QPIRG Con cor d i a ’ sWor k i n gGr oupsJour n a l201 2
CONTENTS SPEAKING OUT AGAINST POLICE VIOLENCE AND IMPUNITY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 contributed by Justice for the Victims of Police Killings
A OPEN LETTER TO A MONTREAL BLACK FEMALE POLICE OFFICER. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 contributed by Project X
SOLIDAIRES FACE AU PROFILAGE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 contribution du Réseau de la Commission populaire
MANIFESTATION CONTRE LE PROFILAGE POLITIQUE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 contribution du Collectif opposé à la brutalité policière (COBP)
SUPPORT THE G20 DEFENDANTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 contributed by Open Door Books
COINTELPRO: REPRESSION & RESISTANCE, THEN & NOW . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 contributed by Certain Days Calendar Committee
RESISTING DEPORTATIONS: A COMMUNITY GUIDE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 contributed by Solidarity Across Borders
QPIRG CONCORDIA WORKING GROUPS DIRECTORY (2011-12) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 PAOLA ORTIZ, UNE “FAUSSE” DEMANDEUR D’ASILE? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 contribution de Dignidad Migrante
DECOLONIZE MONTREAL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 contributed by Indigenous Solidarity Committee
GENTRIFICATION IN DOWNTOWN WEST MONTREAL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 contributed by Right to the City
LE CENTRE SOCIAL AUTOGÉRÉ: UNE HISTOIRE D’EXPROPRIATION POPULAIRE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 contribution du Centre social autogéré de Pointe-Saint-Charles
INFORMATION LITERACY FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE IN THE DIGITAL AGE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 contributed by Radical Reference Montreal
BAN BOTTLED WATER ON CAMPUS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 contributed by TAPthirst
P’TITES IDÉES POUR UNE GRANDE GRÈVE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 contribution de la Convergence des luttes anticapitalistes (CLAC)
WHY FREE EDUCATION? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 contributed by Free Education Montreal (FEM)
LA NON-SCOLARISASTION ET LES ÉCOLES-LIBRES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 contribution du L’École Libre Radical de Montréal
WHAT HAPPENS AT THE MONTREAL ANARCHIST BOOKFAIR? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 contributed by Montreal Anarchist Bookfair Collective
Welcome to QPIRG Concordia’s second issue of At the Heart of Resistance We describe our working groups as the heart of QPIRG Concordia; they are close to thirty groups, collectives, networks, projects, and campaigns that organize together in the Montreal community, and beyond, on a wide variety of issues directly related to social and environmental justice. Together, these groups represent collective struggles and organizing for self-determination and liberation. This journal is meant to be a way to highlight some of those struggles. Our working groups share skills and knowledge, engage in popular education and art, organize events and protests, provide direct support and solidarity, publish alternative research and analysis, and, in general, contribute, encourage, and maintain resistance in diverse and creative ways. At the Heart of Resistance shows the numerous ways in which our working groups make links between different struggles against oppression and exploitation. The amazing day-to-day organizing of our working groups is a reflection of solidarity in practice. At the Heart of Resistance reflects just one small part of what our working groups do, and it’s far from comprehensive or exhaustive. To learn more about all of our working groups, we encourage you to consult the Working Groups Directory in the centre-spread of the journal and to contact the groups directly. Consider At the Heart of Resistance a starting point: a means to learn more, to challenge your own thinking, and to get involved. At the Heart of Resistance reflects community organizing work, a spirit of resistance that happens day-to-day, year-round, building on the work of those who have gone before us, and hopefully providing contributions for the future. Our working groups are a heart the size of a fist, a muscle that we strengthen together, as we journey in our collective struggle for justice and dignity. Thank you to the working groups who contributed!
-- Ashley Fortier (editing and production) -- Gabrielle Gérin (editing) -- Jaggi Singh (editing and production) -- Karen Boyles (cover art) -- Noah Eidelman (layout and production) -- Tasha Zamudio (layout)
on behalf of QPIRG Concordia
At the Heart of Resistance
SPEAKING OUT AGAINST POLICE VIOLENCE AND IMPUNITY contributed by the Justice for the Victims of Police Killings Coalition www.22octobre.net Statement by Bridget Tolley, daughter of Gladys Tolley:
The Justice for the Victims of Police Killings Coalition in Montreal brings together directly-affected families and friends of the victims of police killings, as well as their allies.
Kwey. My name is Bridget Tolley. I am an Algonquin grandmother and member of the Kitigan Zibi First Nation. My mother, Gladys Tolley, was struck and killed by a Sûreté du Québec police cruiser on October 5, 2001. It has been 10 long years that I have been looking for answers and accountability. It has not been an easy road.
