On a hot Sunday on August 23rd, 2020 a modest group of anti-prison, migrant worker and labor activists gathered for a noise demo at the Niagara Detention Centre in Thorold, Ontario on a National day of Action organized by the Migrant Rights Network. This site was chosen because the Niagara Detention Centre is used to cage community members who are undocumented and seeking asylum. Read More …
North Shore Counter-Info has received legal documents that have not yet been made public containing details about recent investigations targeting anarchists in Southern Ontario who have been engaged with Wet’suwet’en solidarity organizing in 2019 and 2020. Many of these details confirm practices of surveillance that many suspect take place, but that aren’t usually taken seriously. This includes collaboration by big tech companies, tracking devices, and long periods of active surveillance. Read More …
This morning, August 13, 2020, an individual in Hamilton was approached by plain clothes OPP officers in a park while they were out walking their dog. The officers knew not only the person’s name, but also that of their dog and family members, and they seemed to know the person’s routine well enough to be waiting for them. They made vague threats to the person and also offered to protect them, and asked to talk with them further. They were likely being approached in order to inform on others. Read More …
On July 19th, a group of Haudenosaunee Land Defenders along with some allies began peacefully occupying a portion of their unceded territory that had been cleared for development in so-called Caledonia. The site was expected to become a housing development by the name of McKenzie Meadows and has now been renamed 1492 Landback Lane. A few weeks later, on August 5th, the site was violently raided by the OPP which saw many Indigneous folks forcibly removed from their territory. Read More …
Update from Day 2 of the Hunger Strike
Today around 11am a small but enthusiastic group of hunger strike supporters gathered at the Barton Jail to show the folks inside some solidarity by holding banners and signs. We visited both sides of the jail east and west and heard banging and tapping from inside.
We also heard a report of fireworks being lit off on both sides of the jail in a beautiful show of solidarity with the hunger strikers last night. Read More …
Today at noon, we learned that four ranges on the Barton Jail’s fourth floor had resumed a hunger strike, with at least 60 prisoners confirmed to be participating . One prisoner presented the action like this: “We have to starve ourselves to get out a message that is barely heard. We have a voice and aren’t just faceless inmates. Our concerns, our families’ concerns, are valid. We face violence for speaking out in here, but we are doing it for the ones that come after us.” Then, before we even had time to publish the demands, we got called back just before 5 with the news that the administration was moving to meet the strikers’ demands. This is amazing news and shows the power of collective action in materially improving the conditions inside. Read More …
Anonymous Submission to North Shore Counter-Info RESISTING is a brand new legal resource for those fighting for collective liberation, and against systemic injustice and oppression while being subjected to Canadian colonial law. It is a thorough, plain-language resource that will walk you through your legal rights (or, realistically lack thereof) and then on to more information than any dissident could ask for. Learn about the entire step by step processes Read More …
Last night, for the second time in a week, the statues of John A MacDonald and Eggerton Ryerson were doused with paint.
In case you missed it, last week, activists with Black Lives Matter – Toronto dumped paint and spray painted messages around 3 statues in downtown Toronto; an attack against the symbols of Canada’s violent and ongoing, racist, colonial legacy. That day also resulted in one of the fiery-est, most love and rage-filled anti-cop rallies we’ve experienced in a long time and one of the greatest displays of jail support we’ve seen in this city. Read More …
This is a short interview with Cheyanne Thorpe, an Indigenous woman and resident of Waterloo Region, who has been organising protests and public pressure against the placement of the Sir John A MacDonald statue in a public park in Baden Ontario. The statue, part of the “prime ministers walk” project was located in Baden with little support, after residents in Kitchener and Waterloo rejected the idea that the project be built in their cities. Read More …
When finally the cell door closes, when the jangling keys recede, you’ve arrived as far as you’re going that day. Then you can exhale alone with your mattress and be in your own body again, your body no longer a problem to be solved or a question to be answered. Just your own familiar weight under the blanket, where you can just shake and shake and try to sleep and get ready for whatever happens next. Read More …
