Video produced by Victoria Indymedia in co-operation with B Channel News, Vancouver Media Co-op and subMedia.TV
No2010 Victoria calls event “a victory for rights and justice”
From No2010Victoria:
Victoria, Coast Salish Territories, November 1, 2009 – Over 400
people gathered to oppose the 2010 Olympic Torch Relay in Victoria on
Friday, October 30th at an “Anti-Olympics Festival” and “Zombie
March” organized by No2010 Victoria. The march succeeded in
disrupting the relay, and security personnel were forced to
extinguish the torch, load it in a van, andreroute it in order to
reach the Legislature.
“Our events were a victory for rights and justice,” said No2010
spokesperson Zoe Blunt. “We took a strong strand on respecting
indigenous rights to land, defending civil rights, and ending
poverty, and people across the country are thanking us for our
dedication.”
The day of action against Torch Relay celebrations began with a “Five
Ring Circus” featuring speakers, performance art, puppets and
satirical competitions such as the “Binners’ Olympics,” the “Tour de
Misplaced Finance” and “Queer Wrestling.”
“It was a lot of fun!” said Bitey the Bed Bug, one of the anti-Olympics mascots.
Later in the afternoon, a “Zombie March” replete with stilt walkers,
a marching band and a giant “Ghost Salmon” puppet wove through city
streets and blocked a major intersection outside an RBC bank for over
30 minutes. RBC is one of the Vancouver Winter Olympics’ most
important sponsors and a major investor in the tar sands, the most
environmentally destructive project in Canada.
“We wanted to expose the empty rhetoric of a Green Games,” said
No2010 organizer Kim Croswell. “Parading a giant Ghost Salmon was our
way of pointing out how wrong-headed government priorities are in the
midst of global warming and the collapse of salmon runs on the West
Coast.”
Continuing along the relay route, hundreds of marchers braving rain
and cold weather cheered loudly when it was announced that the Torch
had been diverted in order avoid the procession. Marchers ended at
the site of the corporate-sponsored Torch Relay Celebration, where
they infiltrated the crowd chanting “No Olympics on Stolen Native
Land” and “Homes Before Games.”
“Disrupting the Torch sends a strong message that blowing $6 billion
on a sports extravaganza is far from popular,” said No2010 Victoria
spokesperson Tamara Herman. “The people profiting from the Olympics
are not the people most affected by cuts to sectors such as welfare,
affordable housing, harm reduction, health care, education, the arts
and-ironically-amateur sports.”
“The day of action was a day of solidarity uniting a broach spectrum
of people,” added No2010 spokesperson Danielle Hagel. “It sent a
strong message that the Olympic Torch Relay will face opposition
right across the country.”
“This action demonstrates how effective we can be when we act
together, even in the face of police aggression and unwarranted
surveillance”, said Blunt. “The group was strong, and showed
remarkable self-control and commitment to the cause. We want to
congratulate everyone who joined in.”
Filed under: Anti-olympics, activism, local