Our main goals and purpose as a coalition are to remember the victims who lost their lives due to police violence, impunity, and abuse; and to support their families and friends in any way we can. As a coalition we demand an end to police brutality and impunity, an end to social racial and political profiling, as well as access to any and all information that can shed light on police killings.
In the past 10 years, the police organizations involved in the investigation have made no effort to communicate with my family and we had to learn from a newspaper reporter that the investigation into my mother’s death was closed.
The Coalition currently involves the family members and friends of the following individuals, all of whom died as a direct result of police actions and interventions:
My family has since found that police reports are filled with inaccuracies and the Kitigan Zibi’s First Nation Policing Agreement was not followed. This agreement is signed by the federal government, provincial government, and the Kitigan Zibi Anishnabe Chief and Council. We have also uncovered what we believe to be a profound conflict of interest in the investigation into my mother’s death. After my mother was killed, the brother of the officer who killed my mother was put in charge of the scene. Another brother of the officer that killed my mother was also on the scene. This is simply outrageous.
- Anas Bennis, 25, who was shot and killed by Montreal police in 2005; - Claudio Castagnetta, 32, who died in custody after being arrested by the Quebec City police in 2007; - Ben Matson, 49, who was killed by Vancouver police in 2002; - Quilem Registre, 39, who was tasered and killed by the Montreal police in 2007; - Gladys Tolley, 61, who was killed in 2001 after being struck by a Sûreté du Québec police cruiser on the Kitigan Zibi reserve; - Fredy Villanueva, 18, who was shot and killed by Montreal police in 2008.
How can the police be impartial when investigating one of their own? We believe that the police should no longer be given a role in investigating other police. We have little faith that investigations can be fair, unbiased, or hold police accountable for their actions.
For the past two years, we have been a working group of both QPIRG McGill & Concordia. For this year’s edition of “At the Heart of Resistance,” we include the public statements of Julie Matson (daughter of Ben Matson) and Bridget Tolley (daughter of Gladys Tolley) that were shared at the October 22, 2011 march against police violence and impunity in Montreal.
5 years into my struggle for justice and answers, I founded Sisters in Spirit’s Annual October 4th Vigils to honour missing and murdered Aboriginal women and girls in order to show solidarity with their families.
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In 2009, with support from the Assembly of First Nations, the Native Women’s Association of Canada, Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg,
QPIRG Concordia Working Groups Journal - January 2012 Amnesty International, the Algonquin Nation, and others, I requested an independent investigation by the Quebec government into my mom’s death. After being refused, I began to petition the federal government to overturn Quebec’s decision. I also sought support from the Justice for Victims of Police Killings and am part of the coalition of families.
need other strategies of harm reduction on our streets. We need better ways to deal with people suffering from mental health issues than the police. Our society needs a better way to care for vulnerable people with support and compassion, rather than with violence and weapons. I’ve seen first-hand how proposed solutions become the next wave of tools of death and injury, such as the use of tasers. We need to identify that the problem is not crime; the problem is not violence.The problem is the police unjustly killing and injuring people.
In January 2011, I also co-founded Families of Sisters in Spirit (FSIS), a grassroots organization by and for families of missing and murdered Aboriginal women. On October 3, 2011, along with three other FSIS families, I met with members of the federal opposition. Despite a decade of being ignored by the police, I continue to speak out for accountability and justice. I also continue to organize and strategize with grassroots communities, with Aboriginal families, and families affected by police violence and impunity.
We need radical solutions for radical problems – I am calling for the police to be disarmed, and for a ceasefire on our streets. We need less violence and more compassion on our streets.♥
Statement of Julie Matson, Montreal resident and daughter of Ben Matson: My name is Julie Matson, and my dad, Ben Matson, was killed, without reason, by the Vancouver Police Department in May 2002. He was beaten and kicked to death, choking on his own vomit while being restrained in the prone position. Losing a loved one is one of the hardest things to go through, but losing them in such a violent, surreal way is beyond imagination, especially at the hands of those we are led to believe are here to serve and protect.
Losing a loved one is one of the hardest things to go through, but losing them in such a violent, surreal way is beyond imagination.
