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

Decolonize Turtle Island!

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Nov 272017
 

Anonymous submission to MTL Counter-info

OLYMPIA-UNIST’OT’EN-GASPESIE-SECWEPEMCUL’ECW
DECOLONIZE TURTLE ISLAND

For the last 10 days, an encampment has been blocking the train tracks that lead out of the Port of Olympia, preventing fracking proppants from being sent to North Dakota and Wyoming. In addition to standing in the way of capitalism and environmental destruction, the blockade has created an opening in which we can interact in new, liberated ways. We have made many new friends, deepened existing relationships, and experienced the joy in sharing our lives without regard for profit.

We wish to send greetings and express solidarity with Indigenous resistance to capitalist expansion across Turtle Island. From the lands of the Nisqually and Squaxin tribes, to the shores of the Wedzin Kwah on Unist’ot’en Territory, to the walls of the Tiny House Warriors of Secwepemc Territory, to the Mi’kmaq struggle on the Gaspesie Peninsula, we wish to acknowledge and honor those whose land we currently fight on and those who fight against the industrial mega-machine alongside us, near and far. Our fight against fracking proppants is also a fight against LNG pipelines, Keystone Oil, and many more; but more broadly the struggle against extractivist industry is a struggle against colonization.

A Freedom of Information Act request revealed that last year’s week-long rail blockade cost oil giant Halliburton two fracking operations, and in turn Halliburton severed ties with the Port of Olympia. While we do not wish to see the Port of Olympia transition to some sort of greenwashed “progressive” capitalism – merely polishing that giant turd of colonization – we celebrate the sheer level of chaos and impact on Halliburton. Sometimes it feels as though no attack on capitalism or the state will ever be enough to cause any real damage, but it’s moments like these that remind us that the death machine is more vulnerable than we might think.

Warm greetings to everyone searching for the cracks in leviathan’s armor-
For total freedom,
-some guests on the southern tip of the Salish Sea

Colonial and Racist John A. Macdonald Monument defaced

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Nov 122017
 

From the Anti-Racist Resistance Collective of Montreal (CRAM)

(The Anti-Racist Resistance Collective of Montreal (CRAM) anonymously received a link to the following video earlier this morning: https://vimeo.com/242431388 … The video includes a link to the callout below. We are sharing this info with the public, but we are not responsible for this action.)

MONTREAL, November 12, 2017 — On the eve of an important demonstration against hate and racism in Montreal, a group of anonymous local anti-colonial, anti-racist, anti-capitalist activists have successfully defaced the historical monument to Canada’s first Prime Minister, John A. Macdonald, located in downtown at Place du Canada.

According to Art Public Montreal: “Among the monuments erected to the memory of Macdonald, the one in Montréal is the most imposing and elaborate.” The monument, built in 1895, is also now covered in red paint.

– A video of the action is available here (posted anonymously online on vimeo):

– Photos of the defaced monument are available here:
http://i64.tinypic.com/63ubfa.jpg
http://i68.tinypic.com/2jdffac.jpg

– A photo of the original monument is available here:
https://tinyurl.com/yctxbyuk

The individuals responsible for this action are not affiliated with today’s anti-racist demonstration (www.manif12novembre.com) but have decided to target the John A. Macdonald statue as a clear symbol of colonialism, racism and white supremacy.

The action today is inspired in part by movements in the USA to target public symbols of white supremacy for removal, such as Confederate statues. It’s also motivated by decolonial protests, like the “Rhodes Must Fall” movement in South Africa. As well, we are directly inspired by protests by anti-colonial activists – both Indigenous and non-Indigenous – against John. A. Macdonald, particularly in Kingston, Ontario, Macdonald’s hometown. We also note efforts elsewhere in the Canadian state to rename the schools named after Macdonald, including a resolution by the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario who denounced Macdonald as the ‘architect of genocide against Indigenous people.’ The defacing of the Macdonald Monument is also appropriate in the context of the whitewashing of Canadian history this year during the “Canada 150” celebrations, and various calls to action, including the ‘375+150 = Bullshit’ graffiti action this summer.

With all that inspiring and amazing anti-colonial and anti-racist activity targeting statues and other symbols, we decided to make a little contribution from Montreal.

