An interview with two settler anarchists in northern British Columbia who are active in a growing struggle against the Prince Rupert Gas Transmission Project or PRGT.
Resistance to the project has been heating up all summer as government approvals have been issued and construction work is expected to begin in the fall of 2025.
Discussions includes history and overview of the project, the changing context of the Canada-US trade war, anarchist-indigenous solidarity, and taking some lessons from Shut Down Canada.
Throughout the last decade, both in Europe and beyond, a new generation of activists has brought the climate movement to the forefront. Groups such as Extinction Rebellion, Fridays for Future, and Ende Gelände have succeeded in breaking out of the sidelines, convincing millions to commit themselves in defence of the planet. It wasn’t so long ago that few were even aware of the possibility of climate catastrophe – nowadays the very opposite is the case. I have no intention to downplay these achievements. What I do want to draw attention to, however, is that climate activism has made little or no difference to something very important, to the only thing which really counts: to actually lowering the amount of carbon emitted by humans across the planet. Such emissions continue to increase every year, as do average global temperatures, weather catastrophes, and rates of species extinction. Earning recognition from across society has not been enough. In all of its core aims, the climate movement remains a decisive failure.
I have a suggestion as to why this is the case. Because the climate movement remains stuck in the assumption that those in power must be convinced to bring about the necessary changes for us. Despite utilising a direct action aesthetic, most climate activism focuses on getting media attention (including mainstream social media, which is as much an extension of capitalist power as television or the newspapers) in order to achieve social recognition, ultimately in order to lobby politicians. However, the political elite will never be able to solve this crisis, because the system which grants them power is also a system which literally thrives on wrecking the planet. What we call “the economy” is an out-of-control megamachine which deems anything short of unlimited expansion (a process which entails ecological devastation) some kind of disaster. No matter their affiliation or the promises they offer, all the politicians and corporations pledge allegiance to the backward logic of this world-eating monster.
Some would argue that certain elements of the climate movement escape this concern. Contrary to Extinction Rebellion and Fridays for Future, anti-capitalist groups such as Ende Gelände do not make explicit demands of politicians, instead focusing on disrupting critical infrastructure directly. However, we cannot suppose that peacefully occupying a coal mine (or its arteries) for a few hours is a realistic way of shutting it down for good; this is just another way of getting the media interested. Such actions make no sense unless one hopes, consciously or otherwise, that they might serve to convince politicians to step in and reform the economy for us. Other mass organisations (for example, Soulèvements de la Terre/Earth Uprisings) might seem like an improvement, given that they favour sabotaging ecocidal infrastructure, and in this sense encourage something resembling direct action (albeit directed by a secretive vanguard). Again, however, this might only be a more seductive way of receiving media attention; for such attacks would be far more effective if performed by small, autonomous groups who strike under the cover of darkness, especially where the authorities do not expect it.
In short, most climate activism is fixated on requesting help from a system which is inherently incapable of responding. It therefore spreads an ethos of disempowerment and infantilisation, implying that ordinary people are incapable of addressing the climate crisis for ourselves. But really it is the other way around. We will all be burnt to a crisp before the governments will do what needs to be done. It therefore falls on unspecialised, dedicated rebels to begin solving the crisis directly. What might that look like? Enacting without delay the necessary changes which those in power will never seriously consider. By this I mean, shutting down the power stations, airports, motorways, and factories, whilst arranging decentralised (and therefore ecologically-minded) means for sustaining ourselves without them. This proposal no doubt involves a massive escalation in strategy. Nonetheless, given the severity of the situation, combined with the fact that current methods have proven insufficient, I think it’s about time we considered radically overhauling our approach.
Inspiration is already out there. For example, the Switch Off! campaign (initiated in Germany in 2022, and since spreading beyond Europe) forgets about reforming capitalism, instead focusing on directly incapacitating the infrastructure responsible for wrecking the planet. Such instances of sabotage are spreading, whether they are associated with the above banner, another one, or are not claimed at all. To mention but a few of many relevant actions: In September 2023, the railway network outside Hamburg was sabotaged at multiple points, majorly disrupting one of the largest ports in Europe; in March 2024, an arson attack on the electrical grid nearby Berlin closed down the huge Tesla Gigafactory for multiple days; in May 2025, a double arson on a power plant and a high-voltage pylon caused a blackout in a sizeable portion of France, depriving an airport, various factories, and the Cannes film festival of electricity. One might also recall that London Gatwick airport was closed down for multiple days in 2018, reportedly (and for motivations unknown) because a handheld drone was flown over the runways. Despite massive police efforts, those who performed this readily reproducible action were never found; nor have any of the other actions mentioned here yet led to any arrests. By contrast, conventional climate activist tactics (for example, usage of lock-ons, tripods, superglue) take getting arrested for granted, thereby sacrificing our comrades to the courts, prison, and ongoing surveillance. This is a high cost for actions which, besides fostering a submissive attitude towards the authorities, have little or no impact on the capacities for climate-trashing industries to function.
