Montréal Contre-information
Montréal Contre-information
Montréal Contre-information

mtlcounter-info

Responsibility Claimed for Arson of C-IRG Vehicles on Wet’suwet’en Territory

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Nov 262022
 

Anonymous submission to MTL Counter-info

In the early hours of Oct 26th several RCMP C-IRG vehicles were lit on fire in the Smithers Sunshine Inn parking lot.

As you read this, Coastal GasLink drills beneath the sacred headwaters of the Wedzin Kwa. The ground shakes in Wet’suwet’en territories. For every tremor of the earth as they drive their borehead and blast their explosives through riverbed and rock, right beneath schools of spawning salmon, tremors of pain and rage reverberate through the hearts of those who still have space to feel it.

Death surrounds us. Salmon die en masse as creeks run dry. Massive areas of once-flourishing rainforest burn. A billion snow crabs disappear and die in Alaska. Climate chaos runs rampant while mega projects churn the living world into a living nightmare. So many people pass out of this world too soon. Maybe it gets called suicide. Or overdose. Or stroke. Maybe it is a police bullet that rips through flesh and organs. All of this is the manifestation of the unbearable pain, suffering and violence brought on by colonialism and the state.

In “british columbia” it is the RCMP who defend and enforce this violence. And where extractive industries meet indigenous resistance the RCMP employ a specialized division called Community-Industry Response Group. It is C-IRG cops who volunteer to raid, surveil, harass, and brutalize land defenders on behalf of their corporate masters.

Early on October 26th four C-IRG vehicles in Smithers were set ablaze while C-IRG officers slept just meters away. The fires damaged or destroyed all four trucks and spread to several industry vehicles and an ambulance in the parking lot. The CGL and BC Hydro trucks burned are hardly regrettable. The damaged ambulance was unfortunate and unintended. No one was injured in this action because steps were taken to ensure no one would be. Vehicles were only lit where it was certain fire would not spread to structures or endanger life.

The violence enacted by industry and enforced by the police damns an entire planet to a fiery desertified future. Recognizing the fact that each of us has a stake in this struggle means recognizing the importance of acting with our own agency, autonomy, and urgency. We must all sharpen our pain into the determination necessary to act against those responsible for our suffering.

There are no words to be shared with government or industry that can change the core of their nature. These institutions are not people. They have no soul, no ethics, and no conscience. Their driving force is profit at any cost, and they cannot be negotiated or reasoned with.

Liberals and centrists want politics to be neat and tidy, within the bounds of respectability. The labeling of actions outside of these bounds as a ‘false flag’ operation severely limits our ability to broaden the scope of struggle and directly challenge the state’s violence. Successful movements utilize a broad set of tactics to achieve their goals. False flag accusations only serve to isolate those who choose to engage in more confrontational actions from broader support, which is dangerous and limiting. If there is a conspiracy here, it is the overt collusion between corporations and state forces to continue the legacy of genocidal violence on indigenous peoples and land.

Burning cop cars is easy. Taking the steps to prevent arrests is less so. Research methods that work; warriorup.noblogs.org is a good place to start. Use security oriented and open source tech tools on public WiFi for this, or better yet, go old-school and get books. Test your methods. Think carefully about how fire can spread to make sure you will not unintentionally burn down a building or cause injury. Know how to avoid leaving evidence. Think critically about the consequences of action as well as inaction. Trust your rebellious instincts and move with courage.

It has always been the time to fight. It still is.

Windy Morning for Condo Sellers

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Nov 242022
 

Anonymous submission to MTL Counter-info

On Monday, November 14, gusts of air were the only visitors to the Le Moden condo sales office by Frontenac metro.