John A. Macdonald was a white supremacist. He directly contributed to the genocide of Indigenous peoples with the creation of the brutal residential schools system, as well as other measures meant to destroy native cultures and traditions. He was racist and hostile towards non-white minority groups in Canada, openly promoting the preservation of a so-called “Aryan” Canada. He passed laws to exclude people of Chinese origin. He was responsible for the hanging of Métis martyr Louis Riel. Macdonald’s statue belongs in a museum, not as a monument taking up public space in Montreal.

Videos, photos and text of this action have been shared anonymously with some Montreal-area anti-racists, to distribute more widely, and to inspire more on-the-street anti-colonial actions locally.

We also express our heartfelt support and solidarity with the protesters taking today’s streets in Montreal in opposition to hate and racism, as well as the upcoming anti-fascist mobilization to confront the racist, Islamophobic and anti-immigrant La Meute and Storm Alliance in Quebec City on September 25.

Ni patrie, ni état, ni Québec, ni Canada!
— Some local anti-colonial anti-racists.

Anti-racist, anti-police

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Nov 112017
 

Anonymous submission to MTL Counter-info

On November 7th, early in the morning, we broke the store window of PSP Corp, a manufacturer and distributor of police and security equipment that supplies police forces in the Montreal area. We then sprayed blue paint all over their merchandise with the help of a fire extinguisher. This action was at once anti-racist, against the police, and against the private security companies that are complicit in police infrastructure in our neighborhoods. The police and their supporters are on the front lines of the violent maintenance of the white supremacist social order and the colonial authority of the state and of capitalism. Following the rise of the far right in Quebec, the police has defended racists and allowed them to spread their hate. The far right supports and encourages the maintenance and expansion of the police state and the surveillance measures that systematically target racialized and working-class people. Smashing PSP Corp.’s window and destroying their merchandise is a way of fighting back against surveillance and police infrastructure in our neighborhoods.

This action was carried out in the lead-up to the large demonstration against racism and hate of November 12th. Racism exists in Quebec. Security and surveillance technologies and the industries that grow around them belong to a state and a society built on exploitation, white supremacy, and patriarchy, and all of it on stolen land.

Large Demonstration Against Hate and Racism

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Nov 092017
 

From Manif 12 novembre

November 12, 2PM – Place Emilie Gamelin, Montreal

A Toxic Climate!

For several years we’ve seen the rise of racist hate speech in Quebec. The Parti Québecois’ “Charter of Values” in 2013, the election of Donald Trump in the USA, and the rise of populist, xenophobic political parties in Europe have galvanized the development of the far-right here. These forces have made a splash with their racist polemics. Far from cooling down this process, the Quebec City mosque massacre seems to have propelled this hateful discourse, normalizing it in the public imagination. These small racist and xenophobic groups have since organized multiple demonstrations, mobilized against a Muslim cemetery in Saint-Apollinaire, spread xenophobic messages against Haitian asylum seekers, and generally succeeded in normalizing public fear and intolerance, while at the same time legitimizing their hate-based organizations. Politicians and sensationalistic columnists are not innocent in perpetuating this toxic atmosphere. These opportunistic pyromaniacs are fanning the flames of intolerance, while at the same time ignoring the growing violence of the far-right in Quebec.

Enough! Take Action!

Over the last few months, many groups have started to mobilize in response to this rapidly worsening political climate. Counter-demonstrations have been organized on numerous occasions to confront far-right gatherings. Counter-information produced and disseminated in order to unmask the hatred and latent racism of these organizations. Unfortunately, the far-right still has wind in its sails.

Despite this, we know that we are among the thousands of Quebecers who are worried and outraged by this situation. On November 12th, let’s take the streets in large numbers to express our anger at racism, hatred, and the far-right. Whose streets? Our streets!

  • Oppose racism, Islamophobia, colonialism, sexism, transphobia, and all forms of hate encouraged by the far-right.
  • Support a society without borders, based on solidarity and inclusiveness.
  • Denounce capitalism and austerity, which are the causes themselves – not immigrants or people of colour – at the root of poverty and growing social insecurity.
  • Let’s Call to massively Take to the Streets on November 12th in Montréal

GROUPES SIGNATAIRES (en date du 8 novembre)

