Longest
Banner Wrap - world record set by the Red Tent Campaign
VANCOUVER, Canada -- Housing activists, supporters
of the Red Tent Campaign gathered in downtown Vancouver
to wrap 1,700 feet of red banners around the block surrounding
the Canada Pavilion on West Georgia and Beatty , setting the world record for the Longest
Banner Wrap.
(enlarge
photo) The world's
Longest Banner Wrap featured slogans calling on Stephen
Harper, the government and the Canadian public to support
the Red Tent Campaign, a national movement initiated by Pivot
Legal Society which seeks to end homelessness.
The protesters hope to increase support
for Bill C-304, which will be reviewed by Parliament in the
spring. The bill would establish a constitutional right to
housing in Canada, while providing the foundation for a national
housing strategy with funding commitments and timelines.
"[The Bill] would be the beginning of the
end of homelessness," said John Richardson, the Executive
Director of the Pivot
Legal Society, who explained that actions taken during
the Olympics simply constitute the beginning of the actions
that the Red Tent Campaign has planned.
The world's
Longest Banner Wrap featured a quote from Miloon Kothari,
a Special Rapporteur to the U.N. Commission on Human Rights,
who said that Canada should "commit to a comprehensive national
housing strategy with stable and long-term funding."
Am Johal, a Media Coordinator for the Red
Tent Campaign, hopes that peaceful events like this one will
help increase public support. He believes the campaign "taps
into Canadians' general sense of patriotism and support for
a longstanding social issue."
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