Anti-Olympic Torch Light Parade, Feb 12th, 2009

Some 200 people participated in the Anti-Olympic Torch Light Parade marking the 1-Year Countdown to the 2010 Winter Games on Feb 12, 2009 in downtown Vancouver.

After rallying at Victory Square at 6PM, where a 'Torch of Resistance' was lit and used to burn a Canadian Olympic flag, the demonstration marched to the Queen Elizabeth Theatre, where a 2010 'Countdown' concert was taking place and dozens of police were assembled to stop any possible disruption. From there, the protest moved up Georgia St. to Burrard, stopping at various corporate sponsors, including the Hudson's Bay Company, Royal Bank of Canada, Bell, and CTV.

Representatives from the Olympic Resistance Network (ORN), Downtown Eastside Women's Center Elder's Council, and Stopwar.ca addressed the crowd. Among the banners were the anarchist's 'Sabotage the Systems of Social Control' and 'Communities not Olympics'.

About a dozen torches were lit on the protest route, which ended at the 'Countdown Clock' located at the Art Gallery. Several targets were hit with paint bombs, including the clock as the rally ended. There were no arrests.

Resist 2010 ! No Olympics on Stolen Native Land !