À deux mains
Action terroriste socialement acceptable (ATSA)
Alternative Socialiste
Alternatives
Antre-Jeunes inc.
Apatrides anonymes
Association de développement des arts martiaux adaptés (ADAMA)
Association départementale des étudiants en philosophie de l’université de Montréal (ADÉPUM)
Association des étudiantes et des étudiants aux cycles supérieurs de l’éducation (ACSE) de l’Université de Montréal
Association des étudiantes et étudiants de la Faculté des sciences de l’éducation de l’UQAM (ADEESE-UQAM)
Association des juristes progressistes (AJP)
Association des Musulmans et des Arabes pour la laïcité au Québec (AMAL-Québec)
Association du Baccalauréat en Études Internationales et Langues de Laval (ABEILL)
Association étudiante de Travail social de l’UQAM (AETS-UQAM)
Association étudiante des cycles supérieurs de science politique de l’UQAM (AECSSP)
Association Étudiante du Cégep de Sainte-Foy (Québec)
Association étudiante du secteur des sciences de l’UQAM (AESS-UQAM)
Association étudiantes du Cégep Saint-Laurent (AECSL)
Association facultaire étudiante de Science politique et droit (AFESPED)
Association facultaire étudiantes des sciences humaines de l’UQAM (AFESH-UQAM)
Association générale des étudiantes et étudiants du cégep de Lionel-Groulx (AGEECLG)
Association générale des étudiants et étudiantes prégradué(e)s en philosophie de l’université Laval (AGEEPP)
Association générale étudiante du cégep de Bois-de-Boulogne (AGEBdeB)
Association générale étudiante du cégep de Drummondville (AGECD)
Association Les Chemins du Soleil (Centre communautaire de loisir, Centre-Sud)
Association of McGill University Support Employees (AMUSE)
Association pour la défense des droits sociaux – Outaouais (ADDS)
Association pour la voix étudiante au Québec/Association for the Voice of Education in Quebec (AVEQ)
Association pour une solidarité syndicale étudiante (ASSÉ)
Association québécoise des organismes de coopération internationale (AQOCI)
Association Québécoise pour la promotion de la santé des personnes utilisatrices de drogues (AQPSUD)
Black Lives Matter – Montreal
Bouffe contre le fascisme / Food Against Fascism (Montréal)
Café Coop Touski
Centre d’appui aux Philippines – Centre for Philippine Concerns (CAP-CPC)
Centre d’éducation et d’action des femmes (CÉAF)
Centre de Santé Meraki
Centre des femmes d’ici et d’ailleurs (CFIA)
Centre des travailleurs et travailleuses immigrants (CTI)
Centre International de Documentation et d’Information Haïtienne, Caribéenne et Afro-canadienne (CIDIHCA)
Centre sur l’asie du sud (CERAS)
Cercle des Premières Nations de l’UQAM
Chinois Progressistes du Québec/Progressive Chinese of Québec (PCQ)
Cinema Politica Corcordia
Cinéma sous les étoiles
CKUT 90.3 FM
Climate Justice Montreal
Coalition BDS-Québec
Coalition Main rouge
Collectif des femmes sans statut de Montréal
Collectif Emma Goldman – Saguenay
Collectif Étudiant de Lutte pour des Lieux Urbains Libérés (CELLUL)
Collectif Hamamélis (Sherbrooke)
Collectif opposé à la brutalité policière (COBP)
Comité B.A.I.L.S. de Hochelaga-Maisonneuve
Comité d’action des personnes sans statut (CAPSS)
Comité d’action féministe contre les discriminations (CAFÉD) de l’Association étudiante des cycles supérieurs de science politique de l’Université de Montréal (AECSSPUM)
Comité d’Écologie et d’Actions Sociales (CÉAS) du Cégep de Victoriaville
Comité Libertad – Cégep du Vieux-Montréal
Comité logement du Plateau Mont-Royal
Comité logement Rosemont
Comité populaire Saint-Jean-Baptiste
Comité pour les droits humains en Amérique latine (CDHAL)
Comité Québec con Ayotzinapa
Comité social centre-sud
Concordia Student Union (CSU)
Concordia Students in Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights (SSPHR-Concordia)
Conseil central du Montréal métropoliticain de la CSN (CCMM-CSN)
Convergence des luttes anti-capitalistes (CLAC)
DIRA
Divest McGill
Étudiant-e-s Socialistes Université Laval
Étudiant-es socialistes de l’UQAM
Fédération des femmes du Québec (FFQ)
Fédération du Québec pour le planning des naissances (FQPN)
Femmes et féminismes en dialogue
Festival contre le racisme de Québec
Fine Arts Student Alliance (FASA)
Football Antiraciste – Montréal
Front Commun Montréal
Front d’action populaire en réaménagement urbain (FRAPRU)