Throughout the process of dealing with my dad’s death, from the initial investigation, through to the public inquest, I couldn’t ignore the blatant use of profiling, be it class, race, or otherwise, and the continual upholding of systemic impunity and privilege that the police have. I am fortunate enough to have found an amazing group of friends within the other families and supporters that have united to speak out against police violence and impunity. Together, we have organized memorial marches and vigils around Oct 22nd, a date that is recognized internationally as a day against police brutality and impunity. One of our main focuses is to commemorate the lives of our loved ones, and demand an end to police violence. Whether the killings were a week ago, a year ago, a decade ago, or three decades ago, we are here to honour the memories of those that have been killed at the hands of the police. We are planning another march for this coming October 22nd, and welcome all to the processes of organizing and supporting our efforts.We have a website for more info, it is www.22octobre. net. In light of the recent tragic deaths of Mario Hamel and Patrick Limoges, we need to have other options than police violence. We 3
At the Heart of Resistance
A OPEN LETTER TO A MONTREAL BLACK FEMALE POLICE OFFICER contributed by Project X www.theprojectx.ca English-speaking Caribbean mothers whose complaints of why their sons are being detained fall upon uncaring francophone cop ears. The system needs you for its own selfish purposes.Your community needs you because you need your community.
The following testimony is a personal account from a community organizer who wishes to remain anonymous. The letter is an attempt to bring to light the systemic forces that continue to push certain members of our society into disempowering states of imprisonment both on the streets and behind bars. The letter exemplifies that the struggle for self-determination goes deeper than color, language, creed, or gender — it is the struggle between “those who got and those who ain’t got.”
So when on that cold Wednesday night, you barked at me after I politely inquired to why seven young Black teens were being interrogated for a crime they did not commit; I say shame. When you wrung your neck in all sorts of abrupt contortionist movements telling me “Why do you need to know…who are they to you…you are not family to them,” to that, I say shame. You carried yourself in a disgusting manner that correlates with the unfair stereotypical assumptions that have been plaguing our Black women for decades. Shame. When I asked for your name, and you roll your eyes and angrily gesture for me to read your nametag; again, I cry out shame.
Project X supports the voices of those in our community who wish to share their stories in the hopes that members who are targeted by oppressive authorities realize that they are not in isolation and have a community base to learn from and find refuge in. We then equip them by providing legal workshops, support for filing complaints, and help using media tools to get their stories out. Dear Officer,
Do not think for a gun-toting moment that you can intimidate me. I am not afraid. WE are not afraid. I am not afraid of your gun. I am not afraid of your hasty judgment of my appearance. I am simply not afraid. For the fact is, you are here today because of hard-working, law-abiding Black men such as myself. WE have NOTHING to be afraid of. I am the spitting image of your father, your brother, your uncle, and more likely than not one of your teenage sweethearts…so save your Ms. Ghetto-Attitude nonsense for the Quebecois cops at the annual police barbeque. I would have expected that ignorant attitude from the other cops (who I do commend for their professionalism displayed…once I told them I am a community worker…) but not from you. Carry yourself properly, Black Woman!
You are a Black Woman Cop. I ask not for forgiveness for my direct beginning for it is a true and honest fact. I surely hope that you have embraced this fact well, for although two of the descriptors were bestowed upon you not by your own volition (extremely worthy titles nonetheless and I as a Black Man will forever cherish that), the third and final descriptor, the “cop”… well you chose that (and to that, well…less of my respect is given than the aforementioned). So embrace it. Claim it as you see fit. I am writing this public letter, to express my concerns about your unprofessional conduct towards me on the night of February 10, 2010 at the Vendome metro station. I am making it a public letter because I hope that this will also serve as a catalyst that will help in the mobilization of the hundreds of Montrealers who feel their voice is not heard when it comes to the unjust practices of the SPVM. I forewarn you that my intent is not to tarnish your image, I truly believe under different circumstances you are a “nice” person BUT I also believe that if a police officer vows to serve and protect my community, I will keep my community aware, and this so-called “justice system” in line. It is my duty as a citizen to file a complaint to your precinct and I will do that promptly, however, this letter is addressed specifically to you and to the people of Montreal. This is my heart felt opinion…take it or leave it.
Now, certain members of the media and the public may be itching to shout rebuttals of how I should view her as any other police officer and not as a BLACK cop, or a FEMALE cop or a BLACK FEMALE cop. I cannot do this – because assuming that we are all the same; that we are just “one people” is extremely dangerous. It is dangerous because everyone in this city has a particular history, a valid story that is as unique and important as the next person’s story. No details should be left out in our stories. Yes she is a police officer, but she is different than the average White male French-speaking police officer of Montreal. I can only imagine the many uphill struggles she had to overcome to get to her position and I commend her determination and hard work. However, I feel that this is more of a reason to reinforce the fact that she is a BLACK WOMAN cop and not paint over her cultural history in a dull uniform navy blue. To neglect what makes us different (our cultures, our viewpoints, our histories) is as poisonous as assuming that we are all different.
