Street Art Up, Traffic Flow Down.
Last Updated (Monday, 08 February 2010 21:59) Written by IMC Sunday, 07 February 2010 17:49
Olympic Organizers Can Expect Resistance
The streets of downtown victoria were filled with dissent saturday as protesters carrying banners and noisemakers clogged the streets paralysing traffic.
The Victoria Coalition Against Poverty (VCAP) and No2010 Victoria called for the event, stating that years of unaffordable housing, abysmal welfare/disability rates, and a lack of accessible health care have created a dire situation in Greater Victoria. Throughout BC, people are outraged at the spending of public funds on the Olympic Games while necessary social services suffer. On it's own, the Olympic Torch Relay in Victoria, a one-day extravaganza for corporate sponsors coke and RBC, had a price tag of nearly $500,000, and the Olympics themselves have a budget totaling over $6 billion dollars. Meanwhile 1000's of people across the province continue to exist in substandard conditions and struggle to stay alive.
Many more protests like this are expected as the worlds gaze focuses on Vancouver for the commencement of the Olympic Games. The Olympic Resistance Network has two weeks of actions and events planned for the duration of the games and thousands of people are expected to gather for the anti-olympic convergence.