancouver. Despite being described as a "massive crisis" by UN observer Miloon Kothari in 2007, the city and province have done very little to rectify the numerous humanitarian issues that have become more pressing with the arrival of the global mega-event. Already, several residential hotels have been bought out by developing companies and rising rental costs have displaced hundreds.

David Eby of the Pivot Legal Society remarks that, "the countdown to the Games is quickly turning into a countdown to international embarrassment."

The Poverty Olympics was organized by a coalition of community groups and organisations, such as VANDU, the Carnegie Community Action Project, Raise the Rates, Streams of Justice, and the BC Persons with AIDS Society, which combined their efforts to put on the event.

Instead of launching off ski slopes, the Poverty Olympics featured Welfare Hurdles, the Poverty-Line High Jump, and Long Jumps over Bedbug-Infested Mattresses.

Throughout the day, the spirit of the Eastside community truly shined. Trish Garner from Raise the Rates notes, "I've just never seen a community like it...They really care for each other. And I think that's what happens when they're struggling; they have to band together."

A version of this photo essay first appeared in the Ubyssey.

Nerf

Torch

Moment of Silence

Jean Swanson

Oh Canada

Poverty Line High Jump

Welfare Hurdles

Social Cleansing

Housing is a Right

Construction

Thousands Halt Vancouver Deportation on Human Rights Day

Stuart Neatby — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 05:45:08 +0000

Singh YVR protest1.jpg

This is probably the most inspiring bit of news I've heard in a long time. The deportation of Singh, who is paralysed, has only been stayed temporarily.

An attempt to deport a paralysed man back to India on International Human Rights Day fell apart after a grass-roots protest at Vancouver International Airport Monday literally halted traffic and prevented border and immigration agents from taking custody of him.

By mid-afternoon the Canada Border Services Agency halted its plan to deport Laibar Singh after it concluded that it would be too risky for its agents to walk out to a waiting taxi in which the elderly man was sitting. Between them and the curb were as many as 2,000 protesters, many of them members of an Abbotsford-area Sikh temple that had rallied in support.

Disappearance of Olympic Flag Accounted For

dylan — Sat, 10 Mar 2007 01:38:33 +0000

(From
Resist.)
March 7th, 2007
Coast Salish Territory [Vancouver, Canada]
In the early morning hours of Tuesday, March 6th, 2007, we removed the Olympic Flag from its flag-pole at Vancouver City Hall. We pried open the access panel on the pole with a crowbar, using a bolt-cutter, cut the metal cable/halyard inside, cause the flag to fall to the ground.
We claim this action in honor of Harriet Nahanee, our elder-warrior, who was given a death sentence by the BC courters for her courageous stand in defending Mother Earth.