The Anti-Poverty Committee (APC) was a left-wing anarchist organisation based in Vancouver

Vancouver

Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...

, British Columbia

British Columbia

British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...

 that campaigned against poverty

Poverty

Poverty is the lack of a certain amount of material possessions or money. Absolute poverty or destitution is inability to afford basic human needs, which commonly includes clean and fresh water, nutrition, health care, education, clothing and shelter. About 1.7 billion people are estimated to live...

 and homelessness

Homelessness

Homelessness describes the condition of people without a regular dwelling. People who are homeless are unable or unwilling to acquire and maintain regular, safe, and adequate housing, or lack "fixed, regular, and adequate night-time residence." The legal definition of "homeless" varies from country...

.

The APC participated in direct action

Direct action

Direct action is activity undertaken by individuals, groups, or governments to achieve political, economic, or social goals outside of normal social/political channels. This can include nonviolent and violent activities which target persons, groups, or property deemed offensive to the direct action...

 events such as sit-in

Sit-in

A sit-in or sit-down is a form of protest that involves occupying seats or sitting down on the floor of an establishment.-Process:In a sit-in, protesters remain until they are evicted, usually by force, or arrested, or until their requests have been met...

s, squats

Squatting

Squatting consists of occupying an abandoned or unoccupied space or building, usually residential, that the squatter does not own, rent or otherwise have permission to use....

, and vandalism to protests closure of low-income housing projects and garnered considerable attention with disruptive protests centred around the 2010 Winter Olympics

2010 Winter Olympics

The 2010 Winter Olympics, officially the XXI Olympic Winter Games or the 21st Winter Olympics, were a major international multi-sport event held from February 12–28, 2010, in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, with some events held in the suburbs of Richmond, West Vancouver and the University...

, to be held in Vancouver.

According to its website, the Anti-Poverty Committee was "an organization of poor and working people, who fight for poor people, their rights and an end to poverty by any means necessary." The APC ceased meeting in the summer of 2010, when they stopped renting an office space for meetings, and is no longer an active organization.

Opposition to the 2010 Winter Olympics

On a May weekend in 2007, Vancouver Police

Vancouver Police Department

The Vancouver Police Department is the police force for the City of Vancouver in British Columbia, Canada. It is one of several police departments within the Metro Vancouver Area and is the second largest police force in the province after RCMP "E" Division.VPD was the first Canadian police force...

 used a ruse to arrest APC organizer David Cunningham as part of their investigation into threats made to "evict" 2010 Winter Olympic Games board members from their homes and offices. The police had pretended to be a reporter with Vancouver's commuter newspaper 24 Hours

24 Hours

24 Hours and 24 Heures is a chain of free daily newspapers published in Canada by Sun Media, a subsidiary of Quebecor Media...

. This ruse was criticised in newspaper editorials as endangering the media's appearance of independence.

On May 22, 2007, following Cunningham's arrest, three APC activists pretended to be delivering flowers as a ruse to gain entry to the Vancouver offices of BC Premier Gordon Campbell. The group began destroying glassware, as well as overturning furniture and scattering documents. The group stated that this action was an eviction of 2010 Winter Olympic Games special advisor Ken Dobell from his office.