As rising housing prices push more of us into difficult situations here in Hamilton, it can be hard to find inspiration for how to fight back against gentrification. But just down the 401, anarchists in Montreal have been developing a practice of direct action against businesses involved in gentrifying their neighbourhoods over the past several years. Focused on Hochelaga in the east and Saint-Henri in the south-west, a variety of strategies have emerged that share a common goal of making the territory inhospitable for businesses that try to attract a rich clientele to working-class areas. ...

On Friday, June 16, an installation in Montreal promoting Canada’s 150th year of killing people and taking their land (among other shit), was defaced by some anarchists. A large “Canada150” billboard above a Parks Canada information booth was covered with black paint, while anti-colonial posters were wheat pasted on an adjacent placard memorializing Sir Wilfred Laurier. The location is alongside the Lachine Canal, and across the street from Atwater Market, both major tourist destinations. The action was timed so that summer weekend crowds wouldn’t miss our redecoration. As of Saturday afternoon, the black paint had not been removed. ...

Just over a year ago, a masked crowd looted the yuppie grocery store attached to the “3734” restaurant on Notre-Dame street and redistributed the food to people in the neighborhood, one of dozens of actions against gentrification in recent years. The grocery store shut down several months ago, but we noticed that the 3734 restaurant was still serving business lunches and expensive dinners to local yuppies. So last Wednesday night we paid them a visit, breaking a window and covering the inside of the restaurant with paint, using a fire extinguisher. ...

As Canada spends half a billion dollars to celebrate its 150th year of land theft and colonial violence, Indigenous communities across Canada remain without access to clean water and endure acute poverty. Indigenous territories remain coveted by extractive industries and multinational corporations, who receive physical support from the RCMP and other agencies to forcibly steal and contaminate unceded Indigenous lands. From Oka to Elsipogtog, Canadian history shows us that Indigenous people who stand up to protect their homelands from destruction are frequently met with military force. ...

UPDATE : the MRQ conference has been displaced to the Centre équestre l’Intégrité, located at 3987 chemin Sainte-Angélique, in Saint-Lazare. You can call directly the owner, Sophie Robichaud, at 450-510-5354 or 514-992-2141 Saturday June 17, several right-wing and far-right nationalist groups and individuals were supposed to meet at the College de Maisonneuve, for a day-long conference organized by the Mouvement républicain du Québec, in collaboration with La Meute. Following media reports and the announcement that the Mouvement étudiant révolutionnaire would be organizing a demonstration to “block the far right”, the college canceled its contract with Editions Dédicaces (publishing house of Guy Boulianne, leader of the MRQ). ...

Anti-colonial and anti-imperialist demonstration in Montreal on July 1st From CLAC Time and place soon to be announced! Mark your calendars! As you might know, this year is the 150th anniversary of Canada. The government will spend half a billion dollars in 2017 to organize ceremonies, parades and parties to celebrate the colonialism, imperialism and racism that is so characteristic to nation-states. Those amounts will be invested in questionable projects that will benefit the tourism industry and the friends of those in power, rather than the residents of the area. ...

Montreal community groups came together with autonomous radicals last week to demand access to housing, squatting buildings and holding free barbecues in the park.

[ For reading ] [ For printing, 11”x17” ] [ Center-fold: posters and boardgame, 11”x17” (optional) ] CONTENTS “Cops Protect Fascists” Report-back Frontlines in the Fight Against Islamophobia March 15 in Montreal: Police Attacked, Kettle Broken Anti-gentrification Vandalism in Saint-Henri Revolt in the Youth Center of Val-Du-Lac Enbridge Line 3: The Feeblest Head of the Hydra Montreal Antifa Prevails: Would You Like A Beating With Your Happy Meal? 4:20 – Against Legalization and Criminalization Alike Police Protect Far-Right Demo from Antifascists Business Invasion: A Tactic to Fight Gentrification? May Day in Montreal: Some Critical Reflections Hey There Yuppies! You’re Also Staying In “Montreal” This Summer? A Recipe for Nocturnal Direct Actions! Street Demonstration Tips June 11th: Communication As a Weapon How to Safely Submit Communiqué ...

For us, one of the most exciting elements of June 11, 2016 was the proliferation of words and ideas shared between and from anarchist prisoners. Along with spreading material solidarity internationally and keeping the names of our comrades on our lips, our contribution to facilitating that communication is one of our most important tasks. While the starting point of our project was support for Marius Mason and Eric McDavid (the first of whom remains imprisoned in an extremely restrictive unit, while the latter has been freed!), it has been through a spreading web of communications that we have expanded the scope of our project to solidarity with long-term anarchist prisoners around the world. This year, we are seeking to emphasize this communication. ...

Montreal radicals began a “week of occupations” by squatting an abandoned hospital that they hope to turn into a housing complex. When the police attacked, they barricaded themselves inside. More actions are planned through the coming week..

This morning, a group of autonomous environmentalists in Montreal occupied the offices of EACOM Timber, in opposition to the company’s plan to log forest in the habitat of endangered caribou in Northern Quebec. In order to facilitate the logging operation, the government of Quebec plans to displace the entire herd of caribou into a zoo, a move which has been opposed by the Assembly of First Nations of Quebec and Labrador. The company is currently constructing a road into the zone that they hope to log, and the activists say the fight is far from over.

On the night of May 19, we decided to come together to attack the restaurant and bar Ludger, the offices of Projet Montréal, and the IGA supermarket in Saint-Henri. If we attacked Ludger, it’s not only to denounce the over-priced meals that they serve, but to attack the way of life of young professional yuppies who invade popular neighbourhoods with their cash, and contribute to the exclusion of the poor in the neighbourhood. ...