The city is already fucking ugly but new condos make shit worse. The yuppification of Place Frontenac and Centre-Sud is imminent. The domination of capitalism advances quickly. Don’t wait a second more to practice your window-smashing throw with your friends!
RAILROAD SPIKES
– accessibility 10/10
– impact 9/10
– discretion 7/10 (less loud than we thought)
– handling 10/10
– fun 10/10

Reportback from the Solidarity Struggle with the Kahnistensera Against McGill’s New Vic Project

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Nov 192022
 

Anonymous submission to MTL Counter-info

Through this solidarity struggle, it has become clear that as a radical community, we need to stand in solidarity with the kanien’kehá:ka kahnistensera.

Because these traditionalist activists from Kahnawa:ke have been fighting for the last fifty years for the sovereignty of their people.

Because they are among the few Mohawk people who still hold fast to their pre-colonial mode of governance, called the Great Law of Peace.

Because this code organizes the Haudenausaunee confederacy as what we would interpret as libertarian federalism, where all decisions are made on a small scale by consensus before being taken to a higher level: from family to clan, from clan to community, from community to Nation, from Nation to Confederacy.

Because in the Great Law, women are considered the progenitors of the nation, and are therefore responsible for ensuring the protection of the territory and the children (past, present and unborn).

Because as settlers and anarchists, we have many of our own reasons to support Indigenous communities in their battle against the state that deprives them of their relationship with their mother, the territory, the land.

The kahnistensera are currently suing McGill University, the city of Montreal and the government of Quebec and Canada to stop renovation work for McGill’s New Vic project, on the grounds of the Allan Memorial Institute and the Royal Victoria Hospital. These institutions were the site of torture experiments conducted as part of the [MK-Ultra] program (https://www.mcgilldaily.com/2012/09/mk-ultraviolence/) of the 1950s and 1960s. There are strong suspicions that Indigenous children (as well as Duplessis orphans and other “delinquents”) may have died there and been buried anonymously on the site, and McGill has downplayed this terrible history as it proceeds with excavating the area. As traditionalists, the Mothers are not aligned with the government-backed Band Council in their community, and have received no support from them for this lawsuit or the broader struggle.

The lawsuit sought an interlocutory injunction to halt the renovation of the Royal Victoria, which threatens to destroy the evidence of these atrocities forever, as well as potentially destroying archeological evidence of a very important Kanien’kehá:ka village that stood on the exact location of the Royal Vic before the French arrived on the island. On October 27, 2022, the Quebec Superior court surprisingly ruled in favour of the Mothers and granted an injunction to stop the renovation work. McGill University is now forced to sit down with them to establish a plan for a complete and non-intrusive archaeological excavation of the site.

Since the beginning of their lawsuit against McGill University, the Mothers have done a lot of mobilization in the Haudenausaunee confederacy, but also in radical circles in Montreal: a presentation during the occupation of the McGill arts building, a presentation at l’Achoppe last spring, a presentation at the anarchist bookfair this summer, and probably many other events I am not aware of. In the last few months, rumours began to circulate that McGill University was going ahead with the excavation without waiting for the scheduled interlocutory injunction hearing. In September, McGill announced that the excavation would take place in early October, while the trial was scheduled for October 26. This was the impetus for the “Stop the New Vic” campaign, as people wanted to find a way to delay the excavation until at least the time of the trial. We weren’t very optimistic that the court would decide in favour of the Mothers, but if work was going to start before they’d even had a chance to make their case then we were going to try to stop it.

In early october, a mobilization meeting was called, where there were a good 30 people motivated to get involved in an occupation of the Hersey Building lot at the Royal Vic, where the excavation would take place.

Week of October 10, two weeks before the hearing
October 10, Columbus Day in the United States and Thanksgiving Day in Canada, is considered by many Indigenous people on Turtle Island to be the “Indigenous Peoples’ Day of Rage”. That evening, at the planned excavation site, people went to set up camp and some stayed overnight.

The next morning, very quickly, the police were called. The activists at the camp tried to delay the police as long as possible. They ended up playing cat and mouse on Mount Royal with the cops who were getting more and more pissed. The cops were screaming at everyone that the next time they came across them they would be arrested, but as far as I know there were no arrests. That afternoon, about 15 people managed to get together to assess the possibilities for action. The energy was still very good and people started planning right away.