In order to begin addressing a problem on the scale of climate change, however, attacks against ecocidal infrastructure must become more ambitious still. This might be phrased in terms of moving beyond a focus on specific industries towards targeting industrial civilisation altogether. The relevant centres of production, extraction, and research must be targetted; so too the electrical grid that binds them together, namely, the very network which gives the system of destruction its power (in both senses of the term) in the first place. Such a bold vision will seem out of place to many. But it is too often forgotten that climate change and industrial civilisation are in fact the very same problem. The human degradation of the climate is not something ancient; it is only as old as industrialisation itself. Since roughly 150 years, human life has increasingly centred on the usage of machines which convert fossil fuels into energy, thereby emitting carbon dioxide. Human culture, in other words, has been forced into a relationship of dependence upon an ever-expanding infrastructure which cannot function without poisoning the climate. The Industrial Revolution was only initiated a few generations ago, and already its consequences have led many to question the viability of life itself outlasting the century. There could not be a more damning indictment of this relatively recent technological shift.
Some will respond, of course, that industrial civilisation is not inherently earth-wrecking, and is already in the process of being reformed. We are talking here about the so-called “Green Transition” being heralded across the political spectrum as the solution to the climate crisis. However, it is a common mistake to think that wind, solar, or hydroelectric power represent genuine alternatives to conventional methods; for in reality they are being harnessed in addition to fossil fuels, which are currently being burnt in higher quantities than ever. To think the capitalist economy would ever consent to leaving untapped reserves of coal, gas, or oil in the ground misunderstands the core logic of a system based on unlimited growth. The consequence of record investment in green tech, therefore, has only been to catapult global energy usage to unprecedented levels.
Moreover, besides failing to involve a transition, the economic restructuring underway is anything but green. Firstly, fossil fuels are highly dense sources of energy, which neither the power of sunlight, wind, or water comes anywhere close to matching; it follows that “renewable energy,” if expected to maintain current levels of intake, must consume far greater areas of land than are already dedicated to energy production. Secondly, the key technologies of such restructuring depend heavily on the extraction of minerals, especially through mining. For example, nickel and rare earth minerals are required to construct solar panels and wind turbines; lithium and cobalt are key components of their batteries, as well as those of electric cars, e-bikes, and smartphones. As such, and in the name of going “green,” the capitalist economy is plundering every corner of the globe in search of lucrative resources, thereby driving ecological devastation, forced labour, and geopolitical conflict. Even the uncharted depths of the oceans are in the course of getting ransacked; next it will be asteroids and other planets. In sum, then, what has been hyped as the technological solution to the climate catastrophe is but a massive lie cloaking the further expansion of the megamachine.
Present in the speech of almost everyone you meet nowadays is an understanding that humans are wrecking the biosphere – and simultaneously committing suicide. Yet far fewer are willing to comprehend the crisis for what it actually is, namely, the outcome of runaway technological development. This is not a problem which can be addressed by voting, petitioning, protesting, boycotting, or investing. The only realistic response to the climate crisis is to attack industrial civilisation. I do not expect that this proposal is about to receive widespread popularity; after all, it guarantees to destabilise the only world almost anybody has ever known. However, we might have to reckon with the fact that many or most humans will forever insist on keeping their cars, fridges, and smartphones running – even at the cost of forsaking the very air we breathe. It therefore falls on those whose priorities lie elsewhere to proceed to brave and uncompromising action.
––––––––. (2024) Mapping the Megamachine: Microchip Production (from Tinderbox #5)
––––––––. (2024) “Nonhuman Comrades” (from No Path #2)
––––––––. (2025) “Subteranean Constellations: Lighting Up the Machinery of War and Ecocide” (from Tinderbox #7)
Gelderloos, Peter (2010) An Anarchist Solution to Global Warming
Pantarai (2024) “Nothing is True, Anything is Possible” (from No Path #2)
Roos, Andreas (2023) “We need to address the root issue, which is the aggregate, overall material-energy throughput” (from No Mine in Gállok: Ecocide and colonialism in Swedish-occupied Sápmi).
