Media
* Download our media package here: http://web.resist.ca/~tarsandsfreebc/downloads/media-packet-feb-2010.pdf
* Subscribe to our media distribution list:
https://lists.resist.ca/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/ornmedia
MEDIA INQUIRIES
* TO PRE-ARRANGE INTERVIEWS: Email olympicresistance@riseup.net. We will get back to you within 36 hours.
* EMERGENCY MEDIA LIASONS:
- Harsha Walia: 778 885 0040
- Gurb Gill: 604-376-0366
* FOR SAME-DAY MEDIA AVAILABILITY:
- Monday:
Harsha Walia: 778 885 0040 or hwalia8@gmail.com
Joseph Jones: 604-433-2764 or jjones2340@gmail.com
- Tuesday:
Chris Shaw: 604-875-4111 or 604-710 8291 or cashawlab@gmail.com
Caitlin Wright: arlinandcaitlin@hotmail.com
- Wednesday:
Harjap Grewal: 778 552 2099 or 604 340 2455 or hgrewal@canadians.org
Carol Martin: 604 681 8480 x 233 or carolmartin43@hotmail.com
- Thursday:
Anna Hunter: 604-764-5103 or ahunter@riseup.net
Arthur Manuel: 250-319-0688 or amanuel@telus.net
Cara Fisher: 604-319-2102
- Friday:
Native Youth Movement: nymcommunications@gmail.com
Maryann Abbs: 604-877-1223 or maryann@resist.ca
Marla Renn: 604-788-3995 or marlarenn@gmail.com
- Saturday:
Alissa Westeragrd-Thorpe: 778-668-0790 or alissawt@shaw.ca
Arlin French: arlinandcaitlin@hotmail.com
- Sunday:
Nat Marshik: 604 347 8786 or natmarshik@gmail.com
Nathan Crompton: 604 687 3063 or ncrompton@bcpiac.com
* ADDITIONAL LANGUAGES:
1) French - Nathan Crompton: 604 687 3063 or ncrompton@bcpiac.com
2) Punjabi/Hindi - Harjap Grewal: 778 552 2099 or hgrewal@canadians.org
3) German - Nat Marshik: natmarshik@gmail.com
* FOR DETAILED INTERVIEWS ON:
1) Indigenous/First Nations
Carol Martin: 604 681 8480 x 233 or carolmartin43@hotmail.com
Native Youth Movement: nymcommunications@gmail.com
Arthur Manuel: 250-319-0688 or amanuel@telus.net
2) Downtown Eastside/Housing/Poverty
Harsha Walia (including interviews with DTES residents): 778 885 0040 or hwalia8@gmail.com
Anna Hunter: 604-764-5103 or ahunter@riseup.net
3) Security/Militarization
Marla Renn: 604-788-3995 or marlarenn@gmail.com
Caitlin Wright: arlinandcaitlin@hotmail.com
4) Environment
Harjap Grewal: 778 552 2099 or 604 340 2455 or hgrewal@canadians.org
Native Youth Movement: nymcommunications@gmail.com
5) Economy/Budget
Chris Shaw: 604-875-4111 or 604-710 8291 or cashawlab@gmail.com
Joseph Jones: 604-433-2764 or jjones2340@gmail.com
6) Labour and Education Impacts
Myka Abramson: 604.788.5772 or mykat@sfu.ca
Nat Marshik: natmarshik@gmail.com
7) Healthcare Impacts:
Maryann Abbs: 604-877-1223 or maryann@resist.ca
8) Right to Protest/Civil Liberties:
Alissa Westeragrd-Thorpe: 778-668-0790 or alissawt@shaw.ca
Cara Fisher: 604-319-2102
* FOR INTERVIEWS REGARDING SPECIFIC EVENTS:
- Feb 12th Take Back Our City Mass Festival and March:
Robert Ages: 604-940-8034, 604-760-6786 or robertages@dccnet.com
Lauren Gill: 604-315-4180 or open_your_mind_up@hotmail.com
Joseph Jones: 604-433-2764 or jjones2340@gmail.com
Sozan Savehilaghi: 778-322-5349 or thesozanone@gmail.com
Gregory Williams: 778-918-8145 or phighschool@gmail.com
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Why are you opposed to the 2010 Winter Olympics?
“The 2010 Winter Olympics will take place on unceded Indigenous land. Far from being simply about sport, the history of the Olympics is one rooted in displacement, corporate greed, repression, and violence. The effects of the upcoming Winter Games are apparent to everyone – expansion of sport tourism on Indigenous lands; increasing homelessness across the province and especially in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside; misdirected public spending and debt; vulnerable working conditions especially for migrant labour; unprecedented destruction of the environment; and unparalleled police and security spending,” according to the Olympics Resistance Network.
“The funding of the Olympics before the funding of the suffering, homeless and impoverished people of these Indian territories shows only that the government in B.C. is only interested in economic gain and not the well-being of the people who lived here prior to the Olympics,” according to Tsalalhmec, Statimc Native Youth Movement.
Do you have a problem with sports and the athletes?
“Sports and physical health are a positive aspect of any society. The Olympic industry, however, uses sports and athletes as commodities to market corporate products,” says Gord Hill, a member of the Kwakwaka’wakw nation and editor of no2010.com. “Governments use Olympic Games to attract corporate investment. Despite claims that Olympics are not political, they are deeply political with devastating social and ecological impacts that cannot simply be ignored.”
Aren’t the Games good for the economy?
According to Chris Shaw of 2010 Watch, “One of the most prevalent Olympic myths is that hosting the Olympic Games is good for the economy. In fact, the opposite is true as a variety of studies have shown time and time again. While it’s true that limited sectors can do well during the Games operating period,the benefits to these few sectors are vastly outweighed by the overall costs to taxpayers of the infrastructure, Games-related megaprojects, and security.”
