Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Resist the G8/G20! Get on the bus with NOII Ottawa!


On June 26th and 27th the Group of 20 (G20) will be meeting in downtown Toronto

CONFRONT THE EXECUTIVE BOARD OF GLOBAL CAPITALISM - GET ON THE BUS

http://g20.torontomobilize.org/ottawatranspo

Buses will be leaving from Ottawa to join the Toronto mass protests.

NOII Ottawa is organizing to get people to Toronto for the Friday, June 25 Community Day of Action, organized NOII Toronto, and OCAP.

http://25june.wordpress.com/

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A Call to Resist the 2010 G20/G8 Meetings in Canada

In 2010, the executive board of global capitalism will once again rear its ugly head in locations across Canada. And once again, it will be met with resistance.

Currently engaged in a re-branding exercise, capitalism's ruling elite is shifting power away from the Group of 8 (G8) and towards the G20, the 19 most powerful national economies and the European Union.

But we refuse to be fooled: you can change the label, but inside it's still the same toxic poison.

The Group of 8 last visited Canada in the summer of 2002, and were met with organized resistance by thousands of people across the country, as they are met each and every time they meet anywhere in the world.

Now, almost a decade later, what have the policies of the executive board of global capitalism brought us? More inequality, more environmental destruction, more war and occupation.

The self-serving "war on terror", orchestrated by the leaders of the G8, continues to militarize and brutalize the world, while cynically making appeals to civilization and freedom. The occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan continue, with the US and it's allies, including Canada, content in having reduced them to bombed-out ruins run by complicit client governments.

Around the world, from Honduras to Haiti, from the Philippines to Somalia, the West's drive to dominate and determine the destiny of the global South has done nothing but accelerate.

In addition, throughout North America and Europe, the racist scapegoating and attacks on immigrant and refugee communities has only increased, under the guise of 'security' and so-called 'anti-terror' laws.

The always superficial promises by the G8 to fund 'development' in the global South have led only to a dramatic increase in poverty and disease rates, with the United Nations now reporting that 1 billion people suffer from starvation.

Despite vague words from the G8 to 'do more', the global environmental crisis worsens daily, with entire eco-systems on the verge of collapse. Canada, in particular, has gone out of its way to protect the profits of global corporations by blocking any attempts at the international level to put in place rules aimed lessening the impact of the climate crisis.

The policies of the G8/G20 have always involved the criminalization of indigenous peoples, and the bloody effects of colonialism continue to be felt around the world. But in spite of continual attacks and criminalization, indigenous communities from Palestine to Akwesasne, from Tamil Eelam to Coast Salish and beyond, continue to resist the further exploitation of their lands and resources.

Here at home, the effects of the G8/G20 were made plain by the fallout from the economic collapse, which saw tens of thousands lose their jobs and their homes, while rich elites, the very architects of the collapse, only profited further from the misery.

The fundamental goal of the G8 has always been the transfer of wealth and power to the global elite, and this will change not at all under the G20.

For all these reasons and more, we declare our commitment to organizing effective, clear resistance to the G8/G20 in 2010, wherever they may choose to make an appearance.

This resistance will take many forms, and we declare our support for those actions and events that emphasize mutual solidarity and respect between participants. In particular, we will encourage and organize civil disobedience and direct action to the G8/G20, in the full knowledge that no real negotiation is possible with the lords of global capital.

We encourage all organizations, affinity groups, and individuals to resist the G8/G20. As a first step, we invite groups to endorse this call to action and to join in developing regional resistance to the G8/G20.

In solidarity with all those who continue to resist global capitalism's agenda of exploitation, we say:


NO TO THE G8! NO TO THE G20!

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For more information, email: noiiottawa@gmail.com

or visit: http://noii-ottawa.blogspot.com/

or, for more info on the mobilizations in Toronto: http://g20.torontomobilize.org/

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to book a seat on the buses leaving Ottawa to go to the Toronto protests, visit:

http://g20.torontomobilize.org/ottawatranspo