Front d’action socialiste
Funambules Médias
GAPPA
GARAM MASALA (Groupe d’Action Révolutionnaire sud-Asiatique de Montréal / Montreal Alliance of South Asian Leftists and Allies)
Gerald and Maas
International Women’s Alliance
IWW Québec
Jeune garde
Justice pour les Victimes de Bavures Policières / Justice for Victims of Police Killings Coalition
l’Association Étudiante d’Anthropologie de l’Université de Montréal (AEAUM)
La flèche rouge
La Fondation Canado-Palestinienne du Québec
La librairie l’Euguélionne
La ligue internationale de lutte des peuples – International League of Peoples’ Struggle (LILP-ILPS)
La Marie debout!
La Riposte socialiste / Fightback
Le Collectif de résistance antiraciste de Montréal (CRAM)
le collectif les mécaniciennes
Le Regroupement québécois des centres d’aide et de lutte contre les agressions à caractère sexuel (RQCALACS)
Librairie L’Insoumise
Mandragore, bibliothèque queer
McGill Black Students’ Network
McGill Students in Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights (SSPHR-Mcgill)
McGill’s Social Worker’s Student Association (SWSA)
Montréal Antifasciste
Montreal Sisterhood
Montréal-Nord Républik
Mouvement Action-Chômage de Montréal
Mouvement Contre le Discours de Haine – Québec
Mouvement d’éducation populaire autonome de Lanaudière (MÉPAL)
Mouvement d’éducation populaire et d’action communautaire du Québec (MÉPACQ)
Mouvement Étudiant Révolutionnaire / Revolutionary Student Movement (MER-RSM)
Mouvement québécois pour la paix
Ni Québec, ni Canada : projet anticolonial
Outrage au tribunal: Clinique juridique par et pour les militantes et militants
P!NK BLOC Montréal
Palestiniens et juifs unis (PAJU)
PINAY (Filipino Women’s Organization in Quebec)
POPIR-Comité Logement
Projet accompagnement Québec-Guatemala
Projet Accompagnement Solidarité Colombie (PASC)
Psychoéducation Sans Frontières
Qouleur
QPIRG Concordia / GRIP Concordia
Québec inclusif
Regroupement d’éducation populaire en action communautaire des régions de Québec et Chaudière-Appalaches (RÉPAC 03-12)
Regroupement des comités logement et associations de locataires du Québec (RCLALQ)
Regroupement des étudiantes et étudiants en Sociologie de l’Université Laval (RESUL)
Regroupement des Organismes Communautaires des Laurentides (ROCL)
Rencontre interculturelle des familles de l’Estrie (RIFE)
Réseau d’action des femmes en santé et services sociaux (RAFSSS)
Réseau des lesbiennes du Québec; femmes de la diversité sexuelle
Réseau québécois des groupes écologistes (RQGE)
Secours Rouge Canada
Semaine d’actions contre le racisme (SACR)
Société Générale des Étudiantes et Étudiants du Collège de Maisonneuve (SOGEECOM)
Solidarité pour les droits humains des Palestiniennes et Palestiniens – Université de Montréal (SDHPP-UdeM)
Solidarité pour les droits humains des Palestiniennes et Palestiniens – UQAM (SDHPP-UQAM)
Solidarité sans frontières – Sherbrooke
Solidarité sans frontières / Solidarity Across Borders
SoPhiA Concordia – Students of Philosophy Association
South Asian Women’s Community Centre / Centre communautaire des femmes sud-asiatiques
Stella, l’amie de Maimie
Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU)
Syndicat des étudiant.e.s salarié.e.s de l’Université de Montréal (SESUM)
Syndicat des étudiants et étudiantes employé.e.s de l’UQAM (SÉTUE-UQAM)
Syndicat du soutien à l’enseignement à McGill (AGSEM)
Syndicat étudiant du cégep de Marie-Victorin (SECMV)
Syndicat industriel des travailleurs et travailleuses de Montréal (SITT-IWW Montreal)
Table de concertation des organismes au service des personnes réfugiées et immigrantes (TCRI)
Table des regroupements provinciaux d’organismes communautaires et bénévoles (TRPOCB)
Table régionale des centres de femmes Montréal métropolitain-Laval
Table régionale des organismes volontaires d’éducation populaire de Montréal (TROVEP)
Tadamon! Montréal
The Leap
The March 8 Committee of Women of Diverse Origins / Le Comité 8 mars des femmes de diverses origines
The New School at Dawson College
The School of Community and Public Affairs Students’ Association (SCPASA)
Unceeded voices – Decolonizing street art
Union des Africains du Québec et Amis Solidaires de l’Afrique (UAQASA)
Union for gender empowerment (UGE)
Voix juives indépendantes VJI / IJV