During that week, affinity groups went to the site several times a day to slow down the work. The offices of the archaeological firm were also attacked. This action was the subject of a press release from the Mohawk Mothers, who found themselves accused by their legal opponents:

“We are being held accountable legally of all such actions at this time, as the opponents are trying to construe us as criminals before the Judge with less than two weeks remaining before the hearing at the court on October 26, 2022.”

To the activists who organized the action, the Mohawk Mothers remarked:

“We greatly appreciate tokens of solidarity and demonstrations, but we ask you to be mindful of the dire legal repercussions for us, and the high risk of jeopardizing all the work we have invested for more than one year to obtain an injunction, which could be ruined, as well as the hope of our families to know the truth and get justice.”

As for Arkéos, when questioned by a sentimentalist journalist from La presse, the boss of the firm stated “We don’t want [the workers] to dig without archaeologists. It would really be a loss”, implying that the renovation work would take place with or without the presence of archaeologists, and thus further exposing McGill’s “rubberstamping” strategy, which deals with archaeologists only to give legitimacy to its colonial project.

Week of October 17, one week before the hearing
The following Monday a thirteen-person vigil with candles also managed to slow down the work. The cops were so worked up from the previous week that they outnumbered the protesters. Armed to the teeth, they blocked the front door, which pissed off the archaeology firm’s workers as well as the hospital’s employees. Compared to the very quiet crowd of the security guard, the cops looked like hyper-aggressive monsters.

On Thursday night, an “artistic intervention” took place: children’s graves, clothes, and shoes were placed at the excavation site to highlight the violence associated with digging up and thus disturbing the potential unmarked graves.

Week of October 24, Court Week
The week of the trial preparation, Divest Mcgill people worked extremely hard to organize three mobilization events:

Monday: A day of teach-ins and leafleting on the McGill University campus,

Tuesday: Screening of the film “Kahnesatà:ke, 270 years of resistance”,

Wednesday: Rally in front of the courthouse for the first day in court.

The trial
On Wednesday, October 26, the energy at the courthouse was electric. The courtroom was too small to accommodate all the people who wanted to attend the trial. Young people were sitting on the floor, comrades outside were mobilizing, there was food for an army. Everyone who was at the rally and inside ate the collective food, even the Mothers!

On Thursday, the energy wasn’t high enough to do the rally outside again, but the comrades made and brought about 20 servings of food to feed the Mothers and the people who supported them at the trial. I was told that this led to a very funny scene where about 20 people were eating seated on the floor in a courthouse hallway because the courthouse cafeteria wouldn’t accept people who had their own lunches.

On Thursday night, the ruling was announced: considering that the case was likely in the public interest, the judge had a duty to make an immediate ruling in front of the people, not just write it and send it to the parties. He ordered a 3-4 month interlocutory injunction until the next court date. In the meantime, McGill University has to sit down with the Mothers and come up with a plan for an archaeological dig that would suit them. This means that the renovation work is halted until the injunction is over!

A historic win
Without a doubt, this trial will make history. For the first time since its inception, the Superior Court has accepted that a collective of Indigenous people represent themselves. It was really important for the Mothers to do it this way, for the sake of their self-determination, and also to remain consistent with the Great Law. The judge had no reason to order an injunction: after all, on Thursday at noon, McGill’s lawyer had announced that the search was over and that nothing had been found. Moreover, all the defense lawyers argued that the current legal procedures were adequate and that going to the Quebec Superior Court was not. In his oral ruling, the judge recognized that sending the Mothers back into the legal vortex of the state would not be beneficial to reconciliation with Indigenous communities.

In fact, this is the first time that a court has recognized that the horrors of residential schools also took place in the mainstream health care system, which is a huge step forward in terms of recognizing genocide. Moreover, at the same time as the Mothers’ trial, the National Assembly finally recognized that residential schools were a genocidal tool. So, with this judgment obtained by the Mothers, white hospitals should soon be recognized as genocidal tools against Indigenous Peoples.