I believe registering a complaint may be futile because the Montreal police needs black women like you on the force. They need you to pose for pictures to give the city that glossy multicultural look. They need you to intervene and regurgitate scripted lines to 4
QPIRG Concordia Working Groups Journal - January 2012 Montreal prides itself on its multiculturalism but only when it sees fit. Although I was born in Montreal, if I were to break the law in a public place and the police ask witnesses to describe me…I am under strong suspicion that the homogeneous hymn of a reply would be in the key B flat…as in “It was the BLACK guy.” I accept that gracefully, for I am a Black man. However, if I were to do an honourable deed…I being the Black guy comes in second…now I am an outstanding Montrealer! A shining emblem of what Montreal is all about out. I believe that it is paramount to bring differences to the forefront whether under good or less than likable circumstances. So that’s why I am stressing on this different cop. This Black woman cop. And if the media or public feels that the previous sentence may be offensive, it shows itself as a testament of how brainwashed and blind we have become in interpreting what is blatantly obvious to so many “minorities.” Are we still the “visible minorities”? Still? Really? So if you don’t agree or understand where I am coming from…that is fine. Ask one of your Black/Brown/Asian/ Indigenous/Arab friends that you claim to have for a more in depth explanation. Guh long with wuna self. Back to my letter to the Black woman cop. Dear officer, I sincerely pray that you come to the quick realization that you are not only a Black Woman Cop. You are a person. Just like those seven boys you and your colleagues were interrogating at Vendome metro. Just like our common Black forefathers who ruled empires and advanced in sciences beyond their times. Just like our Afrikan ancestors who would not so quickly retreat to using force and intimidation to find justice. Just like me. ♥
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At the Heart of Resistance
SOLIDAIRES FACE AU PROFILAGE contribution du Réseau de la Commission populaire www.commissionpopulaire.org Le profilage, qu’il soit politique, social ou racial, n’est pas un phénomène nouveau au Canada, bien au contraire. Au nom de la « sécurité nationale », le gouvernement a historiquement ciblé divers groupes, organisations et communautés selon l’agenda politique du jour : les boucs émissaires varient au fil du temps (voir l’encadré pour des exemples). Au cours de son histoire, le gouvernement canadien a adopté des mesures ou des lois répressives et racistes qui se sont traduites par une véritable institutionnalisation du profilage. Et qui dit institutionnalisation, dit création de différentes agences gouvernementales et corps policiers, principaux responsables de la normalisation du profilage, quel qu’il soit. Le SCRS et l’institutionnalisation du profilage Le Service canadien du renseignement de sécurité (SCRS) est la principale agence de renseignements — ou d’espionnage — du Canada. Il a été créé en 1984 à la suite du Rapport MacDonald, résultat d’une enquête visant à faire la lumière sur une série de scandales impliquant l’organe de renseignements de la GRC dans les années 1970 (communiqués frauduleux du FLQ appelant à multiplier les actes de violence, vol et dissimulation d’explosifs, cambriolages, etc.). Le principal rôle du SCRS est de recueillir, d’analyser et de partager de l’information concernant « les menaces envers la sécurité nationale du Canada ». À titre d’exemples : •
•
•
il recueille l’information qu’il juge pertinente à l’application de la Loi sur la citoyenneté et de la Loi sur l’immigration et la protection des réfugiés. Cela signifie que le SCRS peut jouer un rôle dans les demandes de statut de réfugié-e ou de résident-e permanent-e, l’émission de visas et de permis de séjour, les certificats de sécurité, etc. il fournit des « évaluations de sécurité » au sujet d’individus à la demande des gouvernements fédéral et provinciaux. Selon la Loi sur le SCRS, une « évaluation de sécurité » est définie comme étant une « évaluation de la loyauté d’un individu envers le Canada et, à cet égard, de sa fiabilité1». il partage de l’information personnelle de Canadiens et de Canadiennes de façon régulière avec des agences d’espionnage étrangères.
Survol historique du profilage au Canada: des lois et des victimes 1869-1885 : répression violente de la révolte des Métis autochtones dans l’Ouest canadien par l’ancêtre de la GRC. 1914 : adoption de la Loi sur les mesures de guerre, qui donne des pouvoirs spéciaux au gouvernement fédéral lui permettant de gouverner par décret lorsqu’il perçoit la menace d’une guerre, d’une invasion ou d’une insurrection, réelle ou appréhendée. 1914-1920 : plus de 9 000 hommes, femmes et enfants d’origine allemande et autrichienne sont internés dans des camps en tant que « sujets d’un pays ennemi ». 1918-1919 : les Européens de l’Est deviennent les boucs émissaires de la guerre au communisme menée par le gouvernement. Raison : insurrection appréhendée. 1942-1944 : la Loi sur les mesures de guerre est appliquée sur toute personne de descendance japonaise. Le gouvernement s’en sert pour déporter plus de 20 000 personnes à plus de 100 milles de la côte Ouest canadienne. Octobre 1970 : la Loi sur les mesures de guerre est de nouveau proclamée. Résultat : 450 personnes sont arrêtées et détenues, certaines pendant des mois, sans accusations.