Wemotaci region in Quebec (wikipedia). On the left, Dave Petiquay from the First Nation MAMO collective, faces Dany Grenier (on the right), forestry entrepreneur from Dolbeau-Mistassini (image by Lisanne Pittikwi on Facebook).
« … the state, the bourgeoisie and even the working class have been constituted in part through the destruction of First Nations, the dispossession of their territories, the extortion of their resources and settler colonialism– Francis Dupuis-Déri et Benjamin Pillet, 2019. L’anarcho-indigénisme. Lux Éditeur, Montréal. p.35
Over the past few weeks, blockades of forestry roads have been carried out in Haute-Mauricie and in the north of Lac-Saint-Jean by the MAMO Alliance (First Nation). These actions, conducted to contest Bill 97 on forestry regime reform, have interrupted or disrupted forestry operations.
Uniting First Nations for Sovereignty and Territory Protection
It was on April 11, 2025 that an assembly was held in La Tuque to found the MAMO Alliance. This alliance, whose name means « Together » in the Atikamekw (Nehiromowin) and Innu (Innu-aimun) languages, aims to bring together First Nations in exercising their sovereignty. It was initiated by the land guardians of Nehirowisiw (Atikamekw), Nitassinan (Innuat) and Ndakina (Abénakis).
Opposition to Bill 97 and Sovereignty
The land guardians express their disagreement with Bill 97, which modifies Quebec’s forestry regime. They believe this law endangers forest caribou and forest sustainability, thus compromising the traditional Indigenous way of life during the climate crisis.
Numerous blockades and demonstrations of sovereignty have generated tensions between Indigenous protesters and (non-Indigenous) forestry workers, also fueling hateful comments on social media. In response to this situation, the Quebec government has promised to negotiate with First Nations to find consensus and consider amendments to the bill.
Traditional Indigenous groups (like the MAMO alliance), who rely on ancestral rights and traditions, maintain that true authority over forestland belongs to families and land guardians. They consider that current band councils, established by the Canadian government’s Indian Act system, do not reflect traditional sovereignty and are perceived as accomplices of the colonial system. These groups believe that band councils cannot negotiate on behalf of all members of the nations.
The Petapan Treaty and Forest Management
This tension between band councils and traditionalists is not new; it also appears in other negotiations, such as the Petapan Treaty. Under negotiation for more than forty years, this draft treaty involves the Petapan Group, which brings together the First Nations of Essipit, Mashteuiatsh and Nutashkuan, as well as Canada and Quebec, and aims to recognize, confirm and protect Innu rights. However, traditionalists oppose this treaty, claiming that the traditional governance of hereditary chiefs and territory guardians is being set aside in favor of band councils.
Conclusion
There will be no reconciliation without reparation. The Canadian and Quebec states were established on the appropriation of Indigenous peoples’ lands and resources. To achieve true reconciliation, it is essential to support and engage in decolonial and environmental struggles. It is crucial to become true allies in this battle to protect the living world. That is to say, to avoid in our relationships between non-Indigenous and Indigenous people within decolonization movements: « the invisibilization of Indigenous people or the appropriation of their voice, the use of token Indigenous people, the imposition of tactical and strategic choices or a general attitude of guilt relief to give oneself a good conscience » (L’anarcho-indigénisme, p.10)
Footnote:
(1) Unlike other regions of Canada where historic treaties were signed, vast expanses of territory, notably in British Columbia and Quebec, have never been subject to land cession treaties.
On Monday, in New Hazelton four Gitxsan Development Corporation vehicles were burned.
Gitxsan Development Corporation works with McElhaney Geomatics Engineering which had vehicles destroyed by fire in Smithers and Terrace.
McElhaney Geomatics Engineering is contracted to build roads for Prince Rupert Gas Transmission Line (PRGT). More information is available on their involvement in Against Extractivism: PRGT and its Actor
Comments Off on Enbridge Sabotage: Disruption of Service on Line 9B
Aug202025
Anonymous submission to MTL Counter-info
The boreal forest is burning, the water is being poisoned, all the trees are being cut down, and the treaties are being betrayed. The mirage we call “liberal democracy” bows down to the oil lobby. There is talk of new pipelines that will cross the country like scars, new gas projects that will disfigure the land.
Our history has always been that of an extractive colony founded on plunder and dispossession. It’s up to us to put an end to this disaster.
Last night, we attacked line 9B. This pipe of death snakes through lands stolen from Indigenous peoples, transporting the world’s dirtiest bitumen through waterways, cities and our lives. We hit two control valves, destroying the electronic equipment before vanishing into the night.
