Me on October 15th, speaking about the campaign to take corporate funding out of politics. This initiative was supported by Joyce Murray.
Dear Mr Neil,
Thank you for the quick response. I have always held your organization in great esteem, and have no expectation the Council of Canadians wants to bring Occupy Vancouver to the point of revolution! This is inconceivable to me, as it always has been of course! Your’s is an organization I’d aspire to be part of one day.
However, Leadership from The Council of Canadians have most certainly taken-up residence in our organization- and have considerable influence. Carrying your organization’s name can have a halo effect that makes people overlook what is in front of them. It is a tool that should be wielded cautiously, and with 110% transparency.
I have no understanding of anyone’s motivations- but, historically, it is a fact that the CoC became deeply involved with less peaceful elements during the Olympic demonstrations. This resulted in an Olympian class disaster- the movement died down quickly after people dressed as Black Bloc thugs smashed the windows at The Bay. Something fundamentally wrong about this action, is that it had an anti-colonial message- yet The Bay was owned by Lord & Taylor, a US retail chain! David Eby and Chris Shaw criticized this action and were consequently hit by a pie. Yet not a squeak out of either of them. Eby & Shaw Black Bloc Cream Pie
I’ve seen a picture of a CoC member at the Cadilac Fairview building on December 9th when a group using BBloc tactics got into a street rumble with the police. I’ve written a story about it, please note that this happened one day before Occupy Vancouver’s relaunch meeting! Pre-Relaunch Incident
All indications in the media, and from personal conversations with CoC members involved in Occupy Vancouver tell me they fully back the concept of “Diversity of Tactics”- an ambiguous term that enables people to act in an anti-social manner. I feel confident that the vast majority of Canadians do not approve of window smashing or street-brawling with the police. So, I cannot possibly believe this tactic could be acceptable to the CoC.The problem is that some factions believe it is their imperative to crush discussions of anti-violence. Greenpeace disagrees with this way of thinking .
Yesterday, Bob Ages headlined the signatories on a slanderous open letter that convicted me of grave offenses against the movement. There was no due-process, and no presentation of evidence- simply a smear campaign. One observer with who I have no relationship posted this statement on Facebook eight hours ago:
James Romphf-Dennis I am only going to say this once more, it shouldn’t be that difficult. If the actions described to Greg Renouf are true, charge him, get a restraining order, use whatever legal means are necessary. Until that is done, the actions taken by some, if not all of those on that list are acts of violence unto themselves and should be dealt with as such. First act of your brave new world – public, untried character assasinations and reprisals. Buy all of yourselves a beer, you should be proud. 8 hours ago ·