What do you mean by No Olympics on Stolen Native Land?
“Because we have no treaty with Canada, the imposition and encroachment of Whistler – their hydro lines, their highways, their railroad, in fact all infrastructure development for the 2010 Games – in our territory is illegal,” says James Louie from the St’at’imc nation, Whistler.
“This slogan highlights that the Games are taking place on unceded Indigenous land without the full consent of Indigenous peoples. Indigenous peoples are also negatively impacted by the Games with a disproportionate number of Indigenous people represented amongst the homeless population, the justification the Games has provided for the surveillance and repression of Indigenous communities, and expedited processes for the corporate ravage of natural resources located on Indigenous lands,” says Bernie Williams of Native 2010 Resistance.
“There are over $5 billion worth of resort plans since the Olympic bid. The Olympics are opening up our land, our sacred sites, and our medicine grounds for sale, but we want the world to know that our land is not for sale,” says Kanahus Pellkey, a member of the Native Youth Movement and Secwepemc mother who has been jailed for fighting Olympics-related expansion of Sun Peaks Resort, Kamloops.
Doesn’t the 2010 Olympics have the support of Natives through the Four Host Nations?
“The Four Host Nations is a corporate body made up primarily of government-funded Indian Act band council chiefs, not hereditary chieftainships,” says Seislom, a Lil’wat Elder. “An overwhelming number of Indigenous people in these territories and in the interior are opposed to the Olympics because of the long-term impact including destruction of the land, commodification of Native art and culture, and the creation of long-term poverty once the few token jobs are gone.”
“It is the reality of strong opposition to the Olympic Games by Native peoples that has forced VANOC to desperately try and create the perception of Native support for the Olympics by throwing a lot of money to a few select people,” according to Native 2010 Resistance.
“By hosting the 2010 Winter Olympics, Canada has opened up their Human Rights record to international scrutiny. Canada is trying to buy their way around their poor Human Rights record by funding just a few Indigenous Peoples but the reality remains that Indigenous Peoples are the poorest and most marginalized peoples in Canada because the government continues a policy of non-recognition of our Aboriginal title,” says Arthur Manuel of the Indigenous Network on Economies and Trade.
You are claiming the environment is at stake. Are these not the Green Games?
“The corporate green-washing of the Games has acted as a cloak for unregulated irresponsible development. The 2010 Olympics will be one of the most ecologically damaging Games in history with and will also displace indigenous peoples, and working and poor people,” according to Clayton George Thomas-Muller of the Indigenous Environmental Network. “Many of the Games sponsors such as Petro Canada and Royal Bank of Canada are also notorious investors in Canada’s environmental armageddon known as the Alberta Tar Sands.”
“Over 100,000 trees cleared in the Callaghan Valley, a rare wetland destroyed to house the Hydrogen Highway, mountain blasting to expand the Sea-to-Sky Highway, Whistler’s last remaining urban forest cleared for a temporary medals plaza, 68,000 kgs of ammonia used to power the Whistler Sliding Centre (aka the fridge in the sky), a massive carbon footprint, and a lack of “green and sustainable” innovation are the legacy of these Games. We can hardly call these the greenest games ever!, “ states Pina Belperio of Whistler Watch.
Do you believe the DTES is being targeted in the lead up to the Games?
“The Bid Committee promised that not a single person would be displaced due to the Games, but there are now 3000 homeless people sleeping on Vancouver’s streets – a 373 % increase since the Bid – and these people are facing increased police harassment as they try to clean the streets in the lead up to the Games,” says Carol Martin, a victim services worker in the DTES.
“It is not a coincidence that handing out of over 2000 tickets for minor bylaw infractions like jaywalking, which is being selectively enforced in the DTES, is happening in the lead up to the Games. The Vancouver Police Department will have an increased police presence in the DTES over the next year,” says Priscillia Mays, a member of the Power of Women Group at the Downtown Eastside Women’s Center. “All this is happening to ensure that residents live in a state of fear and intimidation so that the DTES is cleaned of poor and homeless people in time for the tourists.”
Do you think you have the support of most British Columbians?
“We are seeing increasing resistance across the country as it becomes more visible how these Games are a big fraud. While Olympic corporate sponsors are getting bailed out with taxpayer dollars, Indigenous lands are being stolen, more people are becoming homeless, the environment is being destroyed, and millions of dollars are being sunk into Big Brother surveillance measures,” says Harsha Walia of the Olympic Resistance Network. “All of those things are going to be the legacy of the Olympic Games and from our perspective this legacy is something we can use in order to build resistance to the 2010 Games.”
Protestors are listed as a major security threat. How would you respond?
“There is little explanation or evidence for protestors being deemed a major security threat. Such statements are an attempt to discredit criticism and undermine our freedoms of assembly, expression and opinion,” says Alissa Westergard-Thorpe from the Olympic Resistance Network. “It is also an attempt to justify designated protest pens, which are undemocratic as the whole country is supposed to be a free speech zone.”
According to Gord Hill, a member of the Kwakwaka’wakw nation, “Indigenous resistance, in particular, has always been seen as a potential threat to national security from the earliest days of colonization. This potential arises from the oppressed living conditions imposed on Natives and our spirit of resistance, which contains within it the danger of empowering other social movements. As a result of the negative social and environmental impacts of the 2010 Olympics, conditions for Native peoples will only decline, which in turn will increase our resistance.”
Do you advocate violent protest?
“Simplistically classifying Olympic resistance and disruptions as violent is a scare tactic. We will do whatever we can to disrupt the 2010 Olympic Winter Games because disruption has proved extremely successful,” says Anna Hunter from the Anti Poverty Committee. The rich should not just be allowed to carry on with their violent business–as-usual as poor people continue to suffer.”