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QPIRG Concordia Working Groups Journal - January 2012 Comme on peut le voir, le mandat du SCRS est très large, et cela lui confère une vaste gamme de pouvoirs qu’il peut utiliser comme bon lui semble. En effet, cette agence d’espionnage jouit d’une impunité quasi totale. Bien qu’il existe une instance chargée de « surveiller » le SCRS et de recevoir les plaintes de la population, le Comité de surveillance des activités de renseignement (CSAR), cette dernière n’a que des ressources très limitées et n’a aucun pouvoir coercitif. Ainsi, dans le cas des procédures concernant le certificat de sécurité contre Adil Charkaoui, le CSAR a blâmé à plusieurs reprises le SCRS pour sa destruction systématique de preuves, sans aucun résultat. Ce n’est que lorsque Charkaoui a porté sa cause devant la Cour suprême que le SCRS a été forcé de changer ses pratiques. Le CSAR produit un rapport annuel à l’intention du Parlement, mais ce dernier finit par amasser la poussière sur les tablettes d’un bureau quelconque. Il faut aussi ajouter que le CSAR partage la même obsession pour la « sécurité nationale » que le SCRS, tolère le profilage et est tout aussi entouré de secret.
cette campagne est une façon concrète d’agir en solidarité avec les communautés, groupes et individus ciblés. Elle permet aussi de briser le silence et le secret qui entourent les méthodes du SCRS: si leurs tactiques sont connues, elles ont beaucoup moins de chances de fonctionner. Mais briser le silence est aussi important pour contrer le sentiment d’impuissance, d’isolement et de peur que de telles visites peuvent entraîner. Finalement, notre objectif est de faire en sorte que la noncollaboration d e v i e n n e généralisée et de lancer un message clair: c’est notre droit de ne pas collaborer avec cette agence d’espionnage, ce choix est légitime, et ça ne veut pas dire que nous avons quelque chose à cacher (contrairement au SCRS!).
Dans le cadre de son travail, le SCRS s’appuie sur la culpabilité par association et le profilage; il considère suspectes certaines opinions politiques et religieuses, ainsi que des communautés racisées entières. Il surveille des communautés autochtones, des groupes de personnes migrantes, des mosquées et des organisations politiques. Les méthodes du SCRS sont synonymes de harcèlement, de menace, de chantage et de manipulation. Le SCRS contribue ainsi à instaurer un climat de peur et de soupçon, qui sert à justifier l’accroissement des pouvoirs répressifs du gouvernement envers les mouvements sociaux, à augmenter les déportations et les détentions de personnes migrantes.
Faites comme plus de 50 organisations: signez notre Déclaration de non-collaboration3 . Contribuez à faire connaître la campagne en étant l’hôte d’un de nos ateliers dans votre organisation, école, centre communautaire4 . Soyons solidaires face au profilage! ♥
Généralisons la non-collaboration Dans la foulée des mobilisations contre les Olympiques à Vancouver (hiver 2010) et contre le Sommet du G20 à Toronto (juin 2010), plusieurs organisateurs et organisatrices des communautés autochtones et plusieurs activistes ont reçu la visite du SCRS. Ces visites s’ajoutent à celles reçues par diverses communautés, principalement arabo-musulmanes, ainsi que par des groupes latino-américains et palestiniens de solidarité internationale. Ces visites ont plusieurs objectifs: récolter des renseignements, exploiter les divisions au sein des mouvements, créer des profils psychologiques, décourager les personnes de participer à des actions politiques, isoler des individus et des groupes.
C’est nous qui soulignons. Le texte de la Loi sur le SCRS est disponible en ligne http://lois-laws.justice.gc.ca/fra/lois/C-23/index.html 2 Pour en savoir davantage sur les raisons de ne pas parler au SCRS: www.peoplescommission.org/fr/csis/top10.php 3 Disponible en ligne en plusieurs langues: www.peoplescommission.org/fr/csis whattodo-csis.php 4 Si vous voulez organiser un atelier pour votre groupe ou organisation communautaire, svp veuillez nous contacter au commissionpopulaire@gmail.com. 1
C’est dans ce contexte que le Réseau de la Commission populaire a lancé une campagne de totale non-collaboration avec le SCRS, dans le but de contrer les tactiques du SCRS cherchant à diviser nos communautés2. En plus de délégitimer les tactiques du SCRS, 7
At the Heart of Resistance
15 MARS 2012 : MANIFESTATION CONTRE LE PROFILAGE POLITIQUE contribution du Collectif opposé à la brutalité policière (COBP) www.cobp.resist.ca On nous suit, on nous guette, on nous brutalise… on riposte!
recours à cette disposition lors de la manifestation est un affront à la liberté d’expression.
