Anti-Olympic protest mostly peaceful, despite tense moments

Special Report by IIN Investigative Blog-correspondent John John:-Vancouver Sun: VANCOUVER -- There were some tense moments but the march by thousands of anti-Olympic protesters to B.C. Place stadium Thursday was a mostly peaceful affair that did not disrupt the arrival of spectators to the 2010 Olympic opening ceremony. The police allowed the protest march of about 2,000 people to proceed unimpeded from the Vancouver Art Gallery to the corner of Beatty and Robson in front of the stadium. A nearly two-hour standoff between two phalanxes of police and protesters followed with the anarchist black flag waving about 40 meters in front of the Terry Fox monument and beside the Alberta House where people drank beer and watched the opening ceremony on television. At one point there was pushing and shoving between police and protesters when a small group of demonstrators surged toward the police with a banner made of bamboo. The police grabbed the bamboo banner, linked arms and briefly pushed back against the crowd.
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An Olympic Failure: At least 137 Native women missing and murdered in BC since 1980 | The Dominion

The epidemic of missing and murdered women in Canada has not improved since the inaugural march 18 years ago. In fact, it appears to have worsened, particularly for Indigenous women and girls. Of 521 known cases of missing and murdered Indigenous women across Canada since roughly 1980, half have occurred in the last decade. BC has seen the worst, where, as of 2008, approximately 137 of those cases had occurred. According to Walk4Justice activists, (a group made up largely of Indigenous women who hold annual walks demanding justice for their missing and murdered friends and loved ones), and the Native Women's Association of Canada (NWAC), the actual number of missing and murdered Indigenous women is much higher, and likely in the thousands. Underestimation, they say, is due to insufficient research funding, which is also a phenomenon of the last decade.