by Bushwhack2003 > April 7 2003
On May 5th, 2003, Emperor George W. Bush will visit Ottawa, Canada. As the homes of Iraqi people are bombed to rubble by U.S. and British forces, Emperor Bush will sit down to a posh state dinner in his honour at the Museum of Civilization. And as thousands of immigrants and refugees throughout North America are detained and deported, Bush will address a joint session of the Canadian Parliament on issues of border security, code for increased attacks against individuals and communities of colour in North America.
The immoral and illegal invasion of Iraq, forced on the world by Bush, Blair and the corporate ruling class, continues to brutalize and destroy the people and cultures of the Middle East. Politicians and pundits cynically attempt to justify yet another profit-driven and murderous aggression with terms like ‘liberation’ and ‘freedom’. From Iraq to Colombia, from Afghanistan to Argentina, from the Philippines to Somalia, Western powers continue to exercise their self-proclaimed right to dominate and determine the destiny of the global South through economic and military might.
The war also continues at home. All levels of colonial government, in particular the far-right governments in British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario, unabashedly pursue economic policies at the service of big business, contributing to poverty, environmental destruction, social service cutbacks and more. Their arsenal ranges from privatization schemes to well-armed tactical police units. The agenda of capitalist globalization – embodied by institutions and treaties like the IMF, World Bank, WTO, NAFTA, FTAA and G8 is the relentless engineering of wealth from the global South to the offshore bank accounts of the political and economic elites of the North. In this system of global apartheid, Canada’s ruling class profits no less than that of the United States.
In particular, the war at home includes the scapegoating and attacks on immigrant and refugee communities, as well as so-called “anti-terrorist” laws that are nothing but a judicial assault on civil rights and political organizing, with clear racist implications.
And so, in unequivocal opposition to the invasion of Iraq and to US intervention in countries around the world, in solidarity with individuals and communities under attack both at home and abroad, and in ongoing support of local and regional grassroots social justice efforts, activists from Ontario and Quebec are calling for a day of action to oppose theEmperor Bush’s visit to Ottawa on May 5th, 2003.
We invite all organizations, affinity groups and individuals in Ontario, Quebec, the Maritimes and the Northeastern United States to join the mobilizing, organizing and awareness-raising efforts to prepare for Bush’s visit.
Resistance to the Emperor’s visit will involve demonstrations of all kinds, popular education, civil disobedience and direct action. It will target the many manifestations of political and economic power of the national capital, with the goal of impeding Emperor Bush’s entrance to, and free passage through this territory.
We believe in manifold forms of resistance in mutual solidarity and respect, while aiming to ensure the safety and defense of all participants.
If the Emperor visits Ottawa, shut down the city!
For more information or to get involved:
bushwhack2003@ziplip.com
www.bushwhack2003.org (not quite online yet, check back very soon)
(613) 786 1066
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