Torch Relay Met by Two Protests
 
http://www.opinion250.com/blog/view/15334/3/torch+relay+met+by+two+protests
 
By 250 News
Friday, January 29, 2010 07:14 PM
 
Prince George, B.C.-As the Olympic torch  relay got underway in Prince,
two protests were getting  underway.
 
Just a block from the start of the relay,    about 50  people gathered  in
front of the  School District 57 offices  on Ferry Avenue to  send a 
message to the Premier that  cuts hurt kids.  They  were protesting the 
proposed  school closures  brought on by a $7  million dollar shortfall in
the School District's  budget.  They carried  placards and banners and
encourage  passersby to  honk their horns.    There was a  lot of honking
going on.
About an  hour later, on 15th Avenue, about 50 people, mostly university
students and young people, rallied to protest the Olympics Games scheduled
to begin in two weeks.
 
As the Olympic torch relay proceeded up the street, the protestors waved
placards and signs that said: “$6 billion could fund social housing,
healthcare and education”, “Why support such waste”, “Our taxes for
corporate profits”, “Solidarity with First Nations”, “Olympics – not our
priority”, “We want our schools to stay open in PG” and “No more cuts”.
 
Robin Ocean, one of the organizers for the event, said that she was
opposing “the blind acceptance of the Olympics without consideration of
their cost.” She also commented that the “resistance movement is alive and
well” and that people were coming together
across the province to say “no” to the Olympic extravaganza.
 
Camella Bhatti, a university student, commented that, in her opinion, the
“two week elite party” of the Olympics was “bad for the environment” and
would harm the economy. In addition, people’s democratic rights to express
their opinions were also being violated in Vancouver and other places.
 
The big question for the people of the province, she said, “is what is
going to be done once the Olympics are over.”

250 News