Mtlcounter-Info

In late August, a crew of women of Tsimshian, Haida, Nisga, and Gitxsan bloodlines initiated the defense of Lax U’u’la (Lelu Island) and the Flora Bank1 from LNG industry destruction. The Gitwilgyoots Tribe Sm’ogyet Yahaan (hereditary chief) and Ligitgyet Gwis Hawaal (hereditary house leader), and their families began a defense camp on Lax U’u’la, which is Gitwilgyoots traditional hunting and fishing territory. They were also joined by various significant hereditary people from other Tsimshian tribes, and a motley crew of native and non-native outside supporters. ...

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Illustration from MAZATL

Illustration from MAZATL

On New Years Eve, over 100 people gathered for a noise demonstration at the prisons outside of Montreal in Laval; the Immigration Detention Center, the Federal Training Center minimum facility, and Leclerc prison. Banners read : Happy New Year, Free All Prisoners and Our passion for freedom is stronger than prison. At the Immigration Detention Center, we were not able to make visual contact with people inside but know from previous years that fireworks and chants can be heard across the walls. Police following the demonstration on foot had their video camera obscured by banners, and demonstrators walked in their path to disrupt their line. At Leclerc and the Federal Training Center, prisoners could be seen flashing their lights on and off, waving and shouting through the windows. An abundance of fireworks were shot off at each prison, and statements were read over a sound-system against prisons and their relation to systems of colonialism, white supremacy and capitalism. Words of support and solidarity with prisoners were communicated in French, Spanish, and English. ...

On the evening of December 31, we went to the federal prison for women in Joliette in the region of Lanaudière (the only prison for women with sentences that exceed two years in so-called Québec). We held two banners: L’(A)MOUR POUR LA LIBERTÉ NOUS FAIT ENNEMI.ES DE L’AUTORITÉ ( The p(A)ssion for freedom makes us enemies of authority) and LA LIBERTÉ EST NOTRE ARME ABSOLUE ( freedom is our absolute weapon). We shot some fireworks, and were able to communicate with the incarcerated women and shout our solidarity. Several of them could leave their units (little houses in the prison yard), or went to the windows. This demo was a first of its kind at this prison. ...

On the night of December 31, a noise-demo took place in front of the prison of Rimouski. Around ten people gathered with pots and fireworks for the occasion. The security guard blocked us from access as soon as we began, and three cop cars rapidly arrived, asking us to leave the prison property. We continued the action regardless, reading the manifesto of prisoners against austerity and focusing on the situation in Rimouski. ...

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After a years-long, hard-fought campaign against Line 9, which employed a diversity of tactics, from lobbying to legal battles to direct action, Line 9 transported crude to a refinery in Montreal on December 3, 2015. On December 7, we shut it down. Literally. Most media reported that Enbridge shut down Line 9 as a “precautionary measure”, but we know better. We closed the valve manually. This is historic: to our knowledge, this is the first time that activists have manually shut down a pipeline. Who would have thought that it be so simple? ...