While thousands of anti-free trade activists prepare to descend on Genoa, Italy this July to protest the G-8 economic summit, West Coast activists are being encouraged to do their own part at home – namely shutting down the upcoming Pacific NorthWest Economic Region (PNWER) conference in Whistler.
One of the protest organizers posted a call to action on the Elaho List Serve on June 25, calling on all interested parties to help shut down the PNWER’s annual general meeting in Whistler – "unceded Lil’wat Territory" – from July 25 to 28.
According to "Tintin," the activist that posted the letter; "PNWER wants to eliminate local trade barriers and maximize profits with NAFTA-like results. It is attempting to create an economic region in the pacific northwest that is a ‘model of rapid clean growth’. Not discussed at the meeting are the sovereign rights of indigenous people, the rights of the poor and the working class, or protecting land and water ecosystems."
The PNWER conference is billed as the "Future of the North American WEST: Three Nations, One Region." Topics on the agenda, which is posted at the PNWER Web site at www.pnwer.org, include privatized health care verses public health care, regional free trade, NAFTA, the proposed Free Trade Agreement of the Americas (FTAA), the new high-tech economy, traditional resource and agricultre-based industries, and the trade of energy resources.
Bill Gates of Microsoft is one of the scheduled speakers at the conference, hosting a session on NAFTA and the New Economy. Other speakers include B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell, whom Tintin refers to as a "right wing fascist," Idaho Governor Dirk Kempthorne, and Jim Kolbe, a congressman from Arizona and a member of the U.S. House Appropriations Subcommittee on Foreign Affairs.
The Council of State Governor’s West (CSG-WEST) will also be holding their annual meeting in conjunction with the PNWER conference, bringing State governors together to discuss issues that are specific to their areas.
Staff Sergeant Hilton Haider of the Whistler RCMP detachment said he was not told about either the PNWER conference or the protest, but said the police would be looking into it.
The RCMP have protocols to provide security for high profile visitors, such as politicians and business leaders like Gates. They also have protocols to deal with protests, and the RCMP can scale their crowd control forces accordingly.
"The first thing that we would like to know is who the people are who are coming to Whistler to see if there is any danger there," says Haider. "When we know who we’re dealing with, we’ll have a better idea how to respond."
Mayor Hugh O’Reilly was also not informed, but was discussing the matter with the RCMP. The municipality has also informed the conference organizers of the threat and is waiting for a reply.
The PNWER includes Alaska, the Yukon Territory, B.C., Alberta, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and California. Topics at the Whistler meeting will include consideration for making the northern states of Mexico PNWER members in the future.
According to Tintin, PNWER is one of 33 Regional Trade Associations in the world, and their activities are affiliated with the World Trade Organization. Groups opposed to free trade believe that trade policies benefit corporations at the expense of less privileged peoples, cultures, and the environment.
While Tintin could not be reached for comment, there is a link in his letter to an anti-PNWER Web site at www.resistpnwer.com . Although there is no way of knowing at this point what kind of response the call to action may have, and what the effect will be on Whistler, the content on the Web site suggest that Tintin is not acting alone.
The Web site has maps of Whistler, including information on food, accommodation and transportation, plus links to various activist resources. The depth of information would also suggest that this wouldn’t be the first protest for any of the activists involved.
As far as actual numbers go, the call to action on the Web site reads "Come to Whistler and stand with hundreds or possibly thousands of other people from the Northwest and shut down PNWER… although PNWER claims to be a ‘partnership’ between government and private sector members, the private sector is clearly running the show."
Tintin is calling July 26 the "opening day of protests with the goal of shutting it down" and July 28 "as a day of mass protest, parades, unions, families and fun. Of course the protest is whatever you want to make it and every day is and should be a day of resistance against corporate rule. Live your dissent. Act it out at Whistler."
Recent anti-free trade demonstrations, in Quebec City, which hosted the Summit of the Americas, and in Stockholm, escalated into riots. In Quebec a security perimeter was set up inside the walled city during the summit. Police used tear gas, high pressure hoses and even plastic bullets to disperse the crowd outside the security perimeter, hundreds were arrested, and hundreds more were hospitalized or forced to seek first aid. About 650 residents and merchants of Quebec City who were outside the perimeter are now seeking $2 million in compensation for damage to their properties.
Last week the World Bank decided to hold an annual development conference in cyberspace after protesters threatened to disrupt the meeting which was scheduled for Barcelona.