You Have to Start Somewhere

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Nov 092017
 

From Liaisons

Read also : Expériences de l’émeute du 20 août

In recent days, weeks, and months, new posters and other tags have made their appearance in the territory of Quebec City, visible signs of people who have made the bet of linking themselves to the world by leaving their mark on the walls of the city.

Whether we know their identity makes no difference to us. Liaisons [Connections] is the mask by which they become anonymous to power and open to the world; the reflexive and informative tip of the iceberg. What matters to us are connections created in the fault lines of power and actions to expand them.

This is why we’re making a call

We make a simple call: let’s multiply our presence everywhere in the territory. Everywhere, let’s multiply the fault lines. This way, there is no limit to our praxeological imagination. And why not begin with the walls? We’re starting a mural poetry contest in so-called Quebec City! Pictures received by email will be published directly on the website of Liaisons (liaisons.resist.ca).

Let’s use this occasion to re-learn the habit and experience of acting together in the moonlight. Let’s light up the night with a thousand fires!

Watch out for the cops! One should act quickly, watch one’s surroundings, monitor all the “citizens” who would like to play the heroes of private property (despite this happening rather rarely). We’re never too forward-looking or cautious. If you want a piece of advice or two, from our experience:

  • Taxis are the worst snitches, one should avoid them like the police.
  • If you take photos of your work yourself, use tools like exiftool, which allow you to erase data like the device’s location and model.
  • Sometimes, if we’re expected at night, the best time may be early in the morning or even, with the right tools (stencil and a bag to conceal it), and depending on the spot, in the middle of the day.

Let’s go!

Racist Robert Proulx Store’s Targeted For a Second Time

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Oct 242017
 

Anonymous submission to MTL Counter-info

Hey Robert Proulx,

We broke the windows of your storefront. We guess you don’t have to clean any more paint or posters off of them now. We’ve hated you and your involvement in “La Meute” for a while, and thanks for the communique from when your store was attacked on the 30th of September, we finally got your address.

On October 16th, we rolled up to your store at 6117 rue Belanger and broke your windows. We were happy to see that someone else had spray-painted “RACISTE” in red on the sidewalk directly in the front of your store. Apparently, lots of people hate you, Proulx.

We want to make sure your neighbors understood that this wasn’t random vandalism, so we hand-delivered 40 flyers (from the 30th September attack) explaining your racist and xenophobic bullshit, to the mailboxes of all the surrounding businesses on the street.

Solidarity with refugees and all those targeted by “La Meute”.

Solidarity with everyone who fight fascists – whether in the streets or at their home or jobs.

Nowhere in Montreal is safe for racist scum.

See you next time Proulx.

-The “Fuck Robert Proulx Committee”

You Go No Further, Canada

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Oct 172017
 


Anonymous submission to MTL Counter-info

October 11th, 1869: A hundred and forty-eight years ago to this date, Louis Riel led a group of Métis to confront land surveyors sent by the newly confederated Canadian state. The surveyors came to define new property lines as a first step in Canada’s control over the Red River territory. This group of Métis physically stopped their work while Riel informed them, “you go no further.” So began the Red River rebellion, an inspiring moment in the long, ongoing history of Indigenous initiatives to fight against and survive the spread of colonialism and its genocidal violence across the continent.

We are non-Indigenous anarchists who chose to commemorate this important day in the history of anti-colonial resistance by vandalizing the John A. MacDonald monument in Place du Canada, Montreal. We spray painted Ⓐ FUCK 150 DÉCOLONISONS

The year 2017 marks canada’s attempts to celebrate the past 150 years of its existence. These efforts include the state trying to position Indigenous peoples within this distorted narrative of nation-building founded upon stolen land, attempted genocide and assimilation. In the face of this ongoing colonial nightmare we see only one way forward: decolonization and the end of canada.