Alors que la stigmatisation des mouvements sociaux s’intensifie et dans un contexte de durcissement du capitalisme, nous devons nous mobiliser! Ceci est un appel à organiser une riposte contre la répression politique dans le cadre de la Journée internationale contre la brutalité policière.
À Montréal, la création de l’escouade GAMMA (Guet des activités des mouvements marginaux et anarchistes), véritable police politique, a aussi de quoi inquiéter. Et c’est sans compter le durcissement des règles gouvernementales en matière d’immigration sous couvert de lutte contre le terrorisme, l’établissement de listes noires et le harcèlement exercé par le Service canadien du renseignement de sécurité (SCRS).
L’année dernière, de nombreuses actions avaient été organisées en marge du 15 mars dans le cadre du mois contre la brutalité policière. L’expérience fut très positive et nous aimerions que de telles initiatives se multiplient.
Le but de ces pratiques répressives est d’affaiblir les groupes militants et les mouvements sociaux. Les policiers agissent comme acteurs politiques chargés de déstabiliser la dissidence et la contestation afin de protéger l’élite politique et économique. Cette dernière a besoin de son bras armé afin de réprimer toute contestation du système injuste qui la sert.
Bien qu’il n’y ait rien de nouveau dans l’intérêt que portent les policiers aux mouvements sociaux, les exemples de répression politique ont pris une teinte beaucoup moins discrète au cours des derniers mois.
Cet appel à la mobilisation n’a pas pour simple objectif de protéger nos droits fondamentaux. Nous désirons dénoncer le profilage politique et mettre fin aux pratiques de criminalisation de la dissidence. Nous désirons montrer que nous ne sommes pas intimidé-e-s et que tant qu’on nous imposera un système injuste, aucune tactique ne pourra arrêter la dissidence et la contestation.
On peut évidemment parler des arrestations qui ont atteint un sommet sans précédent lors de la rencontre du G20 à Toronto en juin 2010. Des centaines de manifestant-e-s arrêté-e-s, 21 personnes ont été ciblées comme faisant partie du « groupe organisateur ». D’abord accusées de complot, les accusations sont maintenant tombées, démontrant clairement leur absurdité.
En ce sens, nous proposons que le 15 mars 2012, Journée internationale contre la brutalité policière, soit consacré à dénoncer la répression politique. ♥
Il ne faut pas non plus oublier l’arrestation massive de manifestant-e-s en vertu du code de la sécurité routière lors de la manifestation du 15 mars 2011. Jamais le code de la sécurité routière n’avait été utilisé afin de réprimer une manifestation. Quelques 239 manifestant-e-s ont reçu une contravention de 488$ parce qu’ils et elles entravaient la circulation routière. Le 8
At the Heart of Resistance
SUPPORT THE G20 DEFENDANTS contributed by Open Door Books opendoorbooks.wordpress.com On December 4th, 2011, the Certain Days Calendar Committee and Open Door Books held an info session and letter-writing night in support of the 17 people who were part of the so-called “G20 Main Conspiracy Group.” The event featured an update on the outcome of their preliminary inquiry, which ended on November 22nd, 2011 when the defendants entered into a plea agreement. As a result of this agreement, 6 people will be serving jail time ranging from an estimated 3 and a half to 16 months. The other 11 have had their charges withdrawn. In the end, no one was convicted of conspiracy. In addition to this update, the letter-writing event included a discussion about confronting state repression in social movements, as well as an opportunity to write letters to the 6 defendants who received jail time.
determination; in the fight for justice for women, queer and trans, low- income, disabled, and racialized people. Leah was sentenced to 10 months in jail, beginning on December 20, 2011.
We continue to encourage people to send letters to these 6. There are 5 people currently in detention; the one other will begin serving time by June 2012. For updated contact information, please check the “Conspire to Resist” website: conspiretoresist. wordpress.com. The website includes a video and written statement from the collective 17, as well as individual statements and more information on the case.
