Edmonton Steps Up to Confront 'Spirit Train'

Press Release:

Indigenous and local organizers confront the Olympic 'Spirit' Train.

Edmonton – on Monday, September 29th at Wagner School, 6310 Wagner road, the Native 2010 Resistance, a part of the Olympics Resistance Network, in solidarity with concerned citizens of Fort Chipewyan will confront the Canadian Pacific "Spirit Train".

The Spirit Train is crossing Canada and stopping in numerous cities along the way. Preparations for the Games and Tar Sands operations are already having a negative impact on Indigenous, low-income, and marginalized communities and on Indigenous lands.

According to Dustin Johnson of the Native 2010 Resistance, "We are here to expose the ecocide, genocide, and displacement being promoted by this
'Spirit Train' propaganda machine steaming through Native communities."

Johnson's sentiment is shared by other Indigenous peoples across Canada who are fighting to protect their land.

"We are in Edmonton in solidarity with the Native 2010 Resistance to confront the Spirit Train because it embodies the synergies between the
corporate sector supporting the Olympics, and the corporate interests in Alberta's Tar Sands while simultaneously continuing the destruction of
Indigenous lands and livelihoods," explains Mike Mercredi, resident from Fort Chipewyan.

"The Olympics is the world's largest sporting event, brought to us with the corporate sponsorship of some of the largest profiteers from the world's largest industrial development known as the Tar Sands, " says Clayton Thomas Muller of the Indigenous Environmental Network.

Some of the big players in this massive public relations campaign are the Royal Bank of Canada which has 15.7 billion invested in Canada's fossil fuel industry. RBC also has 110 million invested into the Vancouver 2010 Winter Games making them the 3rd largest corporate sponsor. Petro Canada is set to be one of the largest operators in the Tar Sands and has 60 million invested in Olympic sponsorship and is the official energy supplier of the games.

The events in Edmonton will be the third of a series of actions against the "Spirit Train" planned across the country.

For more info: Clay Thomas-Muller – 218-760-6632
Sheila Muxlow – 780-233-2528
Macdonald Stainsby – 780-233-4992

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The Native 2010 Resistance is primarily based on the occupied territories of 'BC and exists as an Indigenous space to coordinate anti-2010 Olympics
efforts in conjunction with the Olympics Resistance Network.

The community of Fort Chipewyan is Alberta's oldest settlement and is downstream from the Tar Sands.