“Observant individuals can easily identify many such critical bottlenecks across Canada. They share several common characteristics: they are of immediate and significant value to businesses and governments; they concentrate valued resources or essential economic functions; they are located at the intersection of related transportation systems, thus allowing protesters to use their scarce resources efficiently; most are far from major national security resources and forces, thus complicating the deployment and maintenance of these forces; most are close to First Nations communities that would likely be neutral if not active supporters of insurgents and would provide safe-havens and logistical support to main participants; all are high profile assets the disruption of which would attract (for governments) troublesome national and international political and media attention; and all are vulnerable (i.e., value multiplied by the ease of disruption).” – Canada and the First Nations: Cooperation or Conflict? For more info on the weak points, check out: ...

On New Years Eve 2018, a crowd of around 150 people gathered near Henri Bourassa Metro on the island of Montreal to take three school busses out to Laval, Quebec. Every year since 2014, and intermittently in the years prior to 2014, people gather outside prisons in the Montreal area to set off fireworks, wish people in prison a Happy New Year, and show our opposition to prisons, borders, and the industries and governments that sustain them. ...

At 8:00am on the morning of Jan 8th, a group of roughly 25 people shut down the Jacques Cartier Bridge – a vital transportation corridor in so-called “Montreal” – in response to the RCMP’s attack on the Wet’suwet’en.

The Wet’suwet’en Hereditary Chiefs have by absolutely no means agreed to let the Coastal GasLink pipeline tear through our traditional territories. On January 7th at the Gidumt’en access point, the RCMP used excessive and brutal force. We expected a large response, we did not expect a military level invasion where our unarmed women and elders were faced with automatic weapons and bulldozers. While the chiefs have a responsibility to protect the land, they also have a duty to protect our land defenders. Our people faced an incredible risk of injury or death and that is not a risk we are willing to take for an interim injunction. The agreement we made allows Coastal GasLink to temporarily work behind the Unist’ot’en gate. This will continue to be a waste of their time and resources as they will not be building a pipeline in our traditional territory. ...

...

Access a PDF for printing here. Not only can blockades “shut down the world”, they also open up space for a new one to be built, or in the case of colonized peoples, a world restored. We can look to many of the indigenous blockades or occupations of the last several decades for the examples of ceremonial, culinary, and other socially reproductive practices that point toward new ways of living which are themselves produced through resistance. Similarly, we see the revitalization of warrior culture being expressed at Standing Rock and other moments of indigenous revolt to be indicative of a broader possibility of life without the state or capitalism.[…] We hold evident that blockades are a crucial tactic in our war against planetary annihilation. […] With this tactical imperative, we call on all warriors and revolutionaries around the world to immediately orient themselves around blockading infrastructure. Collectives must research infrastructure to find the most vulnerable chokepoints and get organized to block them in effective ways. Those without fighting comrades can still contribute by engaging in lone wolf acts of sabotage. – Disrupt the Flows: War Against DAPL and Planetary Annihilation ...

At this very moment a standoff is unfolding, the outcome of which will determine the future of Northern BC for generations to come. Will the entire region be overtaken by the fracking industry, or will Indigenous people asserting their sovereignty be successful in repelling the assault on their homelands? ...

This episode features two interviews with organizers of New Years Eve noise demonstrations in Hamilton and in Montreal. We talk about the rage and sadness we feel about the existence of prisons, noise demonstrations, building traditions and rituals, and our favourite New Years Eve stories. Links: Seven Years Against Prison (2015) Montreal Against Prisons International Call For New Year’s Even Noise Demonstrations (English, 2018)

Cedar has been transferred from Barton Jail in Hamilton to Vanier Centre for Women in Milton where they will serve the duration of their sentence. While there, they would love to receive mail from people (friends and strangers alike!). Mail can be sent to the following address: Peter “Cedar” Hopperton Vanier Centre for Women 655 Martin Street Milton, Ontario L9T 5E6They’d be happy to receive letters and would be interested in corresponding with people, and would also appreciate photocopies of things to read (news, articles, zines, books etc.) – just make sure there are no staples. You can also send them books if they are shipped directly from the publisher. ...

John A. Macdonald & Queen Victoria statues vandalized (again) in Montreal, with red and green paint December 24, 2018 – On Christmas Eve, Montreal-area vandals have covered the John A. Macdonald Monument (1895) and the Queen Victoria Statue at McGill (1900) with red and green paint respectively. ...

The ‘Réseau libertaire Brume Noire’ is officially launching. Every step forward demonstrates the need for solidarity and awareness in the Gaspé (Gespeg) region. Being a citizen group, the collective does not use the many funding that the government offers to companies or organizations. In fact, we try to do things by ourselves and for ourselves. That’s why we appeal to you as well as to the big world of internet to invite you to participate and share our campaign of socio-financing! ...

Raphaël Lévesque, the public face of the neofascist group Atalante, really likes the attention his little stunts get him (that’s why he has long since stopped hiding his identity). However, the central role of a single individual should not prevent us from looking at the people who gravitate to his leadership, because a movement like Atalante is nothing without the militants that give it life. All the actions that the group has carried out in Québec City and Montréal over the past two years to increase its visibility suggest that, along with its more visible members, Atalante can count on a reserve of a few dozen individuals who support the ultranationalist cause. Despite its small numbers, the group has caught the eye of a section of the mainstream media and has made effective use of social media to promote a so-called “national revolutionary” position within Québec’s far right. ...