Category: Actions

London: Call To Action against PEGIDA on Oct 13

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Over the long weekend on October 13th, London’s far-right freakshow known as PEGIDA will be returning once again to their protected space in front of city hall. Recent appearances in Toronto have had them supported by various right wing groups, but in London they often show up in low numbers. The last couple times however, we are beginning to notice that they are being flanked by groups like Soldiers of Odin, Proud Boys, and occasionally other groups. I am an individual who has seen my fair share of rallies and will not be able to attend for a variety of legitimate reasons and I am sending this in hopes that a call for help will be answered by comrades and allies in the region. Read More …

Toronto: Report-back from September 8 Anti-fascist Action

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Proud Boys, Soldiers of Odin, Northern Guard, and Canadian Combat Coalition got together for one of their now regular meetups and public displays of racism and Islamophobia. This time, it seemed they were particularly interested in using the upcoming anniversary of 9/11 to forward their anti-Muslim, anti-immigrant message. This is one individual’s report back on the day; ARC also has a good timeline and photos.

PEGIDA once again assembled on Armoury Street at University, with a rally planned to begin at 1:00. By 12:30 there were around 10 PEGIDA members, mostly of the angry-soccer-mom and your-racist-grandparent variety Read More …

Report from August 11th Anti-Fascist Mobilization in Toronto

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This is a report on the anti-fascist mobilization against the Worldwide Coalition Against Islam (WCAI) in Toronto on August 11, 2018. It’s written by an individual and is not intended to be comprehensive – for a fuller picture, see reports from Anti-Racist Canada here and here, the Toronto General Defence Committee, No Borders Media (source for the photos), and the video from THREAT.

The story began when the WCAI, which is based in Alberta, called for an “epic rally” in Nathan Phillips Square in Toronto. WCAI prides itself on putting “political correctness in the trash where it belongs,” and by that they mean embracing the racist label, openly referring to Muslims and immigrants as ‘sewage,’ and calling for extreme violence against anti-fascists. Several racist rallies have been unable to take the streets of Ontario in recent months due to anti-fascist mobilizing, so the WCAI claimed they were flying in from Alberta to lead a coalition of the most violence-prone groups (Proud Boys, Soldiers of Odin, Northern Guard, the Canadian Nationalist Front and the Canadian Combat Coalition) and “take back Toronto.” It was called for August 11th, one year after Charlottesville. Read More …

Hamilton Rent Strikers Bring Demands to Landlord’s Doorstep in Ottawa

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For years, tenants have swallowed the landlord line that rent increases are simply a routine levy to provide necessary upkeep to buildings. Too often the profit-driven mechanisms of the real estate industry are hidden behind the curtain of landlord spin and nice-guy superintendents. Since the growth of Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) and other more aggressive forms of investment into multi-residential properties, working-class tenants have been feeling severe pain and insecurity over their housing, forcing them to organize out of the sheer necessity of collective self-defence. Peeling back the surface layers of the landlord industry, they see where the rent increases that they’re forced to swallow actually go: into mansions — big mansions — and luxury cars, $10,000 suits, yachts, and every other gross display of opulence imaginable.

Such was the case last weekend when striking tenants from the Stoney Creek Towers in Hamilton trekked to Ottawa with their supporters to confront the executives from InterRent, a REIT with an investment strategy based around displacing working-class tenants from their neighbourhoods. Read More …

Counter-demo in Markham against Anti-Refugee protest

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I am feeling pretty distraught at to moment, not so much from the cut I received as my megaphone was torn from my hand and thrown into a fountain, not so much from the punches and shoves, but mostly from this feeling that as the Chinese left, we’ve been asleep to the political dynamics in the Chinese ‘community’ for the past decade or so. Today, about 15 of us gathered at Markham Civic Centre to counter protest an event organized by Conservative Party and fascist elements opposed to the housing of refugees at a York Region School Board facility. Read More …

Toronto: Cops n Klan, Hand in Hand: Report on the July 21 Counter Demo against PEGIDA

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On Saturday July 21 folks showed up to counter a PEGIDA rally – something that’s been happening consistently in Toronto. PEGIDA is the name of a group in Germany which opposes immigration and spreads racist hate against Muslims. Local bigots have been trying to import the model.

When I showed up the number of racists were pretty small – maybe 7-10 people huddled inside a metal fence protected by about 40 cops. Antiracist crews numbered about 60. Not the worst turnout and odds I’ve seen. Read More …

Ottawa: General Defense Committee Marches on CEO in Solidarity with Rent Strike

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Report from solidarity action with the ongoing rent strike in Hamilton, which started on May 1st.

On Friday morning of June 29th, in concert with actions in Hamilton, Burlington, Guelph, London, and Montreal; community members and Ottawa GDC Local 6 marched to CLV hq offices at 485 Bank St (Bank & Argyle) to deliver a letter of demands on behalf of the East Hamilton Rent Strike to David Nevins (Vice President) and Michael McGahan (CEO). Read More …

Guelph: Confront Canada Day! Rally

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On that day of nationalist garbage, so-called Canada Day, around 20 anti-capitalist supporters of indigenous sovereignty, led by radical members of the indigenous community, gathered in the city’s St. George’s Square to confront colonialism and reject the spectacle of the day. While the event was scheduled some time in advance, speakers centered and echoed the call from Six Nations for Justice for Jon Styers–along side Colten Boushie, Tina Fontaine, and countless other victims of the colonial state’s violence. Read More …