On Thursday July 21 over 40 people turned out to the Canadian Armed Forces Recruitment Center downtown Vancouver to picket, protest and raise their voices against the Canadian war drive. The picket began at 3pm with MAWO organizers joined by students, other young people and people of color who unfurled a banner reading "Canada Out of Afghanistan!" in front of the recruitment center. Participants carried picket signs reading "No to Hillier's Racist Lies!" "Canada Out of Afghanistan!" and "Stop the Canadian War Drive!" and marched down the sidewalk in front of the recruitment center passing out the new MAWO newsletter #10 focused on the recently intensified Canadian war drive. Participants also distributed leaflets for the follow-up picket which will take place on Thursday July 28th, inviting Vancouverites to once again come out and oppose their local imperialist government, the government of Canada.



There was a brief program in front of the recruitment center as MAWO Co-Chair Shannon Bundock, MCing the event, decried the Canadian government for the July 14 racist statements against the people of Afghanistan and the sending of 2000 additional troops for the occupation forces.



She was followed by Anthony Fenton, well-known journalist and social justice activist who has written on and organized around Haiti for many years. Anthony is an activist with Haiti Action and Haiti Solidarity BC. Anthony explained the Canadian government's criminal role in the invasion and occupation of Haiti and demanded the Canadian government cease their involvement in the brutal occupation.




Next spoke Aaron Mercredi, Board Member of Vancouver's Redwire Native Youth Media and MAWO organizer who explained that the Canadian imperialist war drive is not a new phenomenon. Canadian imperialism and colonization has been suppressing Indigenous people on their own land for over 500 years, he explained as he stressed the need for unification of all oppressed people to stop this racist war machine.



Finally, Nicole Burton, Co-ordinator of MAWO's Canada Out! Campaign and student at Douglas College, spoke explaining the escalation of the Canadian military's new attack. "For one thing, the Canadian military has done the antiwar movement a favor with their honest statements. For the first time, they have dropped their mask of "peacekeeper" and have laid bare their racist and imperialist agenda for oppressed people in Canada and all over the world to see. As people in Canada, it is our responsibility now to escalate our response, raise our voices, organize and mobilize to unify oppressed people in Canada against the Canadian war drive!"






Protesters will return next week in opposition to the revving engines of Canadian imperialism, the Canadian war drive and the increased attack on the people of Afghanistan! Join us to demand:



CANADA OUT OF AFGHANISTAN! CANADA OUT OF HAITI! NO TO HILLIER'S RACIST WAR MONGERING! STOP THE CANADIAN WAR DRIVE!

click here to read the call to action and find out more!