Alex Hundert
Peter Hopperton Peter Hopperton lives in the Spencer Creek watershed. He organizes around encouraging and supporting people in building a more direct connection to the land in which they live, as a form of decolonizing work. He is a founding member of the Hamilton Freeschool and a former editor of Mayday magazine. He was sentenced to 9 months, which began November 28, 2011. Peter would appreciate receiving letters in French as well as in English.
Alex is a founding member of AW@L, a direct action group based out of Kitchener- Waterloo. He does indigenous solidarity organizing and works with land defense struggles, including at Grassy Narrows First Nation and with allies at Six Nations. Alex will be sentenced to 13 and a half months, the start date for which has not yet been set.
Locally, the CLAC (Convergence des luttes anticapitalistes) Legal Support Committee is collecting donations to support those who were arrested at the G20 in 2010. For more information or to donate, visit: http://www.clac2010.net/en/donations
Adam Lewis Adam Lewis organizes in solidarity with indigenous peoples and towards decolonization within settler society. He is committed to anarchist politics and communities of resistance. He wants to be kept updated on cool stuff, and is excited to read about anarchist theory and indigenous struggles. He was sentenced to 4 months in jail, which began November 28th, 2011.
Included below are brief bios of the 6 facing jail time and guidelines for writing letters to them. The 6 facing jail time : (from: guelphprisonersolidarity.wordpress.com/g20-team-6/support/)
Erik Lankin
Mandy Hiscocks
Erik is an anarchist who organizes around prisoner justice and solidarity with indigenous sovereignty. He wants to stay updated on news about different struggles and anticipates nerding out over historical tactics of warfare and computer security. Erik was sentenced to 5 and a half months, which began November 28, 2011.
In recent years, Mandy has tried to focus on Indigenous solidarity, environmental justice, strategies for developing healthy anarchist communities, and being a good ally. She would love to be kept in the loop so she can continue this work while in jail. Mandy was sentenced to 16 months on January 13th. Leah Henderson Leah is a community organizer who has been active for the past decade in struggles for justice within apartheid Canada. She has been involved in the environmental movement; in supporting Indigenous communities in the struggle for sovereignty and self9
QPIRG Concordia Working Groups Journal - January 2012 Guidelines for Letter-Writing: Feel free to write letters to the 6 who are or will soon be behind bars. Your letters can be friendly expressions of support, stories, jokes, or whatever you think might be of interest to the person to whom you’re writing. HOWEVER, there are some IMPORTANT GUIDELINES about how to proceed when writing letters to folks in prison. Please remember that these letters will be read by prison guards. Don’t write about anything illegal or suggestive of illegal activity, especially anything that incriminates yourself or others. Though the specific rules vary between jails and guards, you generally can’t send in stickers, anything with glue, sparkles, staples, or stamps. In this case, please do not include photos of the person you are writing to (you can include photos of other people), do not use any scent, do not put lipstick on anything, and do not include other items besides letters/cards.The mail will not be delivered if you do. ♥
Photo of the so-called G-20 conspiracy defendants from: conspiretoresist.wordpress.com
10
At the Heart of Resistance
COINTELPRO: REPRESSION & RESISTANCE, THEN & NOW contributed by the Certain Days Calendar Committee www.certaindays.org threat to both the hegemony of capital and its unfettered access to profits, and to the fiefdom of white supremacy and its historical cultural domination. Accordingly, the FBI sought to crush this movement and the groups allied with it. Movement activists were covertly surveilled; their finances audited; backgrounds checked; employers and landlords interviewed. What indiscretions or infidelities came to light were skilfully used against them. Groups were set against groups.The weak and faint-hearted were turned against their colleagues. Well-placed news articles and not so subtle editorials cheered on this illegal FBI activity. And much of the same activity goes on today.
The Certain Days: Freedom for Political Prisoners Calendar is a joint fundraising and educational project between outside organizers in Montreal and Toronto and three political prisoners being held in maximum-security prisons in New York State: Herman Bell, David Gilbert, and Robert Seth Hayes.This year, the calendar’s timely theme is COINTELPRO: Repression and Resistance, Then and Now. In this edition of At The Heart of Resistance, we highlight two articles about COINTELPRO: one by political prisoner Herman Bell and a COINTELPRO 101 article from the Freedom Archives.We accompany those articles with two images from this year’s calendar by artists Santiago Armengod and Kara Sievewright.
In the wake of the 9/11 Twin Towers attack in New York City and the subsequent U.S.A. Patriot Act, the current incarnation of COINTELPRO finds itself with even more repressive powers. And the politicians, governors, policing agencies, and special interest groups that wish to fashion U.S. society (its institutions, behaviour patterns, and beliefs) in their exclusive image, have taken to these new powers like pigs to slop. Consequently, the political climate today is such that an authority can casually construe the most harmless, inconsequential statement or act as a conspiracy or threat to national security. It’s a climate where people feel reluctant even to donate charitable dollars to humanitarian organizations lest their name appear on a government “terrorist watch list.” Surveillance cameras abound in public spaces, and cell phones, GPS-systems, credit cards, and personal computers enable that a plethora of information on U.S. citizens be gathered and stored. Why collect all this information if not for manipulative or sinister purposes?!
