Tag: Toronto

Like Hand in Glove: on the collaboration between media, police, and far-right in the recent arrests of antifascists in Toronto and Hamilton

Posted on1 Comment

On Tuesday, October 22 and Wednesday, October 23, four antifascists were arrested by Hamilton police, watchdogs of white supremacy, in connection with the counter-protest against Maxime Bernier’s fundraising event last month. Two people living in Toronto came to Hamilton to turn themselves in, while the two living in Hamilton were arrested at their school and home respectively. Cynically, HPS chose to wait until right after the federal election before launching this wave of arrests to avoid further having their complicity in the rise of the far right in Hamilton become a national political issue. By doing so, they make obvious the political nature of these charges: they have more to do with the narrative being produced than with what happened on the ground. 

Two people are charged with intimidation and causing disturbance in connection to an old woman who was yelled at and delayed from entering the venue; another is charged with intervening in an attack by a fascist goon on other protestors; and then, perhaps most strangely, we have one person charged with theft under $5000 for allegedly removing a Canadian flag from an armed fascist’s baton.  Read More …

Answering Back: Windsor’s “Drug Den”, or How We Choose to See Things

Posted on

Two prominent recent articles in The Windsor Star describe a burnt out building on Wyandot St as a “drug den” and the people using the space as “a problem crowd” of “addicts” and push for the building to be demolished. The total lack of humanity in how the situation is described is striking. Drawing heavily on the words of local business owner Andrew Steptoe, it creates an opposition between good citizens like him – whose presence matters and whose voice counts – and the anonymous drug users who are portrayed as subhuman, represented only by photos of the garbage they leave behind, and who need to be driven away. Read More …

Drop the Charges! Free Cedar! Day of Action Report Back

Posted on1 Comment

On Friday, June 28th, We called for a Day of Autonomous Action to drop all the charges against pride defenders and to free Cedar immediately. This Day of Action comes on the heels of repeated harassment of queers by the police, city Councillors, mayor Fred Eisenberger and the far-right since the fall out of the Hamilton Pride festival.

June 28th was also the 50th anniversary of The Stonewall riot in NYC which catalyzed the modern Queer and Trans Liberation movements and what we’ve come to know as Pride. Getting back to our roots, this Day of Action wasn’t a music festival, there was no banks invited, no personalities, no celebrities, no boards, no cops, no CEO’s. Our Day of Action was one of people coming together and rejecting piecemeal offerings of tolerance and demanding liberation. This is our Stonewall. This is our Bathhouse Riot.

There was over 47 actions around the world responded to our call, with graffiti, postering, stickers, marches, rallies, demonstrations, phone zaps, messages of solidarity and fundraisers. It has brought us to tears time and again seeing the love people have to give, and encourages our call to drop the charges and free Cedar. Read More …

Legal Aid Board Chair Serves Landlord Class

Posted on1 Comment

Last week Legal Aid Ontario (LAO) made front page news when it announced a major attack on Parkdale, cutting 45% of its funding to Parkdale Community Legal Services (PCLS). What wasn’t reported was LAO’s Board Chair Charles Harnick’s connections to Toronto real estate interests. We think they go a long way to explaining the decision to target PCLS.  Read More …

The Raptors Riot That Wasn’t: Notes on a near-miss

Posted on3 Comments

I like riots, they’re pretty much my favourite thing. My very favourite is riots whose common feeling is rooted in overcoming an injustice, something with a bit of content. But even stupid riots are fun, and I find them worthwhile, even if they don’t have more content than playing basketball with your friends in the park.

I was hoping for a stupid riot when the Raptors won the NBA final. Yes, it’s Toronto, an incredibly dull and pacified place, but still. So on game 6 of the series, a crew of friends and I came in from out of town. With the exception of one pal who has been a Raptors fan for years and was excitedly following the score on her phone, the rest of us don’t pay any attention and didn’t mind not seeing even a single play of the final game. With our knock-off Giant Tiger Raptors gear and multiple layers of clothes, we spent the last minutes of the game eavesdropping on police radio conversations and watching the public order cops deploy to try to figure out what might happen next. Read More …

From Embers: New Content in May 2019

Posted on

From Embers is a regular anarchist podcast produced in Kingston, Ontario. We produce a few episodes each month about actions and projects going on in so-called Canada that inspire us, or about topics that we think will be relevant to anarchists living north of the border. We are a proud member of the Channel Zero Anarchist Podcast Network. Read More …

Announcing the 2019 Toronto Anarchist Bookfair!

Posted on

We are excited to announce the return of the Toronto Anarchist Bookfair! The 2019 Bookfair will take place September 28 at the Centre for Social Innovation – Annex, on the traditional territories of the Anishnaabe, Haudenosaunee and Huron-Wendat peoples. The Bookfair will be a space for everyone from experienced organizers to those simply curious about anarchism to share ideas and information, develop skills, and build the community capacity to create a world that aligns with our anarchist aspirations. There will be space to explore anarchist history and ideas, as well as their application to grassroots organizing and ongoing struggles. The Bookfair will include workshops, info tables, book sellers and social events. This is an accessible space that aims to centre BIPOC and other marginalized voices. Read More …

Reflections on Toronto May Day 2019

Posted on3 Comments

May Day in Toronto this year was marked by a couple of rallies, plenty of rain, and one bloody guillotine. It was my first May Day in Toronto, and I wasn’t really sure what to expect, but was excited for the opportunity to be explicitly and confrontationally anti-capitalist in the streets. May Day to me is about celebrating labour victories of years past and fighting for a world free from all forms of oppression. I’d heard that the main feature of Toronto May Day is the evening march, organized by a coalition of organizations, and that most people came with their union or political group. Read More …