Anticolonial

This past weekend, a group of Montreal anti-racist organizers and graf writers collaborated in an effort to remind people living in Montreal and throughout Québec that no one is illegal: there is no such thing as illegal migration. The piece went up underneath the rue Sherbrooke overpass between the Stade Olympic and Parc Maisonneuve. Montréal is on unceded Kanien’kehà:ka territory that has also long served as a gathering place for many First Nations. The Canadian nation-state was founded and continues to rely on the ongoing dispossession and displacement of Indigenous peoples from their territories, cultures, and languages. Borders are an illegitimate, state-imposed apparatus that serve to divide and displace people and communities and then make such divisions appear natural. ...

Several groups are currently fighting against the exploitation of hydrocarbons in Gaspesie in order to prevent Junex, Petrolia, Squatex and others industries from sacking the peninsula. The moment is opportune to put an end to their bullshit because our balance of power is growing and because the petroleum industry is not yet entrenched in people’s mentalities. With this in mind, we are calling for the organization of actions through September 4-10 in support of the blockade of the Junex oil wells, the river camp in Gaspe and in solidarity with the municipality of Ristigouche Sud- Est . On September 5, Ristigouche’s lawsuit will be launched by Gastem for $ 1.5 million for a regulation to protect the drinking water sources of its 168 citizens. ...

...

Inspired by the popular removal of racist monuments across North America in the wake of Charlottesville, and in solidarity with the anti-racists confronting the white supremicist group La Meute in Quebec City today, community members removed and destroyed a Heritage Canada plaque celebrating colonial genocide early this morning in Montreal. They replaced it with a notice commemorating the people killed on the site and honouring resistance to colonialism and to white supremacy. There are many similar monuments in Montreal, just waiting to be taken down … ...

STATEMENT FROM FREDDY STONEYPOINT as RELEASED TO HIS LAWYERS ME RIAHI AND ME DESVIGNES. “As a representative of Bawating water protectors, my only wish is to activate my ceremonial being in defense of land and waters through peaceful means. I am not an activist, I am an Anishinaabe man working to protect the land for future generations. I thank all of my supporters working towards same future for all on Turtle Island. Tomorrow at 10h30 AM, I will receive a decision on my bail hearing.”

The blockade of the Junex Galt oil wells in Gaspésie has had much written about it in recent days. Nevertheless, information on what was happening at the site of the blockade has been hard to come by. The cops, as the blockaders, have not been particularly forthcoming. I won’t elaborate on the how or the why of this action. I only want to share moments of an incredible power that will never be relayed by the media, but that were quite real. ...

Frank Sorby: And I’m Frank Sorby, subchief of Gespegawagi Tribal Council. ...

Legal defense funds are urgently needed for Freddy Stoneypoint, an Anishinaabe man who was arrested Monday night in a police raid of the anti-fracking blockade on Mi’gmaq territory in so-called “Québec”. People had erected barricades and blockaded the site for over a week before a Sûreté Québec (SQ) tactical unit assaulted the camp. Protectors of the land and water are always confronted by the machinery of the police, in service of the oil companies. Solidarity and support for the defenders will be necessary for the struggle to be able to stop the destruction of territories. ...

Sunday, August 6, a group of native and settler land defenders blocked access to Junex’s fracking drill pads Galt 4, 5, and 6 in Gaspésie on Mi’kmaq territory, land of the 7th district in Gespegawagi, 20 km from the town of Gaspé. After securing funding from the Quebec government, Junex announced their plans to start unconventional horizontal drilling on this site in September. ...

Our 7th District Overseers Tribal Council is in full support of the defenders at the Junex Galt protest site near Gaspé. We have been in direct communication with the defenders in the past days and they attended our District Tribal council meeting last night in Listuguj asking for our support in the protection of our District lands, waters, fauna and wildlife. We as the District Tribal Council members call for the support of these Defenders and for travel to the Gaspé protest site, we as Mi’gmaq peoples have a duty and obligation to also be the defenders and protectors of our Ancestral District territory. We cannot remain silent and condone any oil drilling within our territory that will poison our lands, waters, fauna and wildlife. ...

I, Madonna Bernard, as a Mi’kmaq, of the Unamaki territory, and as a land / water protector, stand in solidarity with the people of Gaspesie for standing up again Junex to prevent them from drilling for oil on Mik’maq territory, land of the 7th district in Gespegawagi. We will support any defenders of Mother Earth. It is our inherent right and duty to protect Mother Earth as indigenous people. We cannot leave it up to the INAC system and the government to protect the environment, because it is a corrupt system. Their only goal is to make money no matter the cost to the environment and future generations. ...

Since monday, we’ve been blocking the road leading to Junex’s petrolium exploration sites Galt 4, 5 and 6. We are many anonymous and autonomous individuals, defending the water, the earth and the air with all our hearts. A second camp was created at the base of the mountain, near the rivière ‘fourche’, at the junction with the 198. We urgently need support! Come in large numbers and as quickly as possible! Police are threatening to intervene at any moment: two vans are currently permanently stationed outside of the barricade (at least for now). The maintenance of the blockade depends on your support. ...