Day Three at Atlantica : IMC Maritimes

By 10 AM on the morning of June 10th, all three arrestees of the Atlantica protests the previous day had been released. One, a Fredericton-based blogger and regular IMC contributor, was arrested after taking a photo of police using excessive force against another protestor. After being released, he found the memory card of his digital camera had been erased by police.

Workshops were held throughout the morning, including a panel talk by Professors Garry Leech and Jim Sacouman, two long-time activist/researchers about the broader impacts of corporate globalization. This event was followed by a presentation by members of the Maine-based Beehive Collective, a group of subversive artists who create large murals focused upon trade and economic justice themes.

The large labour march began at 1:30 PM, attracting a crowd of approximately 400. Speeches included Hassan Yussuff, Secretary Treasurer of the Canadian Labour Congress, Dawn Binkley (Canadian Union of Postal Workers), and Reg Anstey (Director, Newfoundland and Labrador Federation of Labour).

Amid the blustery rain and wind, the march wound its way along a stretch of highway between a downtown rink and a skate park near the site of the elite "Reaching Atlantica" Conference. At one point, a group of young protestors, anarchists, and some labour supporters, frustrated that the march appeared to be ending away from actual site where Atlantic Canadian business elites had gathered to map out the Atlantica agenda, began urging people down towards the front doors. Timidly at first, the crowd then moved in full down towards the front doors of the Convention Centre. Labour marshalls and organizers then managed to get to the front of the march and bring it away from the front doors.

Some activists were physically acosted by members of the Labour leadership, and were told that "this is our action" and were instructed to "get a job." (The Counter-Atlantica actions were first initiated by a collection of grassroots organizations). Such childish displays were not taken well by those nearby.

Meanwhile, the protests vaulted news of Atlantica, particularly its critics, onto the National news scene. CBC's The National covered the arrests yesterday, as did CTV news, and CBC national radio news. The events of today and yesterday were at the top of the news locally. For its part, the Telegraph-Journal, a local paper owned by the Irving family, one of the main sponsors of the Atlantica conference, was loaded with less-than-objective screeds against the "Atlantica Angst" of the "alarmist" protests of the "bandana wearing" protestors.

True to its class interests, the paper attempted to dismiss the criticisms raised by critics of Atlantica by claiming "the history of this region is a history of business ventures," while wondering what "The Left" was "so riled up about."

The Atlantica economic zone is a proposed trade corridor linking all four Atlantic Canadian provinces with New Hampshire, Maine, Vermont, and Upstate New York. The proposed Atlantica initiative quite publicly calls for a reduction in minimum wages throughout the region, as well as a dilution of "union density," the large-scale reduction of public employees, and the harmonization of immigration, military, and economic policy with that of the United States.

Further details can be found by visiting http://www.atlantica.org or http://www.stopatlantica.com.