RESISTING THE FREE TRADE AREA OF THE AMERICAS (FTAA) Agreement: TRANSPORT AND LODGING
CROSS-CANADA MOBILIZING FOR QUEBEC CITY – WHERE TO GET PLUGGED IN
Contents:
-Car Pooling
-Bus and other group transportation
-Fair Trade Trains
-Border Caravan
-Lodging
-Further Links
CAR POOLING: As of the last update here(April 7), many groups have either filled all their buses or are past the bus registration deadlines, so with the protests fast approaching, carpooling is now a major focus. Organizers who have not set up carpooling internet message boards already should do so (see http://members3.boardhost.com/mobmtl/ for a model board which you can simply duplicate, and then send your link to me at ftaa-alert@angelfire.com so I can add it to the X-Canada carpool list). A link to all carpooling boards will be posted here shortly.
GROUP TRANSPORTATION: Contact the group nearest you to find out about what bus or train arrangements have been made. As of the last update (April 7), many groups have either filled all their buses or are past the bus registration deadlines. The following list consists of all the groups organizing transportation that I am aware of; if you know of others, please let me know (at ftaa-alert@angelfire.com). Check the "General" section at the end if your area is not listed here.
NOVA SCOTIA
Antigonish
Halifax
PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND
Charlottetown
NEW BRUNSWICK
Fredricton
Sackville, NB
QUEBEC
Montreal
Laval
North Shore (north of Laval)
ONTARIO
Guelph: (note: see below for border action information)
Kingston: (note: see below for border action information)
Kitchener/ Waterloo (note: see below for border action information)
London (note: see below for border action information)
Northumberland Area: (note: see below for border action information)
Ottawa
Toronto (note: see below for border action information)
MANITOBA
Winnipeg:
Mondragon Bookstore & Coffee House
1-91 Albert Street,
Winnipeg, Manitoba R3B 1G5
Tel: (204) 946-5241
email: mondragon@a-zone.org
http://www.a-zone.org/mondragon
SASKATCHEWAN
Regina
ALBERTA
Edmonton
Calgary (and southern Alberta)
Lethbridge
BRITISH COLUMBIA
Vancouver
FAIR TRADE TRAINS: (a Sierra Youth Coalition Initiative)
For Those Travelling from the East
There are trains travelling from Halifax to Québec City everyday (except Tuesdays). It's $116 with an ISIC card (International Student Identity Card) for fulltime students which you can get from Travel Cuts for $15, and without it's $132 (all including tax).
For Those Travelling from the West
The train will be leaving Vancouver on April 13th and arriving in Québec City April 18th (or almost - you have to take a short 30 minute bus ride into the city; there will hopefully be back-up just in case transportation is limited because of the protests.) People will arrive in Québec City as a group and return individually. The Canada Rail Pass is the most inexpensive option. It will cost $395.90 for people who have an ISIC. The Adult price is $439.77. These prices include tax. This is the maximum cost for the trip but Sierra Youth will be subsidising tickets as money comes in from various sources for travel. If you want to participate in the trade train please e-mail the national office (Sierra Youth Coalition; email: sierrayc@web.ca )and put [trade train] in the subject box. This is IMPORTANT to ensure everyone is sitting together and there is enough space. We recommend that you BOOK AS SOON AS POSSIBLE!!!!!
If you are East of Winnipeg email Sierra Youth to get a group rate as the CanRail pass will not be the best deal!!! (eg. Toronto, Ottawa etc.)
Train Times:
Vancouver: April 13th 5:30PM
Edmonton: April 14th 6:30 PM
Saskatoon: April 15th 2:25 AM
Winnipeg: April 15th noon
Toronto: April 16th 8:00 PM (arrive), 11:30PM (leave)
Montreal: April 17th 8:00 AM (arrive), 12:30 PM (leave)
Québec City: April 18th 3:30 PM (arrive)
GENERAL
If the specific links above don’t yield results or your area is not included, you may nevertheless find that one of the following groups is planning a mobilization from your area:
Canadian Auto Workers (1-800-268-5763). The CAW is mobilizing heavily against the FTAA for obvious reasons, and most locals are willing to provide surplus bus seats to non-union people at cost. Either phone the central Toronto office (number provided above) or call the local in your area directly if you know the number.
