NO MONEY FOR MILITARIZATION, DEMANADING JUSTICE FOR THE PEOPLE!

On October 10th 2006 a crowd of 50 people - later growing to over a hundred - from various communities in Vancouver rallied in response to Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s visit to Chinatown for a dinner organized by businessman Johnny Fong geared towards increasing trade, business, and investment with China. While presented as a “direct dialogue with Vancouver’s Chinese Canadians”, a number of community-based Chinese-Canadian organizations and other grassroots groups were of course not invited to the dinner.

While Harper enjoyed what one can only imagine was an extravagant dinner, the “Harper Welcoming Committee” organized dinner with and for the people along with a strong and assertive emergency demonstration to denounce the polices of the Harper government - from increased militarization at home and in Afghanistan to Harper’s attack on poor and working class people by cutting social programs.

Demonstrators took to the streets preventing access onto the main street intersection and blocking the parkade entrance that dinner delegates were attempting to access, a blockade that forced the dinner traffic to be redirected and eventually come to a halt for 45 minutes.

The aggression and harassment of Vancouver police attempted to end the action for over one hour, particularly targeting elders and women in the crowd, however demonstrators stood their ground. Repeated chants included “Occupation is a crime, from BC to Palestine”, “Bush, Harper you will see, Afghanistan will be free”, and “Poor people under attack, what do we do, stand up fight back”. Community members spoke to various issues: cuts to women’s funding, intervention in Haiti, social housing, repressive immigration, increasing security measures, occupation of Afghanistan, lack of universal childcare, and unjustifiable alignment with Israeli war crimes.

As the scheduled arrival of Harper drew near people marched to the main entrance of the building as security officers began to line up against the doors. When Harper’s motorcade was spotted in a back alley – having been forced to use a back entrance – demonstrators rushed in, catching Harper and his entourage off-guard, who forcefully pushed and locked demonstrators out of the public mall. A strong contingent banged at the doors, calling on Harper to have the “direct dialogue with the people” he was in Vancouver to have. His blatant hypocrisy was of course to be expected, as Harper was shuttled away to the comfort of the Floata restaurant.

The effective action wrapped up soon after, with it being made to clear to Harper that those of us disgusted at his imperialist and capitalist policies will continue to fight back and make it impossible for him to live in peace while thousands at home and abroad are dying in the struggle
for peace, justice, and dignity.

Below is a text of a flyer handed out during the action
(* NOTE: while condemning the actions of the Conservative government, this flyer is not an endorsement for any other political party.)

In solidarity and struggle,

The Harper Welcoming Committee
For more information: 778-552-2099 or karmatropolis@yahoo.ca

Endorsers: Association of Chinese Canadians for Equality and Solidarity Society, Indigenous Action Group, Hospital Employees Union, Canadian Muslim Union, StopWar.ca, Downtown Eastside Residents Association, Philippine Women Centre of B.C, Vancouver Status of Women, No One Is Illegal-Vancouver, BC Latin American Collective, Iranian Federation of Refugees, Grassroots Women, Canadian Network for a Democratic Nepal, B.C. Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines, Haiti Solidarity BC, Justicia for Migrant Workers BC, Al-Awda (Palestine Right of Return) Vancouver, Anti Poverty Committee, Canada-El Salvador Action Network, Siraat, Bolivia Solidarity Committee, CIPO-Van y La Otra Campagna de Abajo, Filipino Nurses Support Group, Salaam Vancouver, Group of Relatives and Friends of Political Prisoners in Mexico, The Other Campaign Vancouver, La Surda Latin American Collective, SIKLAB Overseas Filipino Workers, Filipino Canadian Youth Alliance, Latin American Connexions.

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TEXT OF FLYER:

NO MONEY FOR MILITARIZATION, DEMANADING JUSTICE FOR THE PEOPLE!

Prime Minister Stephen Harper is visiting Vancouver for a dinner geared towards increasing trade and investment with China. Over the past year, the Harper government has implemented cuts to important social programs, while supporting privatization and a corporate-driven agenda. Harper also has implemented an expanded defence budget, with $16 billion over two years, in order to build an aggressive and destructive military occupation of Afghanistan.

THE FACTS ON THE HARPER BUDGET

==> Tax cuts of $9.9 billion: According to the government’s own figures, families with incomes of $15,000 to $30,000 will save less than $300 in tax cuts. Corporations and the rich on the other hand stand to benefit significantly: a lowering of the general corporate income-tax rate to 19% by 2010; elimination of the federal capital tax; elimination of the corporate surtax; and elimination of dividends from taxes on corporate profits.

==> Promised $22.5 billion in spending cuts. To date there has been $1 billion in federal program cuts, including:

* No implementation of a universal childcare program. The Conservatives have also cancelled an agreement with the provinces to fund an expanded number of public daycare spaces.

* No funding to support their own promise of a “health-care wait-time guarantee”

* The Conservatives voted against bill C-48 that proposed new funds for affordable housing. In 2006, there has been approximately $7 million in federal cuts to affordable housing across Canada.

* Status of Women Canada: $5 million cut from $13 million budget. Status of Women Canada now has no mandate to fund groups that do advocacy or general research. The organization's new mandate no longer includes "equality".

* Adult Learning and Literacy Programs: $17.7 million cut

* Youth Programs: $55.4 million cut

==> Military and Security Apparatus spending

* $4 billion of increased defense spending. Base defence budget (not including boosted spending in Afghanistan) has been increased to $16.4 billion annually with a pledge to boost it to about $20 billion by 2010

* $1.4 billion budget is also going towards a larger police force and beefing border security across Canada.

KEY HARPER POLICIES

* Afghanistan: 2,300 occupying troops in Afghanistan. Rick Hillier, Canada's Chief of Defence Staff, outlined his vision for the troops “We are the Canadian Forces and our job is to be able to kill people.”

* In March 2003, Harper co-authored an article criticizing the Canadian government's decision to stay out of the Iraq war.

* Harper made Canada the first country to place sanctions on the newly elected government in Palestinian territories.

* Harper termed Israeli aggression- now universally considered war crimes-on Lebanon a 'measured response'.

* Closer integration with the US through the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America

* No firm or clear commitment to the Kyoto Protocol, reduction of carbon emissions, or climate change.

* Harper told the Council for National Policy not to feel bad about the million and a-half unemployed and poor because, "They don't feel bad about it themselves.”

* "Human rights commissions, as they are evolving, are an attack on our fundamental freedoms and the basic existence of a democratic society...It is in fact totalitarianism." (BC Report Newsmagazine, 1999)

* Called for the privatization of reserve lands, furthering the process of colonization of indigenous territories.

* Harper supports the expansion of exploitative guest worker programs, which allows businesses to exploit migrant labour thus affecting wages for all working people, while creating a two-tier system of citizenship