Chanting “No Olympics on Stolen Land!” and carrying placards, nearly 30 protesters jeered the arrival of the Canadian Pacific Spirit Train at the Cooksville Go station in Mississauga on Monday. The group, which included eight U of T students, was led by lobby group No One is Illegal.
NOII activists were seeking to bring attention to Aboriginal land rights, poverty, and environment concerns. They maintain that the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics will further exacerbate these issues.
“The Olympic games in Vancouver and Whistler are being held on indigenous territory,” said NOII activist Tom Malleson. “The Canadian and BC governments have no legitimate claim to this land, yet they continue to chop down the trees and expand the highways with almost no engagement with the affected indigenous communities—save a few token buy-offs to select Band Council Chiefs.”
The demonstrators were kept out of sight of the train station and Olympic supporters in a prescribed demonstration area outside. Attempts to cross the barricades sparked physical confrontations with the police.
Two protesters were arrested when the Canadian Pacific Railway-sponsored Spirit Train left Port Moody, BC, on Sept. 21 to spread pre-Olympic mirth across 10 communities in six provinces. The train has met with protesters at each stop since its departure. The day before the Cooksville protest, anti-Olympic demonstrators blocked the train for three hours until police broke up the altercation. One woman chained herself to the tracks.
“The train, which ironically was the one of the first means of Canadian colonization, is now being used to drum up support for games that continue a neocolonial legacy,” said Malleson. “It is depriving indigenous people of their land and poor people of their homes for the benefit of a few construction companies and the ultra rich yuppies of the world who will descend on Vancouver for a week or two and then leave as fast they came.”
Hussan, another NOII activist, voiced his concern over the many non-status migrant workers flocking to urban areas for jobs. “When there is an uptrend in the economy (boosted by preparations for the Olympics) there are usually temporary work programs to accommodate these non-status people. But when this bubble bursts, companies often severe immigration ties and these people are faced with the choice of either leaving the country or sticking around and living in precarious conditions.”