Council of Canadians (1-800-387-7177). The same goes with the COC. In some cases, the COC is getting buses together on their own, in other cases they are working in conjunction with other activist groups. The number given here is for the central office, but you really want to talk to someone in a local chapter near you. Ask the central office for their number.
Canadian Labour Congress. I haven’t confirmed to what extent they are organizing, but it might be worth calling the CLC National Office at 1-800-387-3500.
SMASH FTAA: THE BORDER CARAVAN (http://www.tao.ca/~kdawg/smashftaa.html)
Community activists from Eastern Ontario, upstate New York, the Mohawk Nation, Toronto, Guelph, NYC and New England would like to invite all FTAA opponents to take part in a border action caravan the day before demonstrations at the Summit of the Americas conference in Quebec City. We encourage all of those either organizing locally or travelling to the Summit of the Americas to fight against international capital every inch of the way.
Ensure Safe Border Crossing for All People
Organizers, and activists from Peterborough, Belleville, Toronto and all points west are invited to stay in Kingston with billets on the evening of Wednesday, April 18. For billets, people should contact Paul Quick (the last name is important, he lives with another Paul) at (613) 536-1636. . We need to know how many people are expected, whether they are looking for women's only space, are there kids, etc., so please contact us soon.
We will leave Kingston at 7am Thursday 19 in caravan and travel towards Quebec City, along the "NAFTA Free Trade Corridor" Hwy 401. We will do this very slowly, creating a clogged artery in a major Canada-US trade route. We will stop at the 1000 Islands International Bridge past Gananoque to wait for allies from Syracuse, Utica, Binghamton, the rest of New York State and beyond.
A cell-phone number will be available for any comrades from the US. These will be available closer to the event. If they are not allowed free passage, we will close down the border. If they can't pass, nothing will.
From the 1000 Islands bridge the Caravan will continue east, picking up activists from Ottawa at the junction of Hwy 401 and Hwy 16. (If we are blocking the bridge Ottawa activists could join us)
Shut Down the Life-Lines of the Global Economy or Block the Locks!
The caravan will stop in Cornwall, again to ensure safe crossing at the border for anyone who wants to enter Canada. The action at the bridge in Cornwall on Mohawk Territory at Akwesasne is shaping up to be huge (see http://www.oocities.org/ericsquire/mohawk.htm for more info). Also, near Cornwall are a series of locks for the St.Lawrence Seaway. We will lock down these locks, stopping the vast commercial shipping volume in or out of the Seaway. Paul Martin, Canada's Finance Minister owns CSL (Canada Shipping Lines) Closing the locks closes down not just an inhumane economic system but directly affects the pocketbooks of the very people implementing the neo-liberal agenda.
From here caravanners could continue to Quebec City or keep the locks shut down. We hope to be in Cornwall by noon, which would leave lots of time to get to Quebec City the evening before all of the action.
For more details, including contacts for specific areas getting involved and maps of the route and the locks, see http://www.tao.ca/~kdawg/smashftaa.html.
LODGING : Ask the group you are arranging transportation with if they are also making collective arrangements for accommodation. Otherwise, get in contact Opération Québec Printemps 2001 (OQP2001), the Quebec coalition which is making arrangements for both groups and individuals. Contact them well in advance to assure that space is reserved for you. Be aware that most billets will require that you bring your own sleeping bag and floor mat. There are online forms at their website (http://www.oqp2001.org/) or call them at: Telephone :(418) 524-5225 Fax : (418) 524-3307
Protesters who wish to stop in Montreal on the way to Quebec can take advantage of the "house pooling" drive. Send an email detailing your needs to: houseftaa@hotmail.com. People in the Montreal region who can put up protesters are also asked to send the details of how many people they can take and what dates to the same email.
FURTHER LINKS: Visit http://www.oocities.org/ericsquire/ftaa.htm for a fairly thorough set of FTAA organizing links and a link to the most recent version of this Transportion and Lodging guide.