[asia-apec 1099] Vancouver against the WTO

[Jaggi Singh]

               PLANNING AND INFO NIGHT
               To organize a local 
               grassroots coalition 
               against the WTO 
               meetings in Seattle

                                           Tuesday, May 18
                                                       7pm
                                     La Quena Coffee House 
                                     1111 Commercial Drive
                                                 VANCOUVER

For more info, e-mail Uri at uri at interchange.ubc.ca or phone Nora at
604-430-8049. If you can't make the meeting, but would like to be involved
in raising awareness and organizing against the WTO meetings in Seattle,
please get in touch.

**Childcare will be provided**
**La Quena is wheelchair-accessible**

-- BACKGROUND --

>From November 29 to December 4, Seattle will host a meeting of the trade
ministers and many leaders of the 134 countries belonging to the World
Trade Organization. The ministers will be negotiating the agenda for the
"Millenium Round", a new round of negotiations which is expected to
include some provisions from the much-loathed MAI (Multilateral Agreement
on Investment), as well as new initiatives to further entrench the power
of transnational capital. The meeting will be a large step towards
achieving the grand vision of the WTO, a vision in which corporations
plunder an increasingly impoverished world.
 
An initial meeting of grassroots Vancouver activists was held on April 20
to kickstart a local movement to oppose the Seattle ministerial meeting.
Though energy was high, the group felt that a more inclusive gathering was
needed to set the stage for a representative Vancouver-based anti-WTO
coalition.
 
The gathering will take place at La Quena (1111 Commercial Drive) on May
18 at 7pm. There will be a presentation on the WTO, in the form of either
a video or a panel discussion, which will be followed by a planning
meeting, where vision and strategy will be discussed. All groups and
individuals interested in raising awareness and organizing against the WTO
in Seattle are welcome.

[end]