Category: News and Analysis

Ill Winds from Ottawa

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Opponents of vaccine mandates have established protest encampments in Ottawa and elsewhere around Canada, blockading several routes crossing the United States border. Far-right organizers and former police officers have prominent positions in this movement, and police have taken a relatively hands-off approach thus far; it appears likely that the model currently being tested in Canada will appear elsewhere around the world shortly. In the following extensive report, our correspondent in Montréal explores the sequence of events that led up to these developments, reviews the agendas of the various forces vying for control, and reflects on what we can do in a situation in which the far right has gained the initiative. Read More …

Ottawa, the Far-Right, and the State: Inside the Convoy Protests and the Unfolding Three Way Fight

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From It’s Going Down Podcast Click here to listen and download On this episode of the It’s Going Down podcast, we speak with two anarchists involved in the Punch Up Collective, a group which is currently mobilizing in Ottawa, the capitol city of so-called Canada, in the midst of an ongoing far-Right protest occupation made up of several hundred vehicles in the downtown area. During our discussion we talk about Read More …

Fuck HPS: an informational project

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Anonymous Submission to North Shore Counter-Info The last decade in policing has seen an increase in the amount of resources police have invested in to surveilling anarchists/organizers & projects that in some way pose a threat to the state. While those of us who oppose or challenge state authority tend to learn these stories through internal discussions or re-tellings (our own strange urban legends) it’s not often we see proof Read More …

Trip Report: Ottawa on Saturday, February 5

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We took the train downtown to avoid getting caught in the traffic jam of the protest itself. I’ve spent the ride alternating between preparing myself for what we’re about to see by mentally going over all of the things I should expect to see and hear in the next few hours at the convoy protest and distracting myself by contemplating whether or not I like Ottawa’s new transit system. I haven’t been to downtown Ottawa since before the pandemic. I know what stop we’re going to but it is unmistakeable anyway, a wave of people dressed in Canadian flag capes, maskless and bearing protest signs prepares to dismount just as we do. I remember using a similar tactic to find the right subway stop to get to Zucotti Park in 2011. There are so many surface-level similarities between here and there that I can’t help but feel a pang of the jealousy and perhaps even empathy with the protestors that I’ve been experiencing all week, watching their moment unfold and remembering moments where I have felt joy, camaraderie and anticipation of the kind that I imagine they are feeling this week. Read More …

Punch Up Collective: Organizing Against the Occupation of Ottawa

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Points of crisis can usefully reveal contradictions and opportunities for organizing. Crisis can also shut us down and make it hard to connect, think, and act. The mobilization of the right-wing anti-mandate crew in Ottawa and elsewhere in Canada is one such crisis. Direct confrontation with the far right is important and can be effective, but in the present moment in Ottawa it’s complicated to mobilize in that way. Read More …

Report-back from a Rail Blockade in Saint-Lambert

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On Saturday, more than sixty people acting in solidarity with Wet’suwet’en land defenders blocked the CN main line in Saint-Lambert south of Montreal for over six hours. It was the longest rail blockade in Quebec since the winter of 2020, interrupting Via Rail service and immobilizing six freight trains. These notes reflect the experience of a couple participants in Saturday’s blockade. Read More …

Hamilton: Blackout Black Friday Banner Drops

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Throughout this past week, some of your friendly neighbourhood anarchists have been going on a sticker and poster campaign in Hamilton, Ancaster, Toronto, Kitchener, Guelph, and Waterloo. Maybe you’ve seen some of the “Blackout Black Friday” stickers and posters urging residents to not shop or work on Black Friday for ten days. Read More …