2019 Year in Review
Making revolutionary politics relevant to community survival struggles
A list of activities and statements organized by Alliance Against Displacement (AAD) does not tell the whole story of our 2019. What these actions, taken mostly in defence of communities under pressure from police, politicians, courts, investors, and the hateful public, do show is that AAD’s connections and relations with communities involved in struggles for survival have deepened and grown more intertwined.
The most important development for AAD in 2019 was the work behind the scenes of this constant community activity: under pressure of demands of these interwoven community relationships, we grew over our old organizational containers and began to develop new institutions for working class and urban Indigenous community power.
OVERVIEW OF CAMPAIGN WORK
June 8th Network
In June 2019, Alliance Against Displacement held a gathering of homeless leaders from community struggles across southwestern BC that initiated the June 8th Poor People’s Network. At the gathering we reflected on our experiences establishing and defending tent cities, and charted a path forward, from local homeless survival struggles towards a broader and more ambitious, BC-wide poor people’s movement.

Jun 8
Gathering in Victoria
Sixty delegates from eight different tent city struggles across southwestern BC gather in Victoria, marking the beginning of the province-wide June 8th Network
Nov 4 – 14
Tent City Tour
Homeless leaders and activists tour the Okanagan and Kootenays, visiting communities in Kamloops, Vernon, Kelowna, Grand Forks, Penticton, and Merrit
Nov 12
Residents of Kelowna’s Leon Strip call for improvements to their living conditions
Nov 20
Press Conference
Homeless residents and supporters in Grand Forks call for a winter shelter
Nov 29
Tour Reportback
Members of the June 8th Network meet in Coquitlam to debrief the Tent City Tour and plan next steps
Maple Ridge
In 2019, newly elected Mayor Mike Morden led a vicious campaign against homeless people, who he described as “raping and pillaging” Maple Ridge. After taking control over the camp with a court and fire order in February, the City of Maple Ridge finally shut down Anita Place, the longest-standing tent city in Canada, in September. But the leaders that emerged out the two-year long tent city struggle are continuing to organize for homeless survival and power as leaders and initiators of the June 8th Network and by fighting for an overdose prevention site in Maple Ridge.

Jan 14 – 15
Tent city residents fight back against Maple Ridge’s faux-fire-safety court application to demolish their shelters
Feb 9
Tent city residents respond to BC Supreme Judge Grauer’s decision on Maple Ridge’s fire injunction
Feb 23 – 24
Witnessing vigil and rally to defend Anita Place Tent City from police raids; six homeless leaders and supporters arrested
Mar 5
Rally to defend Anita Place Tent City and call for homes not prison camps
Apr 14
Anita Place Tent City residents and supporters stand together against anti-homeless hatred
May 18
Two Year Anniversary
Anita Place, the longest-standing tent in Canada, celebrates its two year anniversary
Jun 5
Homeless leaders and supports launch the unsanctioned Ridge Meadows Overdose Prevention Site, which is immediately broken up by police
Jul 11
Fraser Health Office Occupation
Homeless leaders and supporters occupy the Fraser Health headquarters in Surrey to demand an overdose prevention site in Maple Ridge
Jun 13
BC Supreme Court
Anita Place in court to clarify Judge Grauer’s order
Jul 30
Founding resident of Anita Place Tent City announces plans to refuse eviction
Sep 16
Former residents of Anita Place Tent City speak out against Maple Ridge’s supposed good news story about the end of the camp and the creation of a city park
Sep 16
Former residents of Anita Place Tent City speak out against Maple Ridge’s supposed good news story about the end of the camp and the creation of a city park
Surrey
June 2019 marked the one-year anniversary of the clearance of the Surrey Strip. In the wake of the Strip, dozens of homeless people pitched their tents in a wooded area known as Sanctuary Tent City, which was catapulted into the headlines in early July when the City of Surrey threatened to displace the camp. Campers fought to defend their home, but the City of Surrey finally dismantled the camp in December. Homeless leaders living modular housing, in shelters, and on the streets of Surrey continue to organize as part of the June 8th Network.

Jun 21
Former residents of 135A Street speak on the anniversary of the clearance of the Surrey Strip
Jul 7
The Surrey Strip community gathers to share food, music, and memories of loved ones who are no longer with us – the fallen friends of 135A Street
Jul 10
Sanctuary Tent City residents mobilize supporters to speak out against displacement
Jul 22
Surrey residents unite against efforts to expel drug users and homeless people from our neighbourhoods
Jul 25
Sanctuary Tent City calls for Fire Department to support their efforts to improve fire safety
Jul 26
All-Camp Potluck
The Sanctuary Tent City community shares a meal
Jul 29
High School Visit
Surrey high school students tour Sanctuary Tent City
Oct 21
Alliance Against Displacement opposes a motion to ban sleeping in vehicles
Jun 21
Former residents of 135A Street speak on the anniversary of the clearance of the Surrey Strip
Nov 19
Sanctuary Tent City residents say they will not allow the City of Surrey to use the opening of a new shelter as an excuse to shut down the camp
Nov 23
Supporters rally to defend residents of Sanctuary Tent City from displacement
Tri-Cities
In 2019, homeless people in the Tri-Cities shattered the myth that, in the words of Port Coquitlam Mayor Greg Moore, “We don’t have any chronically homeless people living on our streets.” While our efforts to launch a tent city were blocked by police repression, homeless leaders in the Tri-Cities continue to organize as part of the June 8th Network.

