Antifascist

As the far-right attempted to mobilize demonstrations all over North America on Saturday, anti-fascists came out in force to oppose them. In Montreal, the far-right organized under the banner of La Meute (The Wolf Pack), an anti-Muslim group which was founded by a former soldier in the Canadian army. Anti-fascists attempted to shut the far-right down, but faced down with an extremely determined police force who were intent on allowing the fascists to march. This was the first time that a far-right organization has been able to hold the streets in Montreal in years. ...

On Monday, February 13th, activists calling for open borders dropped a banner over a busy Montreal highway reading “Trump fasciste, Trudeau complice” (Trump is fascist, Trudeau is complicit). The action, across from Justin Trudeau’s constituency office, comes as Trudeau visits Trump in Washington, D.C. Read the full press release here , or see more photos and statements from the Open Borders Collective on facebook . A grassroots movement that combines anti-colonial, anti-capitalist opposition to neoliberalism, while also supporting Indigenous sovereignty and migrant justice, is necessary to defeat Trump and the Far-Right, and the people who normalize him,” stated Grewal. ...

Last Sunday night, six people from the Muslim community in Quebec city were assassinated at their mosque. This shows that racist extreme-right ideology is very much alive in supposedly egalitarian and tolerant Quebec society, which currently participates in fostering an islamophobic climate in which racists are increasingly feeling emboldened to act. This time it’s not an act that can be ignored, unlike the pigs heads left on the steps of the same mosque several months ago and which interested practically nobody, or the daily verbal and physical aggressions in the street of racialized people. ...

Standing front of the consulate doors with banners and signs, first in silent sorrow and anger, protesters then began spontaneously chanting together- not only against Trump’s Muslim ban, but also against the racism that runs rampant across the Quebec political spectrum, against Canada’s exclusionary immigration policies, and against white supremacy. The ad-hoc group demanded the immediate opening of the US-Canadian border, an end to the safe the safe third country agreement and designated country of origin list, and an ongoing, comprehensive regularization program for undocumented people already in Canada (for more information on these demands see www.solidarityacrossborders.org ). ...

In Montréal, a night demo turned into a clash with police. 200 protesters first gathered at Square Phillips, one block from the US consulate. When they started marching, they did not make it to the consulate building, but rather marched against traffic on the main street, Rue Sainte-Catherine, mostly beautifying the city by putting up graffiti against patriarchy and calling for the city to burn. ...

On Saturday November 26 a coalition of anti-fascists, blocked the entrance of the Plaza Theatre, a venue that was hosting the white power metal band Graveland. Montreal cops attacked the crew with pepperspray and rubber bullets, But the Anitfa blockaded the street and held their ground until the concert was canceled.