Report from the A1 day af action in Victoria
by CSC Member • Sunday April 04, 2004
On Thursday April 1st, the Community Solidarity Coalition (CSC) organized an early morning flying squad of about 35-40 people and an afternoon snake march that drew around 4-500. Together with the Students Against Poverty (SAP) we successfully disrupted business as usual for several hours and ended the day without any arrests. This was a refreshing break from the dismal activist normality that often quells the spirit of revolt within our ranks.
After meeting at 6:30 am for coffee and snacks, the CSC flying squad split into two and set up info lines at both of the main hospitals in Victoria. We made it seem like we were going to set up pickets, thereby frustrating the executives and management of the Vancouver Island Health Authority (VIHA). But really they were just soft lines, designed to send a message to the membership of the Health Employees Union (HEU) that we were mobilizing solidarity with their upcoming province wide strike, to express our vibrant opposition to the privatization of health care and push for the General Strike.
Meanwhile SAP had set up info lines at the UVIC Campus attracting campus maintenance workers from the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) in solidarity, and building momentum for a snake march on campus planned for 11am.
The two CSC groups rejoiced at the Jubilee Hospital to march up the street, and storm the Regional Executive Welfare Office. Responding to the loud voices, drumming and the odor that emerged from a small stink bomb, a prestigious looking woman and some other men came out of their offices. Some of us have taken part in past flying squads to secure peoples welfare checks and recognized her immediately, “…this is Lori Mist the Regional Executive Officer! …”said one. A barrage of heckling followed…. Someone from the group that initiated the occupation insisted that there was no use in dialogue with such a parasite; after a couple more people yelled at her about the cuts the squad ended the action with dignity. This was organized to ignite a revitalized campaign of direct action against the Ministry of Humans as Resources.
Just as we left the office we got word from SAP that Sergio Marchi, the former ambassador to the WTO, was about to give a lecture on campus. This was a great opportunity to relate the very clear connection between resisting Campbell’s cuts and the international struggle against the global capitalist economic order. We rushed up to UVIC early and interrupted his bullshit justifications for corporate globalization with an onslaught of disruptive and well-articulated facts about the WTO, it was very easy to expose his hollow arguments for the jokes they were. Two or three of our people asked questions in an orderly way but the general theme was complete disrespect for the showcase of propaganda. For many of us, our only intention at the lecture was to bring the class war to the comfort zone of another money-grubbing businessman and enemy to the interests of all poor and working people. He’s lucky we let him get away with speaking at all!
All of these inspiring events culminated in an energized snake march when CSC and SAP combined forces and proceeded through various buildings across the University; including the Library, Clerihew, Cornett, Business and Economics, University Center and the Student Union Building. Drumming and other percussion was accompanied with noisy appeals to “walk out”, other chanting and fire alarms that were set off in three of the buildings. The climax was in the prolonged visit to the space right outside administration, which had very nice acoustics. A ‘Critical mass’ bike posse of about 25 people rode from UVIC at around 1:30 to get downtown for 2 o’clock, the rest of us got rides.
At 2pm hundreds of people assembled downtown and took to the streets for a short and spirited snake march. HEU members made up the largest amount of those present, others included radicals from other unions, anti-poverty activists, high school and post secondary students, parents, children, street people, the disabled and a significant anarchist contingent.
Police on bikes tried to isolate individual anarchists and provoke a situation for arrests, but the group stayed solid and defiantly held the entire street, even when the cops managed to corral most of the march on one side of the yellow line.
Patriotic and/or pro-police attitudes of some of the union folks were naturally at odds with anarchists and others. We feel that discussions around these issues are some of the many growing pains in building a movement that unites people from different social sectors. If we are to include indigenous and poor people we must challenge the colonial Canadian system and its police.
There was lot of great music, food and speakers. Kim Tombs from the CSC emphasized the importance for radicals to stand on the upcoming HEU picket lines and generate momentum for a province wide general strike. Organizers intended on ending the day with a feast in the middle of Government Street next to Bastion Square, but for better or worse they evaded a conflict with the police by leading the march to the legislature. Then we slowly dispersed.