Another major gain: the Mohawk Mothers have succeeded in establishing their legitimacy on the basis of the fact that they are traditionalists, and therefore in direct opposition to the Band Council. The October 27 ruling reinforces the fact that band councils are colonial institutions (federal boards) and that their consultation cannot in any way be confused with the consent of a nation. They succeeded in imposing their legitimacy with the strength of their laws, their character, their courage, and the support they found in their community, as well as from radical left and anarchist settlers.

Finally, the judge particularly insisted on the fact that the traumas associated with the unmarked graves corresponded to “irreparable damage”, that is to say that the damage cannot be compensated monetarily. He therefore decided to impose the injunction even though it was not necessary since McGill had supposedly completed the excavation. He felt that the inconvenience of the delay to McGill was outweighed by the trauma and loss of confidence in the justice system that would result from the refusal of the injunction. He said a really powerful phrase that I will try to recount from memory:

“For the past two days, you have all been looking toward the front of the room. From where I’m standing, I’m looking in the opposite direction, and I’ve seen clearly over the past two days that the pain and emotions associated with disturbing anonymous graves doesn’t just affect the kahnistensera. For the past two days, I’ve seen the emotional reactions of people in the live audience, and I can’t ignore that.”

It really surprised me that a judge would base his judgment on emotional perceptions, let alone emotions from the audience. I mean, the testimony of the Mothers and all the historical context that was discussed during the trial was absolutely enough to tip the scales. But I still seriously think that the fact that people mobilized to be at the courthouse with them drove the point home.

As anarchists, we are very critical of the canadian court system. This system has been put in place to enable the colonization and exploitation of Indigenous Peoples’ lands, capitalist developpement, and to protect the rich and powerful. We can not let ourselves trust this oppressive institution. That is why it is so important that we organize ourselves outside of this institution, on the ground and within our communities. Let’s be ready for when the court system reaches it’s limit. Let’s be ready for when it will reveal it’s true function, which is mainly to pacify and recuperate struggles, even if from time to time, under very particular circumstances, it slightly cracks under the pressure. It’s not over yet. The Mothers are still in court, the site of the old Royal Vic Hospital is still threatened to become a green washing pavilion for McGill and the State, in short we still have a lot of work to do.

I’d like to thank all the people who gave even just an hour of their time to this fight in the last few weeks, it would never have happened without all the support we received. I am especially grateful for the way we were able, as comrades, to take care of each other by redistributing our resources, food and building strong relationships. I feel light, optimistic, and absolutely ready for what’s next.

A fellow anarchist

Solidarity Rail Sabotage in Eastern Ontario

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Nov 132022
 

Anonymous submission to North Shore Counter-Info

In the early hours of Nov 5, groups of anarchists acted in solidarity with Sleydo’s call for action to support the ongoing Wet’suwet’en battle to protect the yintah and kill the drill. Rail lines were sabotaged at several points in a disruption of business-as-usual along main arteries of the freight system. They will continue to be sabotaged at random far into the future, at every corner of rail line across the turtle’s back.

Others are encouraged to take this route however, wherever, and whenever they can – grab yourself some bolt cutters or copper wire. Grab a friend or go alone. Enjoy the birds, the wind, the silence.

The night sky yawns and the stars and moon stare down at us, working in the night. They cast their gaze upon us near and far, as they do also on the shimmering waters of the Wedzin Kwa. The drilling begins, and while we weep for the water, the salmon, and our beloved dead, our rage begins to burn, a lit fuse.

CGL, RBC, Kkkanada – you are not safe and you have ignited something that will never die.

Call for Texts : Towards the Creation of an Anarchist Organisation

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Nov 052022
 

Anonymous submission to MTL Counter-info

On October 1st, an assembly of the Montreal revolutionary milieu took place. This meeting followed discussions that were first initiated at the strategic gatherings. Many people had pointed out the limits of our current forms of organisation. Many people highlighted the limits of our current forms of organisation. Since the gatherings did not enable the question to be explored in sufficient depth, a committee was asked to organise a new moment for discussion.

