~a vsf public discussion forum

CANADA, AFGHANISTAN AND ISSUES FACING WORKING PEOPLE IN THE CURRENT FEDERAL ELECTION

Thursday, October 9th
7:00 pm
SFU Harbour Centre
(515 W. Hastings St)

Speakers:

- DAVE MARKLAND; editor of the news blog of Stopwar.ca. Read his very informative blog at: http://stopwarblog.blogspot.com/

- MARIANA PAYET; organizer with No One Is Illegal - Vancouver, long time defenders of immigrant and refugee rights in Canada.

- ROGER ANNIS; writer and editor for Socialist Voice.

There is a glaring absence of debate in the current federal election over the big issues that are shaping the future of the country and the planet.

One of those issues is the war in Afghanistan. A vast military drive is taking place for control of oil and gas in the Middle East and Central Asia. Economic researcher John Foster calls it "The New Great Game," a reference to the earlier scheming by 19th century European powers to colonize central Asia. Has Canada joined in this renewed effort to colonize Asia? What do recent comments from Jack Layton and the NDP about pulling troops out of Kandahar mean for the anti-war movement? How can we build a movement to oppose predatory wars against the peoples of this region.

Within the borders of Canada, the rights of immigrants and refugees have been attacked under the same umbrella as Afghanistan in the name of security. No party has been willing or able to begin to address the demand to regularize the more than 200,000 non-status people in Canada.

Organized by: Vancouver Socialist Forum
(for more information)
778 858 5179