Now more than a dozen kilometers of pipeline can no longer be controlled by Enbridge. Until these installations are repaired, it is as dangerous as it is illegal to flow oil through them.
We choose to disarm Enbridge because the current system protects profit and lets ecosystems die. We are taking action because every barrel poisons us, kills us, flows against the grain of history. We are those who face the truth, who recognize the urgency of the situation. We choose to obey the love of life and the future.
Line 9B carries the end of the world barrel by barrel. It’s time to take direct aim at the infrastructures that are responsible.
The facilities concerned are at Saint-André d’Argenteuil (45°33’25.1 “N 74°20’53.7 ”W) and Mirabel (45°36’42.3 “N 74°04’46.6 ”W).
Comments Off on The Association of Nehirowisiw Aski Land Defenders Wants Saboteurs Handed Over to Police
May262025
Anonymous submission to MTL Counter-info
We’re writing what follows to enable anarchist comrades and anticolonial militants to make informed decisions about where and how to engage in struggle.
In a press release published May 17, 2025, and available on their Facebook page, the Association of Nehirowisiw Aski Land Defenders (MAMO First Nations) condemns acts of vandalism recently committed on forestry machinery apparently belonging to a contractor involved in cuts on their territory.
The press release goes further, claiming that “these acts cannot and must not go unpunished.” It continues: “If you witness an act of vandalism or if you have any information that may assist the investigation, we strongly encourage you to share it without delay with the police authorities.”
We believe that relationships of struggle are strongest when they are nourished by practices of honesty and transparent communication on the motivations and limits of each of us. We hope that these events can be the basis for nuanced and open conversations about solidarity.
Blockades are going up on Atikamekw territory (Nehirowisiw Aski) to resist the CAQ’s forestry regime. In solidarity, anti-colonial protestors seized the intersection of Papineau and Ontario during rush hour.
Paralysing southbound traffic to the Jacques-Cartier Bridge for close to 20 minutes before the police could arrive. Protestors used road flares and defended eachother in the face of brazen motorists – police were caught by surprise and were unable to intervene. After leaving the intersection, protestors took the streets, and dispersed with no arrests or police interventions. The success of this action inspires us at an urgent moment demanding solidarity with land defenders refusing the CAQ’s land grab.
The frontlines need urgent support as the logging season begins. Land defenders on the Nehirowisiw Aski are directly resisting colonial extraction and the destruction of their territory. This is frontline resistance to the CAQ’s forestry regime—a regime that hands over vast stretches of so-called Quebec’s forests to industry without consent, without regard. They’re calling for material support along with solidarity—whether you can go to the blockade, send funds, or take action here in Tiohtià:ke—this struggle must be taken up by people in the city. We must disrupt comfort, convenience, and quiet complicity.
Indigenous Land defenders are not solely responsible for resisting the colonial death march of extractive industry—the frontlines are everywhere. Don’t wait for permission. Don’t ask for justice. Fight alongside those creating it. Land defenders need immediate material support and brave anti-colonial accomplices.
After a five year hiatus, Warrior Up is back. The intention of this project remains the same: to compile guides and practical information relevant to struggles against industrial devastation.
The ‘Arson’ page compiles guides on setting fires. The ‘Sabotage Techniques’ page compiles sabotage techniques for different types of infrastructure. The ‘Studying Vulnerabilities‘ page compiles analyses of how the megamachine functions and where it is vulnerable. The ‘Maps‘ page compiles mapping projects focused on infrastructure and extractive industries.
This project relies on submissions, so please send us content, including anything published years ago that we may have missed! We now use an Autistici email:
warriorupthrowdown ( at ) autistici ( dot ) org
Our PGP key, however, remains unchanged (Fingerprint 4283 5D10 4ABA 6B2D 0C60 A4F1 F7A9 73A3 8FD8 16E0). It can be found on the contact page, which now also includes a contact form.
Donald Trump is not only completely unhinged, he is completely obsessed with Canada. It will be remembered that throughout the last election campaign, he talked about tariffs but said nothing about the US absorbing Canada. Only after becoming president did Donald don his imperialist hat, threatening Greenland. Panama, Gaza and Canada.
Trudeau, Carney and the Liberals meanwhile have abandoned postnationalism to become flag waving nationalists. Pierre Poilievre of the Conservatives has adopted the slogan Canada First, having abandoned Canada is Broken, which now echoes Trump’s claim that Canada is not viable if it is not part of the States.