This new meeting was able to agree on several matters. First of all, it is necessary to create an open, public and visible anarchist organisation working for the abolition of the state, the destruction of oppressive systems, namely capitalism, imperialism, racism, colonialism, cisheteropatriarchy and ableism as well as the maintenance of ecosystems. The functions of this organisation would include recruiting and training new activists, producing strategies and theoretical analyses, providing popular education, having a cultural presence in the public sphere, supporting other organisations and amplifying existing struggles, having physical and/or virtual spaces, and establishing a network.

Although these points of agreement clarify some political issues, the assembly did not have time to discuss which structure would be best suited to fulfil these objectives. A second meeting will therefore be dedicated to discussions on structural issues. Furthermore, these objectives are only broad outlines and would benefit from being better defined. In an effort to ensure that our debates are fruitful, we therefore call on all comrades interested by this project to send us in writing the results of their reflections and debates, including questions or proposals to be addressed at the assembly.

As an example, the texts may discuss the following topics

  • the question of membership (who can join, what does membership involve, are there different types of membership);
  • decision-making (what are the decision-making bodies, how are decisions made, on what issues do we want to make decisions, what is the constraining force of decisions)
  • how the political positions of the organisation (anarchism, anti-racism, anti-capacism and others) should be manifested both on the external and on the internal level
  • the code of conduct (should we have one, how can we improve caring and respect in discussion and decision making).

The website will also host suggested texts produced by other groups or organisations on the subject. The next assembly will be held before the holidays. Please contact us for more information. Send your texts and suggestions to orga-revolutionnaire@riseup.net

Moreover, reflections from the first assembly, as well as from strategic gatherings and from different activist circles, have underlined the need and desire for organisational spaces and political discussions in chosen gender mixity, without cis men. The follow-up committee therefore calls for a revolutionary feminist assembly, with no cis men, in early 2023. This meeting could include practical organising issues, reflections on cis-heteropatriarchy, processes of restorative justice and accountability, but also more broadly on the problems of capitalism and colonialism, and the exclusion, racism and ableism that benefit these systems. Comrades interested in joining the organisation of such a meeting should contact us at orga-revolutionnaire@riseup.net. Texts, questions and proposals on forms of organisation that specifically address gender and inclusion issues are also welcome.

Considering that this assembly will take place after the anarchist organisation’s assembly in December, we tentatively propose two things: 1) discussion groups without cis men will be held in the morning of the second assembly and 2) at the assembly, issues and modes of organisation linked to gender and inclusion dynamics that raise concerns or require further reflection will be deferred until the meetings in chosen gender mixity feel it is appropriate.

In summary:

– There will be a second assembly about establishing a revolutionary anarchist organisation in December 2022 and it will focus on the issue of structure.

– An assembly without cis men will be held in early 2023. Please contact us to be part of the organising group for this event.

– The call for papers and proposals is aimed specifically towards questions related to structure, including issues of gender and inclusion.

– For any questions, information, interest in getting involved, clarification, there is one address: orga-revolutionnaire@riseup.net

New Communication Infrastructure For Anarchists

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Nov 042022
 

From From Embers

Interview with the author of the PET Guide, a zine discussing secure digital communication tools from an anarchist perspective. We discuss Signal and its critics, and some new tools being released that incorporate peer-to-peer communication, end-to-end encryption and the Tor network.

