Anticolonial

“…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: ...

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. ...

On Sunday September 10, we mobilized in solidarity with the ongoing resistance against the extractive oil industry in Gaspésie, in particular, Junex and its investors. Corporations like Junex (and their investors) collude with provincial and federal governments. These collaborations exemplify how neoliberal capitalism (as the current economic and political context) functions to sustain the settler-colonial state of Canada. Recently announced legislation allowing for drilling and fracking in rivers and lakes within so-called Quebec demonstrates such complicity to the point of absurdity - the state no longer seems to even care about making it appear that its role is neutral in paving the way for the poisoning of water and land for capitalist profit. ...

On September 6, 1995, the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) violently attacked the occupation of the Ipperwash Porvincial Park, by members of the Stoney Point Ojibway band, shooting and killing indigenous land defender Dudley George. But George’s death was not in vain, and to this day, the members of the Stoney Point Band continue to live on the former army base in Ipperwash. As part of our series “Indigenous Resistance in Five Minutes” historian and comic book artists, Gord Hill retells the story of Ipperwash. ...

Friends in Sherbrooke did a banner drop yesterday morning on the Terrill bridge, close to the Cégep and downtown Sherbrooke, in solidarity with the river camp and against the oil industry plundering. This small visibility action is embedded within the week of action called for by the camp!

We would like to remind everyone about some security measures regarding comrades, accomplices, and allies. After demonstrations, actions, or any kind of activity that could lead to repression, it’s essential to not publish or publicize photos of the events. If you think it’s absolutely necessary to publish photos, please blur the faces and any distinctive signs that could help identify individual participants. Even if photos can contribute to spreading the struggle or help with legal action taken against the police, they can equally be used by the police and the judicial apparatus to repress actions that we see as important and necessary. Please note that even if they are not made public, pictures could be seized by police in the context of an investigation and trial. It is also important to understand that some people, for various reasons, do not want to be photographed. Given this, in terms of our ethical framework, we find it problematic to spread and circulate photos that implicate comrades, without their consent. ...

During the night of July 13th to 14th, 2017, Forces Écosocialistes [Ecosocialist Forces] took action by arsoning the equipment of the oil company Squatex, located in Bas-St-Laurent. An article describing the act was first published by Radio-Canada, then republished by Mtlcounter-info and finally by Earthfirst. The events were described as “suspicious”, to use the exact wording of the police and the journalist. Two months have now passed since this attack against the oil company. And it’s in the current context of increased resistance to fossil fuel development on Québécois soil that we decide to affirm the volontary and thought-out character of the action. Our claim arrives, then, following the occupation of the company Junex’s Galt site and numerous banner drops on university campuses. Admirable individuals are rising to affirm their will to expel this oil industry garbage from the territory and we want to commend their courage and determination. We also want to insist on one point: alongside Junex there are other active companies that are just as destructive. ...

In the week of action in solidarity with the River Camp, a banner was dropped on the walkway of Cégep St-Laurent, reading “Fuck oil companies, solidarity against Junex”. Several students distributed fliers announcing a demonstration in solidarity with the River Camp. Due to positions and mandates against hydrocarbons, the AECSL (Student association of Cégep de Saint-Laurent) supports all initiatives that aim to struggle against oil companies. Solidarity!

Last night, after we climbed like ninjas on top of ministery buildings (with a view of the magnificent Baie-des chaleurs), we hung a banner on the MERN offices (ministery of energy and resources): Fuck that Resources Quebec that invests loads of cash in oil companies, and fuck that Resources Quebec, and fuck that Quebec! Yooouhouuuu Junex, petrolia, IT’S OVER!

A solidarity action from Cégep du Vieux Montreal.

Yesterday’s torrential downpour forced us to have a slow evening. Lit by the glow of candles and lulled by the drip of raindrops on tarps, some of us played Scrabble, while others read out loud. Today, despite the constant drizzle, the mood remains energetic at the River Camp. We have learned that Junex will suspend work for four months, providing time for the MMS as well as the band councils of Gespeg, Gesgapegiag and Listuguj to hold public consultations for the residents of these three reserves to give input on fossil fuel development projects on unceded Mi`gmak territory. ...