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Squatters Demand Housing Before Olympics
Tent City in for Long Haul
Chris
Carr
 Whether it stays in part at Victory Square, or expands its base at
Crabtree, or whether it relocates yet elsewhere, Vancouver’s Olympic tent city will
continue to advocate against the policies of the BC Liberal regime and
for social housing, say participants.
Dozens of squatters set up 30 tents in Victory Square July 2, the day Vancouver was awarded the 2010 Winter
Olympic bid by the International Olympic Commission. Since then a second
squat at Crabtree Park in the Downtown Eastside has
formed, with more possibly to come.
The squat has already faced some
challenges, including a rub-up Canadian war veterans’ representatives on
the weekend. The vets had arrived to supervise the start of renovations
to the square to be completed before the next Remembrance Day on Nov.
11. They were concerned the protest might delay the work, and the square
would not be ready by that date.
At first, things were tense. Tent city
squatter Russell Nolin told reporters, “the war is like my ass. It’s
behind me.”....
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Development
Group to Defend ALR
Marco Procaccini
A lower mainland sustainable development
group is gearing up a campaign to encourage municipalities to protect
agricultural lands and the Agricultural Land Reserve.
Smartgrowth BC, a non-profit group
focussing of sustainable and democratic economic development, says
people have the inherent right of access to food, and that a healthy
food supply is vital to any society or economy. In addition, the group
is concerned that recent legislative changes by the provincial
government could threaten the ALR and with it the fertile farmlands of
the Fraser Valley.
This
could jeopardize BC’s agricultural industry, which the group estimates
employs about 200,000 people and generates roughly $2.2 billion a year....
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BC Economy Droops
as New Era, 'globalization' Take Effect
The Liberals’ “New Era” is upon us, but
the promised prosperity has so far not materialized, as BC’s economy
spirals downward.
“None of the government’s initiatives have
stimulated the economy, and some have made things a lot worse,” says
David Fairey, senior economist and director of the Trade Union Research
Bureau. “Unemployment is up again, and BC is dead last in Canada for wage increases.”
He says the Liberals, who
promised in the last election a revitalized economy under their reign,
have been damaging the very sources that create markets and jobs that
stimulate economic activity: lowering wages, cutting public services and
laying off workers. He also adds that the Liberals’ tax cuts, which they
touted as the key to economic stimulus, have failed, largely because
they were directed at the wealthy....
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