Long live the Indigenous peoples of Turtle Island!
Ni frontière, ni état, ni québec, ni canada!
None are free until we all are free!

Vandalism of the store of Robert Proulx, member of La Meute

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Oct 112017
 

Anonymous submission to MTL Counter-info

In the early morning of September 30, with the help of a fire extinguisher filled with paint, we repainted brown the exterior façade of JS RP Tech Informatique, owned by Robert Proulx, located at 6117 Bélanger. Robert Proulx is an active member of La Meute, involved with security.

Contrary to what they chant in the media, La Meute is an Islamophobic and racist group, using a media strategy to spread far-right, anti-immigrant, conservative ideologies, and which promotes white supremacy. Almost all public personalities of the right-wing in Quebec are members. Its idols being politicians like Marine le Pen and, Donald Trump. La Meute, with populist discourses that democratically demand the “freedom of expression”, revives the currents of the far-right in a frightening way. Several members are inspired by figures advocating for racist murder and the return of slavery, such as the KKK or Adolf Hitler.

Against the re-emergence of the far-right, there is no mercy. We will do anything to discourage them. We are extremely aware that these ideas have the capacity to wreak havoc, especially in the current context, while every day the media propagandizes against Islam, awakening the Western patriotism that justifies the war against the Islamic State and the military occupation of the Middle East. The spreading of racist ideas contributes to reinforcing the national identity and maintaining an exploited class of proud whites.

We chose to vandalize this store the morning of a right-wing anti-immigration demonstration at the border post of Lacolle, organized by Storm Alliance, another far-right group. Interestingly, Robert Proulx was present. It appears that, on Facebook, he accuses Jaggi Singh as responsible for the vandalism. Well, we don’t know Jaggi Singh. We self-organize, autonomously and informally. Everybody hates racists and Robert Proulx.

We won’t let a racist discourse take more space. We hope that the message is clear.

Welcome to all immigrants, refugees, and people without status. Fuck the borders. Fuck Quebec, fuck Canada, fuck white supremacy. Solidarity with indigenous people in struggle for their autonomy and dignity.

Here’s a poster to put on the walls.

Some anarchists

“Fascism is imperialist repression turned inward”: Decolonize Graffiti

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Oct 092017
 


Anonymous submission to MTL Counter-info

“…fascism is imperialist repression turned inward”
-Cope (2015) as quoted in Kesīqnaeh

Following Saturday’s “Open The Borders” demo at the Lacolle Border, the message “DECOLONIZE” appeared along a canal wall in an affluent southwest Montreal neighborhood. This piece provides an opportunity to explicitly outline some links between the ongoing struggle of decolonization across Turtle Island and anti-fascist action. In Fascism & Anti-Fascism: A Decolonial Perspective, Kesīqnaeh makes some insightful links to these struggles while questioning the significance of fascism to Indigenous peoples already combatting colonial violence. For the sake of brevity, a few direct quotations are provided below:

Kesīqnaeh states:

“Fascism is when the violence that the imperialist nations have visited upon the world over the course of the development of the modern, parasitic capitalist world-system comes back home to visit.”
[…]
“In the settler colonial context this violence is one that was perfected within the exceptional state of the expansion of the frontier, the clearing and civilizing of Indigenous People to make the land ripe for settlement, and the carceral continuum that has marked Black existence on this land from chattel slavery to the hyperghetto.”
[…]
“To quote the African People’s Socialist Party, ‘our liberation—and that’s what we must win—will only come about by an all-out struggle to overturn the colonial relationship we have with white power’”. [1. African People’s Socialist Party. 2015. “Colonialism Trumps Fascism in U.S. Elections.” The Burning Spear, September 8.]
[…]
“The principal threat then of fascism to colonized peoples is not one that we would move from a state of having not been subjected to violence from every angle to one where we would face that, but rather that the pacing [of] the eliminative and accumulative logics of settler colonialism would be accelerated.”

