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 …

Hoarding Hot Air – Plywood Taken Down at City Hall

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Hi, it’s the anarchists. We saw in the newspaper that city officials put up some plywood boards to stop unhoused people from staying warm next to the heating vents at the back of City Hall. We – like everyone else with a pulse – found this absolutely despicable. Facilities director Rom D’Angelo says it’s an issue of “safety” for City Hall staff. What about the safety of the people trying not to freeze to death? He didn’t mention it.
 
So we just quickly popped out, grabbed some buds, and went to see how easy it was to take down.Turns out, it’s very easy. All you need is a drill with a phillips bit (the little star one). Took about 4 minutes to take all the screws out of the plywood and 1-2 people to carry each board away. With a larger crew, you could take down the metal frame quite quickly so people looking to stay warm wouldn’t have to squeeze through. Read More …

Ottawa: RBC Branch Redecorated in Solidarity with Wet’suwet’en

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Fire extinguisher full of white paint was used on the facade of a RBC branch located in Ottawa during the holiday week.

The action was meant as an answer to the calls to action from the Gidimt’en clan who retook possession of “Coyote Camp” with their allies. We stand in solidarity with the Wetʼsuwetʼen nation and against KKKanada’s genocidal project.

Fuck CGL, Fuck the RCMP, fuck RBC, Shut down KKKanada and get the fuck out of the Yintah! Read More …

Toronto: Hate and genocide apologism have no place on campus – an account of the Dec 18th anti-fascist rally at University X

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On December 18th, a coalition of anti-fascists/anti-racists consisting of leftist organizations, labour unions, and concerned community
members, gathered at University X (the school originally named after the genocidal, Egerton Ryerson who played a crucial role in the Canadian Residential School system). This demonstration was originally intended to be a counter to a rally being held by the so-called “Ryerson Conservatives,” and was to feature notorious politician, and piece of shit, Maxime Bernier, as well as other far-right politicians/genocide apologists and anti-vaxx spokespersons. However, shortly after a number of groups and organizations stated their intentions to counter the rally, the event was cancelled. (-Their ‘official’ reason for the cancellation seems to keep changing…-) Despite the event’s cancellation, there were still concerns that some of the far-right would attempt to occupy the space at University X anyway. In response, the coalition of various orgs and individuals went ahead with the counter-demonstration. 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 …

Attack on Encampment Eviction Collaborators

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Earlier this week a branch of Quantum Murray Environmental in Stoney Creek, Ontario had several of its windows smashed in the middle of the night. Quantum Murray is a construction company that specialized in dealing with industrial-scale environmental problems and infrastructure, but that has more recently gotten into the business of encampment evictions in Hamilton. Read More …