Further reading:

How the U.S. Military buys location data from ordinary apps

The challenge of cracking Iran’s internet blockade

Catholic bishop / Grindr / App data scandal

Signal

Interview with new Signal president Meredith Whittaker

Signal Warning? Why Moxie’s Departure Is Not The End Of Signal

Signal Fails

PET apps

Briar Project

Cwtch

From Embers: Quebec Nationalism and Settler Futurity – Refusing Innocence

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Oct 312022
 

From From Embers

A conversation with two anarchists following a workshop they gave at the Montreal Anarchist Bookfair entitled 10 years since the strike: the place of nationalism within militant struggle. We discuss the history of Quebec nationalism and its influence in anarchist and radical milieus, responsibilities of settlers in anti-colonial struggle and in relating to land, possibilities and uncertain futures opened up by anarchism as a guiding practice, and more.

Creeker Volume 3

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Oct 312022
 

Anonymous submission to MTL Counter-info

As the rain finally returns and the temperatures drop, we would like to celebrate the change in season by announcing that Creeker Volume 3 has been released.

In the summer of 2021 on so-called Vancouver Island, thousands of people moved through a de-facto autonomous zone spanning multiple watersheds. An entire constellation of struggle burned bright, welcoming into its fold a new generation of land defenders. Creeker is a grassroots, anti-authoritarian zine series that aims to bring depth, variety, critique and continuity to the ongoing process of reflecting on the Ada’itsx/Fairy Creek blockade. It’s intended for creekers themselves, land defenders elsewhere, and the land defenders yet to come.

The variety of submissions over the series has meant that, like the blockades themselves, each volume is many things. However, slight themes seem to have emerged: if Volume 1 was more celebratory and Volume 2 was more critical, Volume 3 is perhaps more reflective.

The newest installment in the series includes history, poetry, collages, analysis, and reflection, plus a whole section dedicated to the inspiring forest defense currently happening in Atlanta.

A newly remastered version of a zine coming out of the Elaho blockade of 2001 has also been made available.

Creeker Vol 4 is slowly being put together and submissions are encouraged. Stories and art are especially welcome, but everything received will be considered. Send submissions to creekerzine@protonmail.com by November 31.

Go to creekerzine.wordpress.com to view or print all zines in the series.

Printed copies are available at Camas Books in Victoria and Spartacus Books in Vancouver.

Happy Culvert Season!

Creeker Vol 3
https://creekerzine.wordpress.com/2022/10/21/creeker-volume-3/
The remastered Elaho zine
https://creekerzine.wordpress.com/2022/10/21/the-elaho-zine/

Tenants Resist Renoviction by Cromwell, Anarchist Solidarity is Key

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Oct 232022
 

Anonymous submission to MTL Counter-info

The views expressed within this text are not those of the Montreal Autonomous Tenants’ Union (SLAM). The following is an account and analysis by one union member. SLAM is built on anarcho-syndicalist principles but is not an explicitly anarchist organization and contains many (if not mostly) non-anarchist militants. Working together has not been a question of compromising our principles, but of growing our strength based on tactical agreement.

A short documentary, based on a community tour of 3605 st-urbain discussed further into this text, explores the conditions of Cromwell tenants.

The residents of 3605 St. Urbain are fighting back against a renoviction by Cromwell Management. Their corporate owner, one of Quebec’s richest men, is George Gantcheff. Gantcheff and Cromwell’s relentless, unpredictable, and initially unlawful renovation project has reached a boiling point. Since January, more than 100 tenants have been renovicted from a 130 unit highrise. This construction has required turning off the building’s heating. Tenants are bracing for a freezing cold winter. Their only heat will come from space heaters provided by Cromwell. 

All but 14 tenants in the 130 unit building have left. Many tenants accepted the landlord’s offer to end their lease early and abandon their homes rather than live out intrusive renovations. Many elderly tenants had been living in the building for years. Cromwell has a history of performing renovictions and hiking rent in both Montreal and Toronto units. 

Renovictions provide an excuse for a landlord to drastically increase rent. This contributes significantly to gentrification and the acceleration of rent increases. The consequence is the enrichment of landlords at the expense of the continued impoverishment of working class people. 

