30 replies to this topic

[mr.x]

Anti-Olympic protesters stage rally in downtown Vancouver
Sunday, February 17 - 05:20:43 PM Katharine Kitts

VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) - The Anti-Poverty Committee staged a short, but intense rally at the Vancouver Art Gallery today.

The Olympic clock has once again become the target of the APC.

As families played near the fountain in front of the Art Gallery, a couple dozen protestors quickly arrived and went straight for the clock.

Bright yellow paint was smeared down the front of the clock and a poster was plastered over the number of days left until the Games.

One protester says the Olympics are destroying environment and wreaking havoc on the neighbourhood.

He says they can't stop the Games but they can disrupt them, and possibly deter other cities from taking them on.

Many say their loud and in-your-face approach is the best way of getting their message across.

Police kept an eye on the area, but the protestors didn't stick around long after.

[mr.x]

Apparently, it's more than just yellow paint and a poster plastered on it. The beautiful glass has been shattered as well.

[Bob]

It sure would be nice if these morons would spend as much energy doing something positive for society as they spend vandalizing and disrupting this city.

I know what China would do with these thugs. They would not be around to disrupt and spoil the joy of the majority. You abuse your rights and freedoms and you lose them!

I would like some of these idiots to spend some time with our paralympians to find out what it really means to struggle and succeed! Not to sit around and whine about how rough life is!

[faster]

Ironically Vancouver has very positive environmental ratings, my university has done research into it and have found that the majority of outdoor venues are environmentally neutral.

[Kenadian]

And the anti-poverty committee who felt the clock was a waste of money seems to think that destroying it - thus causing more money to be spent on repairing and securing it - will be a better investment of funds?

Many of the APC know nothing of true poverty...bunch of rich brats who feel resentment toward their parents for giving them a life of luxury.

[Kenadian]

OK, I live close to the clock so went out for a quick walk...don't see any signs of any damage. Only problem I see is that someone dumped soap in the fountain. It's like a big bubble bath out there! LOL

[mr.x]

Anti-Olympic protesters demand 'homes for everybody'

By Ian Austin
The Province


Sunday, February 17, 2008



Protesters vowed further civic disruption yesterday as they defaced the Olympic Countdown Clock in downtown Vancouver.

"This isn't the end of resistance," said Thomas Malenfant, as he glued two posters to the clock located in front of the Vancouver Art Gallery. "This is only the beginning."

A female protester lobbed two yellow paintballs at the clock, obscuring some of the numbers which continuously count down the time remaining until the 2010 Winter Olympics.

The afternoon anti-Olympic rally on the eve of today's provincial budget began peacefully at Victory Square, where speakers accused the B.C. Liberals of squandering a budget surplus on tax cuts for the rich and the giant Olympic budget.

"Last year the surplus was $2 billion," said Jill Chettiar of the Anti-Poverty Committee, which organized the protest. "This year we're looking at [a possible] $3 billion.

"People on the Downtown Eastside are paying for the surplus with their lives, and what are they getting - tax cuts for the rich.

"They're spending money on tax cuts for people who already have homes, who already have cars."

About 40 protesters marched through city streets, chanting "No Homes, No Peace," and "Homes, Not Olympics," before joining another 30 people gathered near the clock.

They were tailed by four bicycle cops and a patrol car, but no police greeted the group as it neared the clock.

The group struck quickly, lobbing the paintballs and slapping up the posters, as about a dozen officers moved in closely, but made no move to intervene.

"We want 2,000 units of social housing built every year," said Malenfant after he'd pasted the posters to the clock. "We want free tuition. We will not tolerate this any longer."

Malenfant, 23, lives in the Downtown Eastside, and works for the Downtown Eastside Residents Association. - hes part of the poverty industry!!

He dismissed the government's recent purchases of hotels to convert to social housing.

"That's not new housing," he said. "That's just a change of slumlord.

"We want 2,000 units of new housing - that's $200 million a year, plus $10 million a year to maintain.

"That's not much compared to a $2 billion surplus. We want homes for everybody in B.C. - that's all."

When asked if police would move in to arrest protesters, an officer replied: "When the time comes, the time comes - until then it's just a protest."

No arrests were made at the scene, but police remained at the scene long after the protesters left, interviewing witnesses to try to determine who threw the paintballs.

Vancouver Mayor Sam Sullivan dismissed the protest as a small, vocal minority.

"When you have thousands of citizens offering to volunteer for the games, and corporations around the world spending money on the games, when you see a small group constantly working against all of our efforts, it's very frustrating," said Sullivan.

"There are people who take advantage of our society, and our desire to offer people freedom of speech."

The province and the city have made a number of recent housing announcements - the latest the purchase of six Vancouver hotels last week.

Sullivan said 115 rooms in those hotels were vacant, and new residents will be carefully screened.

"There will be two people working there full-time, and there will be renovations," said Sullivan.

Sullivan added that "3,050 units of social housing are in the planning, development or construction phase."

iaustin@png.canwest.com

http://www.canada.com/theprovince/news/sto...3281&k=1311





These people are lunatics.

[Kenadian]

Malenfant - French for "bad baby"

[faster]

Life ain't free a$$holes, if you are too incompetent to be apart of society that is your problem. I am sorry that you fail at life, but its not my problem.

[IceNarcissus]

The anti-poverty protest might as well just go shut down homeless shelters and lobby to halt construction of low-income housing units themselves. The city, OC, and others putting dollars into the projects will take money from their budget to replace any messes the protestors make anyways. Hee hee.