Anti-Olympic protesters demand 'homes for everybody'
By Ian Austin
The Province
Sunday, February 17, 2008
Protesters vowed further civic disruption yesterday as they defaced the Olympic Countdown Clock in downtown Vancouver.
"This isn't the end of resistance," said Thomas Malenfant, as he glued two posters to the clock located in front of the Vancouver Art Gallery. "This is only the beginning."
A female protester lobbed two yellow paintballs at the clock, obscuring some of the numbers which continuously count down the time remaining until the 2010 Winter Olympics.
The afternoon anti-Olympic rally on the eve of today's provincial budget began peacefully at Victory Square, where speakers accused the B.C. Liberals of squandering a budget surplus on tax cuts for the rich and the giant Olympic budget.
"Last year the surplus was $2 billion," said Jill Chettiar of the Anti-Poverty Committee, which organized the protest. "This year we're looking at [a possible] $3 billion.
"People on the Downtown Eastside are paying for the surplus with their lives, and what are they getting - tax cuts for the rich.
"They're spending money on tax cuts for people who already have homes, who already have cars."
About 40 protesters marched through city streets, chanting "No Homes, No Peace," and "Homes, Not Olympics," before joining another 30 people gathered near the clock.
They were tailed by four bicycle cops and a patrol car, but no police greeted the group as it neared the clock.
The group struck quickly, lobbing the paintballs and slapping up the posters, as about a dozen officers moved in closely, but made no move to intervene.
"We want 2,000 units of social housing built every year," said Malenfant after he'd pasted the posters to the clock. "We want free tuition. We will not tolerate this any longer."
Malenfant, 23, lives in the Downtown Eastside, and works for the Downtown Eastside Residents Association. -
hes part of the poverty industry!!
He dismissed the government's recent purchases of hotels to convert to social housing.
"That's not new housing," he said. "That's just a change of slumlord.
"We want 2,000 units of new housing - that's $200 million a year, plus $10 million a year to maintain.
"That's not much compared to a $2 billion surplus. We want homes for everybody in B.C. - that's all."
When asked if police would move in to arrest protesters, an officer replied: "When the time comes, the time comes - until then it's just a protest."
No arrests were made at the scene, but police remained at the scene long after the protesters left, interviewing witnesses to try to determine who threw the paintballs.
Vancouver Mayor Sam Sullivan dismissed the protest as a small, vocal minority.
"When you have thousands of citizens offering to volunteer for the games, and corporations around the world spending money on the games, when you see a small group constantly working against all of our efforts, it's very frustrating," said Sullivan.
"There are people who take advantage of our society, and our desire to offer people freedom of speech."
The province and the city have made a number of recent housing announcements - the latest the purchase of six Vancouver hotels last week.
Sullivan said 115 rooms in those hotels were vacant, and new residents will be carefully screened.
"There will be two people working there full-time, and there will be renovations," said Sullivan.
Sullivan added that "3,050 units of social housing are in the planning, development or construction phase."
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