A large banner was unfurled from the Cambie Bridge today in Vancouver demanding “Homes For All”. The sign was put up by the group sponsoring the Olympic Tent Village whose slogan is “No More Empty Talk, No More Empty Lots”. The group is putting on a press conference at noon in Pigeon Park to announce their village of red tents that will be used to draw attention to the plight of the homeless on Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside.
The Cambie Bridge and the banner overlook the Athlete’s Village, which will be turned into market-rate condos after the Olympics but is also slated to contain a few hundred subsidized units for lower-income renters.
[UPDATE, 8:50 AM] That was incredibly short-lived. In the time it took for me to upload the photos and make this post (about 30 minutes), the banner and the tents flanking it have been removed.
[UPDATE, 9:50 AM] According to this press release about the banner drop, the RCMP and ISU agreed to allow the banner to hang. Maybe the agreement was that they would allow them to release it but then it would immediately be removed? And here is the main site for the Red Tent Organization.
[UPDATE 10:00 AM] I spoke with Red Tent Media Coordinator, Am Johal, on the phone who confirmed that the banner was allowed to be hung for a pre-arranged period (20 minutes) as a media event to kick-start the Red Tent campaign.
A few of the organizers assisted in the placement from the seawall below.
Tags: Olympics Photos, Protest, Vancouver
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