... A Call for Solidarity and Action ... JOIN ACTIVE RESISTANCE Vancouver Tent City January 7th-10th, 1997 Rally and Set-up: Tuesday, January 7th, 12:30pm Outside Waterfront Skytrain Station Entrance (foot of Howe Street) Had enough of the neo-liberal agenda? Are you fed up with "free" trade? Tired of corporate media complicity with big business and government? Get involved in the Active Resistance Tent City ... Individuals and groups in Vancouver are planning a tent city between January 7th to 10th, 1997, and need your help. Our "Active Resistance Zone" will coincide with the Asia-Pacific Parliamentary Forum to be held at the Waterfront Center Hotel near Canada Place. The Forum -- which includes "parliamentarians" from the Asia-Pacific region -- is part of Canada's lead role in APEC and marks the beginning of the Chretien government's self-declared "Year of the Asia-Pacific." Canada is a founding member of APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) which is comprised of 18 Pacific Rim nations. APEC aims to impose a free trade zone in the region by the year 2020. Canada is hosting the APEC process in 1997 and will stage a series of high-level meetings throughout the year, culminating in a Leaders' Summit to be held in Vancouver this November. For Canadian businesses, APEC means cheap wages, anti-union policies, lax or non-existent labour, environmental and human rights standards and cheap access to natural resources. APEC will mean the further lowering of living and working conditions for marginalized people in Canada and abroad -- women, workers, indigenous peoples, youth -- and further environmental degradation. In Vancouver, the imminent arrival of the APEC process has already resulted in "clean up" operations in the Downtown Eastside. Police presence has been tripled in the area and there has been increased harassment of those who live on the street. The Active Resistance Tent City is about creating a space to talk about those issues and concerns that matter to us, as defined by us. For four days and three nights, our Active Resistance Tent City will be in the face of international and local "dignataries" and media, showing our opposition to their pre-ordained policies through our actions, and stimulating discussion and debate in our words. To help and get involved, contact ACTIVE RESISTANCE: Tel: (604) 251-9914 * E-Mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Please post and forward.) -30- The next planning meeting for the VANCOUVER ACTIVE RESISTANCE TENT CITY will be Saturday, January 4th at 2pm. The meeting will be held at the La Quena Coffeehouse at 1111 Commercial Drive in Vancouver. Please come by and help.
