Press Release
More than 200 gather to discuss adverse effects of 2010 Games
The Vancouver Sun
Mon 27 Oct 2008
Page: B4
Section: Canada&World
Byline: Allison Cross
Source: Vancouver Sun
The negative impact of the 2010 Olympic Games on the environment and civil liberties were among the topics discussed at a conference in Vancouver on Sunday for people opposed to the Games.
At least 200 people gathered at the downtown event to discuss the adverse effects of the Games on different communities and how those communities might work better together, said panelist Dustin Johnson, an organizer with Native 2010 Resistance.
"It's indigenous communities, students, anti-poverty activists, homeless people, academics," said Johnson. "It's a very diverse group involved."
Byron Peters, who attended the event, said not everyone who came was affiliated with an established resistance group and participants varied greatly in age.
"I'm here because I believe that it's very important for the public to be aware of the real issues that have been washed over by the media around the 2010 Olympics and how the facts aren't being told about the detrimental effects of the Olympics," said Peters, 23.
Protests against the 2010 Olympics are a common sight in Vancouver and the rest of Canada and police expect they will get more intense as the Games near.
Not everyone has the same ideas when it comes to resisting the Olympics, or stopping them completely, Johnson said.
"There is a diverse group of people that have different politics, so if some group has an objective to stop, some group has an objective to protest and some group has an objective to symbolically protest or create dissent, that's fine," he said. "That's the space they're given. I can't speak for all these people but there are different groups with different ends."
Olympic protesters disrupted an event last month in Port Moody meant to celebrate the departure of the Spirit Train.
More than 200 gather to discuss adverse effects of 2010 Games
The Vancouver Sun
Mon 27 Oct 2008
Page: B4
Section: Canada&World
Byline: Allison Cross
Source: Vancouver Sun
The negative impact of the 2010 Olympic Games on the environment and civil liberties were among the topics discussed at a conference in Vancouver on Sunday for people opposed to the Games.
At least 200 people gathered at the downtown event to discuss the adverse effects of the Games on different communities and how those communities might work better together, said panelist Dustin Johnson, an organizer with Native 2010 Resistance.
"It's indigenous communities, students, anti-poverty activists, homeless people, academics," said Johnson. "It's a very diverse group involved."
Byron Peters, who attended the event, said not everyone who came was affiliated with an established resistance group and participants varied greatly in age.
"I'm here because I believe that it's very important for the public to be aware of the real issues that have been washed over by the media around the 2010 Olympics and how the facts aren't being told about the detrimental effects of the Olympics," said Peters, 23.
Protests against the 2010 Olympics are a common sight in Vancouver and the rest of Canada and police expect they will get more intense as the Games near.
Not everyone has the same ideas when it comes to resisting the Olympics, or stopping them completely, Johnson said.
"There is a diverse group of people that have different politics, so if some group has an objective to stop, some group has an objective to protest and some group has an objective to symbolically protest or create dissent, that's fine," he said. "That's the space they're given. I can't speak for all these people but there are different groups with different ends."
Olympic protesters disrupted an event last month in Port Moody meant to celebrate the departure of the Spirit Train.