3605’s landlord initially justified construction work as needed to fix the building’s heating system. Cromwell then took the opportunity to carry out massive renovations. Construction was further delayed and expanded. Tenants’ have since faced a lack of hot water, rusty water, dust and dirt everywhere, unbearable constant noise, and power outages. Cromwell turned the building into an unbearable construction zone– and used these conditions to pressure tenants to leave their units. One by one tenants moved out. Once a unit was cleared, the apartment would be gutted, allowing for construction to continually expand.

The majority of remaining tenants at 3605 have formed a tenants council that has been meeting regularly over the past two months. A member of the Montreal Autonomous Tenants’ Union, who has been active in organizing tenant councils in nearby buildings, assists at their meetings and coordinates between their council and the broader union. Hundreds of flyers and posters have since been distributed through the Plateau neighborhood, alerting the tenants’ neighbours to the situation and calling for solidarity.

The current tenants of 3605 refuse to be displaced for the sake of corporate profit.

​​​​​​​Revolutionary Tenant Unionism: Organizing on the Ground

The Montreal Autonomous Tenants’ Union, which is organizing with the building’s tenants is a union based on internal non-hierarchy, solidarity, the use of direct action, and tenant leadership. The broader goal is of a mass movement that can dramatically remove the power relations between people, not just for tenants, but everyone. SLAM (its French acronym) is devoted to the construction of tenant councils in tenants’ buildings and blocks. Members from SLAM attend these autonomous council meetings. Their role is to encourage and educate on direct action, provide advice when asked, and to help coordinate actions or support with the broader union apparatus without dominating discussion.

At the moment of writing, SLAM, which is less than a year old, has helped organize tenant councils in close to a dozen buildings across Montreal. Active tenants include over 40 unionists or participants in councils. There is a broader support network of some 100-150 that have signed petitions or come to events. 

The two-and-a-half months of organizing in 3605 St-Urbain (the building under renoviction), has been a rewarding challenge for organizers. The remaining tenants are all older than 40. They come from a plethora of backgrounds. The meetings are unconventional. Group discussion is only sustainable for as much as 30 seconds before interruptions lead to impromptu side conversations. Attention and “the floor” are very difficult to hold. Added to this is the fact that, because of this working class crew’s disjunctered set of schedules, meetings are held late at night. They can sometimes drag past 11pm.   

When the union first heard from a tenant in 3605, they were contacted by a kind and respected leader figure in the building. This person already organized a first meeting between tenants. With only small encouragement from the union these council meetings continued. 

When SLAM’s organizer first entered the group, tenants were primarily axed on using housing Tribunals to resolve their issues with Cromwell. This was too bad. Without getting too much into the weeds, it’s fair to say that a mass and combative movement capable of replacing corporate control with tenant control will not come from starting court cases. Engaging with tribunals is individualization of social problems at its finest. 

In the early meetings of 3605’s council, SLAM’s organizer brought several samples of collective letters other tenant councils had written to their landlord, discussed the benefits of collective action, and even played videos of direct action and showed news clippings. These videos included SLAM’s June march on Cogir’s head offices. The march won tenants thousands of dollars in reparations, rent savings, and construction work without tenants opening a single case at the Tribunal. Through continuous discussion, some proposals for above-ground collective action were finally proposed and accepted by 3605’s tenants. These resolutions were catered to tenants’ specific situation and comfort zones. 

Once some actions were decided, SLAM helped call a general assembly of its tenant organizers and supporters. Roughly 16 tenants crammed into the union’s usual meeting space, including several older working class tenants. These older tenants had involved themselves in the union out of need, became leaders in their councils, and were now ready for more. At this meeting, two banner paintings were planned, media liaisoning, a social media strategy, and a guided tour of 3605. 

The banners turned out beautifully and several were strung up Saturday in the lobby and on the exterior of 3605. The tour of the rundown building was attended by more than 30 neighbours, union members, and supporters. Some neighbours had been contacted during the door knocking of apartments on the same street showed up. They were absolutely enraged and engaged. They had their own analysis and experiences and wanted to support in any way they could. One woman requested to join SLAM. 

