The occupy movement encampments may have been pulled down in cities across North America, but Rick Sullivan wants to make sure people are ready for the next chapter in the saga.
Sullivan, the spokesperson for the Oceanside Coalition for Strong Communities, said his group is organizing an all-day forum on Sunday, Dec. 4 to talk about peaceful, direct action.
“It’s an attempt to see if there is interest in the community to establish a network of people who would be interested in taking peaceful, non-violent direct action in the face of events that we can find no other remedy to,” Sullivan said. “It’s a follow-up to a similar workshop in the Comox Valley recently, organized by Kel Kelly.”
In particular, Sullivan said, the proposed coal mine in Fanny Bay could prove the focus for protest.
“Suppose they couldn’t end up shipping through Port Alberni and they had to truck or train the stuff down to Nanaimo,” he said. “It would go right through our back door. That stuff is inevitably around during transport and there is always the prospect of an accident.”
As well, he said, the logging of District Lot 33 and other environmental issues could spark a call to action.
“People all over the world are starting to take action on their own,” he said. “People believe the systems of government are broken and we need to act — responsibly and peacefully. We are going to examine those kinds of notions and see what kind of appetite there is.”
The forum will be held at the Parksville Community and Conference Centre, with doors opening at 9:30 a.m.
There is no charge to attend.
For more information, call Rick Sullvian at 250-248-1174.