Contray to the optics of “good citizen/ good patriot” that right-wing Quebec groups construct in the news and social media–for example, throwing up peace signs or copying an anti-fascist demo chant, “toute le monde deteste les racistes”– they are racist, chauvinistic, anti-migrant and ultra-nationalist. These groups’ hierarchal organizational structures, their leaders and members disguise white supremacist values as outrage for the Trudeau government. But, if it’s the liberals they’re after, why mobilize at the Lacolle border? Their inconsistent messaging betrays their true beliefs. We need to pay attention to how they construct their messages (what, how, when they say something, in relation to what other ideas, and the contexts that these messages are communicated in). It’s not only worthwhile to pick apart the extreme right’s arguments to see the ill-informed and porous political analysis they subscribe too, but also, to think deeply about what is assumed and implied because of these views.

“They all thirst for a new frontier, for recolonization, for territories, for a white homeland. In other words, they thirst for the fulfilment of the settler dream…”(Kesīqnaeh, 2017).

Far away as Montreal’s canal walls might seem from this discussion, there are real connections to be made here. “DECOLONIZE” is a piece done by folks involved in anti-fascist organizing and action. Kesīqnaeh states, “if you want to fight fascism, you have to decolonize.” The people behind the canal’s message want this political analysis to be on everyone’s mind who takes up this struggle against far-right groups across Turtle Island.

“DECOLONIZE” performs aesthetically to disrupt the infrastructures that invisibilize the violent colonial processes that have made it possible for condo developments and affluent entrepreneurial shops to emerge while bringing with them residents and patrons who have little regard for the violent structural arrangements they belong to. These infrastructures organize society according to white supremacist aspirations that deploy anti-Indigenous and anti-Black narratives. While fascism may not necessarily appeal to the white wealthy elite, it’s ideological values sustain the privilege and impunity of those who compete for power in this current socio-political and economic climate. These right-wing groups view the state, it’s policing authorities (yup, they clapped when the riot police showed up at Lacolle), and it’s borders as a kind of legitimate power. However, borders are an apparatus of a settler colonial state founded on stolen land, slavery and genocidal politics. This makes borders illegitimate and this is a call to comrades to take action accordingly.

In the Trenches: Pipeline Sabotage against Enbridge in Hamilton

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Sep 232017
 

From The Hamilton Institute

Pipelines are war; one built from the insatiable greed of corporations which have normalized violence against the land and its living. Our resolve within this struggle intensifies with each audacious assault Enbridge launches; each time they dismiss the concerns and requests of Indigenous Nations. Every court proceeding. Every act of intimidation. Every lie or false claim of safety or necessity. We’ve had enough.

So back when Enbridge started shipping in pipeline segments for their line 10 expansion, we started sabotaging them.

There are vast networks of pipeline infrastructure throughout Turtle Island. They are indefensible; perfect opportunities for effective direct action that harms nothing but an oil company’s bottom line. It’s in this spirit that we found ourselves going for long moonlit strolls through the trenches of the freshly dug line10 right-of-way. Wherever we felt the urge, we drilled various sized holes into pipeline segments while spilling corrosives inside others.

We do this in solidarity with the Indigenous peoples of this area. A people who have been displaced, threatened and murdered since early colonial arrivals – who still continue to face this violence. Who suffer the consequences of this colonial capitalist society and the industries which drive it.

So – to Enbridge: You’re gonna want to replace every last section of line 10 that’s been laid out so far. We say this because we care for the environment, and don’t care about you – so take it seriously. And for every dollar you pursue from Indigenous Nations or individuals for defending their territories, we aim to cost you ten. #sorrynotsorry

To the public: It’s up to you to hold Enbridge accountable – in everything they do. Don’t let them risk your lives by installing pipelines they now know to be compromised. Don’t let them risk lives by installing pipelines, period.

And lastly, but not least, to our comrades and co-conspirators:

A How-To from the heart

You’ll need 1 a decent cordless drill, 2 a good smaller-gauge cobalt or titanium drill bit – preferably with a pilot point, and 3cutting oil. [Oh, the irony!]

With a righteous sense of adventure, prove your stealth ninja skills by getting into the right-of-way. Once you’re in there you’re pretty invisible from the road so long as you’re not fluorescent, adorned in glitter of fucking around with a headlamp too much. Take a breath, take a look, and then find your way to an empty pipeline and start drilling! Go slow [so there’s less noise, reverberation, and friction] and apply enough pressure so that you see metal shavings coming up – and then keep at it for 10 to 15 minutes. Cutting oil will help the process along by keeping the drill tip cool and effective.

Have fun. Stay safe.
And get the fuck out there!

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