Tenants have been encouraged by these initial actions (the company, on the other hand, had met the plan for a tour with a firm and aggressive response, posting threatening semi-legal notices and showing up at tenants doors in response). As the campaign moves forward past these first steps, the union will countinue to push for further direct action and escalation. Tenants continue to be increasingly open to these tactics as they feel the power of solidarity from tenants outside their building.

Conclusion

The purpose of this short anecdote about organizing the beginnings of this campaign against Cromwell is to emphasize the importance of anarchists creating and inserting within groups where class antagonism is the clearest. We stand to help create councils, meeting places that build everyone’s collective power and autonomy. We aim also to push the struggle deeper and strengthen it. Maybe our ideology of non-hierarchy and combative revolutionary spirit does not make sense to everyone, but our tactics when proposed to people’s specific situations always should. This syndicalist strategy allows us to build respect and popularity for our methods among non-anarchists and become local “robin hoods” (in the words of one tenant from 3605).

The benefit of this form of syndicalism countinues to prove itself for SLAM. The union is not just the usual crowd of monolithic, ideologically inclined, younger, consciously committed organizers (although this demographic is important, and in majority at biweekly meetings). It has the capacity to organize in the diverse circles that make up the real core of our oppressed classes. 

Continued support and activation of anarchist comrades across Montreal remains as important as ever. Solidarity is essential! 

Our goal is not just the amelioration of conditions. As Lorenzo Kom-Boa Ervin writes in Anarchism and the Black Revolution, “we should throw out the rich bums and just take over! Of course we will have to fight the cops and security guards for the crooked landlords, but we can do that too! We can… build an independent tenants’ movement that will self-manage all the facilities, not for the government… but for themselves!”

Looking to support? Get in touch with the union:

slam.matu@protonmail.com or stay up to date on our instagram @slam.matu.

​​​​​​​Check out the union’s Kolektiva account for our documentary and future videos from SLAM.

Between Storms: Anarchist Reflections of Solidarity with Wet’suwet’en Resistance

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Oct 232022
 

Anonymous submission to MTL Counter-info

We have assembled this publication in solidarity with the ongoing Wet’suwet’en resistance to industrial expansion. This struggle for Indigenous self determination and land defence has become a landmark moment of rupture across the colonial nation of Canada and beyond. We felt the need to compile this zine in an effort to take a step back and witness the breadth and fierceness of these last few years – with a particular focus on the year that has just passed since the start of ‘Coyote Camp’ and the specific battle against the attempt to drill under Wedzin Kwa. Not to produce some stale collection for the history shelves, but to inspire and learn from these events as they continue to unfold. As we go to print, CGL has just begun the drilling under the river that many have fought so hard to prevent. It’s a sad day and this part of their destruction will have devastating effects. But this doesn’t mean that this fight has been in vain, the project is not complete and opportunities for intervention abound.

Inside you will find an overview of Wet’suwet’en resistance from the emergence of Unistot’en Camp until the most recent endeavors on the Gidumt’en yintah, as well as the closely related Lihkts’amisyu actions and Gitxsan rail blockades nearby. We’ve included a centerfold map outlining the widespread scope of coast to coast solidarity actions from fall 2021 to summer 2022, along with communiques found online that offer reflections and analysis from people behind some of these actions. The topic of anti­repression and overturning the state’s attempts to isolate and criminalize us is also explored. A Well Oiled Trap introduces the history of the British common law, tracing it as foundational to the Canadian state, its justice system and colonial projects, outlining their incompatibility with our dreams. Lastly, we address another anti­pipeline fight brewing up in Gitxsan territory (Wet’suwet’ens neighbors and ancient allies); An analysis of the proposed related projects is presented in the article Face to Face with the Enemy: An Introduction to WCCGT line, PRGT line and Ksi Lisims LNG Terminal.

This publication is intended to be printed on 11×17 size paper, if printed using normal paper size its likely to become difficult to read.

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Print (11 x 17)