Jun 13
Homeless leaders and supporter launch the ‘We Exist’ tent city, which the City of Coquitlam orders police to break up immediately
Jul 5
Homeless activists and supporters storm the Homelessness and Housing Task Force meeting
Stop Demovictions Burnaby
For first half of 2019, Metrotown residents reaped the limited reward of their years of anti-eviction struggles as the new Mayor Mike Hurley carried out his campaign promise of placing a moratorium on demoviction rezonings. But the year was bookended by the end of his 6-month moratorium, and Council’s adoption of recommendations from his developer-friendly Housing Task Force that ensure 2020 will bring Stop Demovictions Burnaby’s fight to stop the demolition of 3,000 apartment units back to the front burner of tenant struggles in Burnaby.

Monthly
Town Halls
Metrotown residents meet to discuss and strategize the fight against demovictions
Apr 6
Renters take to the streets for the international day of action against evictions and outrageous rents
May 21
Activists say the Housing Task Force fails to protect renters by normalizing displacement
Jul 6
Renters celebrate our community as we continue to fight for our homes and our neighbourhood
Nov 19
SDB rallies against mass rezoning and the end of the moratorium on demovictions
Bread, Roses & Hormones
Bread, Roses & Hormones (BRH) is a campaign led by working class trans women and gender non-conforming people. In 2019, BRH held political education classes and community events for transmisogyny-affected people in Surrey and Vancouver, building the foundation for trans women’s leadership of struggles in and alongside movements against colonialism and capitalism in 2020.

Bi-weekly
Political Education
Reading and discussion series on trans and sex worker liberation
Bi-weekly
Community Building
Consciousness-raising and resource-sharing meetings in Vancouver and Surrey
Feb 27
Movie Night
BRH screens Major!
May – Aug
Reading Revolting Prostitutes
Reading and discussion series on Revolting Prostitutes by Juno Mac and Molly Smith
May 29
One Year Anniversary
Organizers hold a picnic to celebrate the one year anniversary of BRH
Jun 9
Red Umbrella March
BRH carries a banner in the Red Umbrella March for sex worker liberation
Aug 2
Trans March
BRH members give a speech on building working class trans power outside the mainstream of Pride politics
Sep – Jan
Reading Caliban and the Witch
Reading and discussion series on Caliban and the Witch by Silvia Federici
Oct 10
Movie Night
BRH screens Tangerine
Anti-Police Power Surrey
In 2019, Anti-Police Power Surrey (APPS) held community events and launched a new youth workshop in high schools on criminalization, policing, and abolition.

Feb 16
Youth Workshops
APPS visits a Surrey high school to facilitate a workshop on policing and abolition
Apr 12
Youth Workshops
Workshops at a Surrey high school
Apr 23
Teachers Convention
APPS delivers a workshop for educators at the Surrey Teachers Association Convention
May 3
Youth Workshops
Workshops at a Surrey high school
May 7
APPS calls for justice for Nona McEwan and Randy Crosson, who were killed by the Surrey RCMP on March 29
May 11
Community outreach table to oppose to expanding police budgets and challenge the conflation of increased policing with public safety
Jun 21
Youth Workshops
Workshops at Kwantlen Polytechnic University
Jul 11 – 12
Youth Workshops
Workshops at a Surrey high school
Jul 17 – 18
Youth Workshops
Workshops at a Surrey high school
Sep 25
Rally against the Maxime Bernier, the leader of the far-right People’s Party of Canada
Wet’suwet’en Solidarity
In 2019, Alliance Against Displacement helped organize actions in a coalition of groups and people in solidarity with the Wet’suwet’en struggle to block the construction of the Coastal Gaslink pipeline through their territories.

Jan 9
Activists march from the Downtown Eastside to Hastings and Clark, blocking access to the port
Jan 16
One hundred Indigenous and non-Indigenous fighters shut down Vancouver’s main railway line to the port
Feb 5
Rally at MLA Office
Rally at MLA George Heyman’s office
Justice for Kyaw Din
In August 2019, the Ridge-Meadows RCMP murdered Kyaw Din, a Burmese immigrant living with schizophrenia. Alliance Against Displacement supported the Din family in their fight for justice.

Oct 15
The Din family and Alliance Against Displacement launch a petition with three demands:
- Fire Jennifer Hyland, Ridge Meadows RCMP Officer in Charge
- Charge the officers responsible for Kyaw’s death with murder
- Stop sending police to mental health calls
OVERVIEW OF ORGANIZATIONAL WORK
Public Statements
Internal Education: Conditions of Struggle
In 2019 Alliance Against Displacement held education classes on political problems and theoretical methods for members. The reading lists for these internal discussion classes are available on our website, and the summaries of the outcomes of these these discussions will be uploaded in the new year as our discussion classes continue.
Feb – Apr
Fascism and How to Fight It
Jul – Aug
Gender Power
Sep – Nov
Encountering Dialectics
Nov – Dec
The Organization Question
Work with Other Groups
In 2019, Alliance Against Displacement had the opportunity to speak at several local events and attend three international conferences.

Jan 28
Ivan Drury speaks at Un/tenable: A Panel Discussion on Housing in Vancouver hosted by Green College
Mar 8
Laura Paul speaks at International Women’s Day panel organized by the Revolutionary Communist Party in Surrey
May 3
Dave Diewert and Sasha Mannequin speak at VANDU’s Drug War, Imperialism, War on the Poor
May 4
Listen Chen speaks at the May Day Billionaire’s Bash organized by the May Day Collective
Jun 23 – 27
Three members attend the International League of Peoples’ Struggles (ILPS) 6th International Assembly in Hong Kong
Jun 25
Karina F. Castro speaks at CCAP’s Cut the Police Budget Townhall
Jul 2 – 5
Two members attend the Socialism 2019 Conference in Chicago
Sep 6 – 8
Three members attend the Red Nation’s Native Liberation Conference in Gallup, New Mexico