[OPIRG-EVENTS] REMINDER: People's Tour on Friday, March 14

[David Brons <brons@cyberus.ca>]

Please forward widely!

PEOPLE'S TOUR 2003

Friday, March 14, 7-9pm
Routhier Community Centre
172 Guiges Street, Ottawa

The SPOT is coming to your city.

In March of 2003, the Spot youth drop-in centre in Kitchener has
organized a "people’s tour".  Up to 10 people from the Spot will 
visit cities in Southern Ontario and also Montreal.  We would 
like to tell you about the Spot and how we are mobilizing street 
youth against the system that keeps them on the streets.

The Peoples Tour will bring youth, directly from the streets of
Kitchener, to your city.  We will tell you how we are fighting 
police misconduct, doing court and jail support, building a 
movement against Kitchener City Hall, creating links with the 
Latin American community, fighting racism, sexism and 
homophobia, and providing food, shelter and class conscious
revolutionary politics to a struggling street community.  
We would also like to hear what people in your city are doing 
to fight for social justice.

The Struggle in Downtown Kitchener

Downtown Kitchener has long been a gathering point for youth, 
especially homeless youth, in the Waterloo Region. The proliferation 
of youth in the downtown has been a source of tension for some 
business owners and for police and security guards, particularly 
at the bus terminal and in the large open spaces such as 
Kitchener City Hall.

Urban Revolution

Urban Revolution is our response to Kitchener City Halls downtown 
revitalization plan ‘Urban Evolution’.  The City has bought up many of
the properties in the downtown and has evicted the tenants including
small businesses and low-income tenants.  They plan to turn many 
of these buildings into housing for middle and upper class residents.

Policing in the downtown has intensified as the City tries to create a
shopping mall atmosphere.  Youth and other ‘undesirables’ are regularly
questioned and harassed by police for no reason, and ticketed or 
busted for minor offenses such as j-walking, probation and bail 
breaches, or simple drug possession.

The downtown is so over-policed that it is impossible to avoid seeing
the police for more than a few minutes.  The City has also removed 
benches so that there are few places to sit in the downtown, and they 
use bumpy steel bars to stop people from sitting in other places.

What is the Spot?

In June 1998, youth united themselves as the K-W Youth Collective to
advocate for the creation of a youth run, youth drop in centre. For 
more than 4 years, this group created youth-centred events and continued 
to plan and fund raise for a youth space.  On May 1st, 2001, we opened 
The Spot, a 1,500 square foot space in the downtown core.  The Spot is a 
safe space for youth, a place where youth can get away from the 
harassment they face in the downtown.

Join us in the struggle!

For more information contact youth_space@hotmail.com or call The Spot
any day after 3:30pm at (519) 578-1425.

Windsor - March 10
London - March 11
Guelph - March 12
Toronto - March 13
Ottawa - March 14
Montreal - March 15

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Anti-capitalist Community Action / Action Communautaire Anti-capitaliste
(ACA)
http://www.a-c-a.net
info@a-c-a.net
(613) 237-0730
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