Trump has adopted a spheres of influence approach in which North America is destined to be dominated by the US, and Canada and Greenland are to be annexed to access their natural resources. His approach to Mexico is different. Trump does not want more Latinos, he wants fewer Latinos, so annexing Mexico is out of the question. However, he is putting pressure on Mexico in various ways, including attacking Mexico’s sovereignty by threatening military action against the cartels, a move rejected by Mexico’s new president.
Canadians have reacted to the trumpian assault with shock, fear, anger and a sense of betrayal, An upsurge in Canadian nationalism has taken place as well as a questioning of Canadian identity.
On the issue of identity of interest are statements by Canada’s new prime minister, Mark Carney, an Irish-Canadian Catholic. After attending the Saint Patrick’s parade in Montreal, Carney flew to Europe, where he visited Notre Dame Cathedral and met Emmanuel Macron. He then met King Charles and the British prime minister. On the trip Carney emphasized Canada’s European roots and described Canada as being founded by three groups, the British, the French and indigenous peoples, giving the impression of an equality of influence. In reality, the British and French, along with the Spanish and Portuguese, arrived in the Americas as conquerors, subjugating indigenous peoples and warring against each other here in the Americas as they had in Europe. The founding of Canada signified a continuation of an assimilationist approach towards indigenous peoples embodied in the residential school system, designed specifically to
eradicate native cultures. This sad legacy weighs heavily when it is a question of Canadian identity.
Today’s Canadian cities are multicultural and complex. How Canadian identity fits in with other cultural and identity aspects is complicated, but a reaction to Trump is evident in cancelled trips to the States and boycotts of American products. However, information is largely anecdotal, making it difficult to know what is happening. There are still lots of New York Yankees baseball caps, I’ve noticed, although I have never been able to figure out what they are supposed to mean.
I personally have not experienced an upsurge in Canadian nationalism. I am not Canadian or Québécois or part of any state. But like most Canadians I detest Trump, a dangerous predator and would-be dictator. The U.S. is presently in turmoil as Trump attempts to radically reshape the country.
Carney, Ford, Smith
As I write a Canadian election has just begun and as one would expect, the Trump factor is playing a big role. The Liberal Party has seen a remarkable rebound, going from more than twenty points behind to even with or leading the Conservatives. Support for Quebec sovereignty has fallen from 35% to 29%.
Trump presents himself as a strongman, although it seems he never stops whining. Unfortunately but understandably, the tendency is to search for a counter-strongman. a savior.
Trump is not the only strongman model out there. Carney represents another model, a financial strongman as it were. It is claimed that he has the chops to go mano a mano with Trump. Brain versus brawn.
All this is a reminder of the centralization of power inherent in electoralism. Trump cranks out dozens of executive orders and fancies himself a king. As prime minister, Carney formally incarnates the nation.
Premier Doug Ford of Ontario represents a strongman model closer to Trump. In effect Ford was a Trump supporter until the tariff threat intervened, which Ford has characterized as “like a family member stabbing you in the heart.” He apparently doesn’t get that America First means America First. Ford subsequently became Captain Canada, appearing on American cable news networks, and calling a snap election to take advantage of the situation. He attempted to impose a 25% surcharge on electricity Ontario exports to several American states, but quickly backed down when Trump threatened to raise tariffs on Canada from 25 to 50 percent. Trump “needed to break some guy in Ontario“ was how American commerce secretary Howard Lutnick disparagingly and crudely put it.
Danielle Smith of Alberta, clearly the Canadian premier ideologically closest to trumpism, has travelled to Mar-a-Lago to cozy up to Trump and has appeared on far right American podcasts. She has ruled out curtailing oil shipments to the U.S., the potential trade war weapon that would have the most damaging effect. She has argued on a far right American podcast that Trump should put off his tariffs until after the elections in order to assist Poilievre’s electoral chances.
Techno-industrial Nightmare
“Drill, baby, drill,” his mantra on the campaign trail, sums up trumpism: oil barons and billionaires. Claiming that climate change is a “hoax,” Trump has declared a no holds barred war on the environment. Located next to the U.S., Canada will be severely affected.
Trump says Canada has nothing the U.S. needs and at the same time that Canada must become a “cherished” U.S. state. He may not need Canada but it seems there are lots of things he wants. His goal is to destroy Canadian manufacturing in order to to bolster American manufacturing, making Canada purely a provider of natural resources.
But wherever it is produced, a car remains an earth destroying monster. We are already too industrialized and digitalized.
Canada is lakes and rivers and forests and mountains. Natural resources are better off left in the ground.