COINTELPRO Then and Now By Herman Bell As played out in the Black Civil Rights Movement of the 60s and 70s, the FBI’s counter-intelligence program (COINTELPRO) sought to repress black america’s long standing demand for social justice in U.S. society. In calling for an end to segregation, racial discrimination, mob violence, and police brutality, black-americans were defying the U.S. Jim Crow apartheid caste system. Their demands for fair wages, access to decent housing, health care, education for their children, and just and fair treatment before the law served notice that they were no longer tolerant of their marginalized status in the land of their birth. It’s not that blacks were violent in their demands, but that at every turn they made to improve their lives, they were met with violence. As regards to that, the FBI would investigate the boy scouts if it had anything to do with black folks.
The name COINTELPRO comes from “COunterINtelligence PROgram, and it was ordered by the infamous FBI Director, J. Edgar Hoover, to “misdirect, discredit, disrupt, and otherwise neutralize” progressive and radical organizations and leaders, up to and including outright assassination of leaders and key activists.
Hence, on the ground and in cyberspace, our increasing reliance on electronics renders us even more vulnerable to COINTELPRO’s pervasiveness. Vulnerable to its “watch list” and to what it has already done to our civil liberties and personal freedoms. The push of a button (as punishment for resistance to its authority) could make all our pertinent information - our personal finances, records, credit cards, Social Security numbers, licenses, our very names - “disappeared” from the stream of U.S. electronic social interaction. Does that mean the sky will fall? No!
COINTELPRO is a powerful, sophisticated government instrument of repression and social control. It was designed to repress; traces of it can be found back in the most ancient of times where the drama is enacted of “haves” against “have nots”; of weak against strong; of rich against poor; of who will be master, who will be slave; of who will be dominant, who will be subordinate. It’s fair to say that the Black Civil Rights Movement back then comprised a dangerous mix of disaffected social elements that posed a direct 11
QPIRG Concordia Working Groups Journal - January 2012 Illegal activities were directed at a wide range of groups and individuals, from Cesar Chavez and Martin Luther King to more militant groups and individuals, such as the Black Panther Party, the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, the Revolutionary Action Movement, and Malcolm X. The most intense operations were directed against the Black liberation movement, and Native American, Puerto Rican, and Chicano/Mexicano movements, but also included the entire antiwar, student, women’s movements, and left-wing organizations.
But it could well mean strangers at your door in the middle of the night, electrodes at your genitals in a padded room, or worse. Have we reached a point in our society where the rights we thought we once had no longer exist? And if so, why is that? Could it be complacency, insensitivity, preoccupation, could it be that we are too trusting of government, too accepting of what politicians tell us that we failed to see them “bend the knee” before the banks and corporations on Wall Street? We fail to see that it is they who have let loose on us the Darth Vader-like jackboots from walled citadels of no returns. Now don’t that piss-you-off! Or does it?
A total of 28 members of the Black Panther Party were killed by the police. Two days after the assassination of Martin Luther King in April 1968, Bobby Hutton was murdered by the Oakland cops. In January of 1969, the FBI exacerbated the split with the US organization and the LA Panthers, killing Panther leaders Alprentice “Bunchy” Carter and John Huggins. In August 1969, two Panthers were killed in San Diego and in December of that year, the Chicago Police, under the direct supervision of the FBI, murdered Panthers Fred Hampton and Mark Clark, in Chicago. Between April and December 1969, police raided dozens of BPP offices throughout the country, causing extensive damage while arresting and framing many Panther members.
COINTELPRO 101 By Claude Marks, The Freedom Archives “COINTELPRO” was the FBI’s secret and illegal program to undermine and destroy the popular upsurge and mass movements for social justice that swept the U.S., beginning with the early civil rights movement and Puerto Rican independence movement in the 1950s, and continuing through the 1960s and 1970s. Of course, repression against peoples of colour, poor and working people, and progressive organizations goes back hundreds of years, beginning with genocide against Native Americans and African slavery, as well as a war of conquest against Mexico and the colonization of Puerto Rico. Earlier in the 20th century, anarchists and socialists were imprisoned and deported; the Garvey movement was heavily targeted for destruction; there was also intense repression and infiltration against the Communist Party and progressive trade unions.
During the three years following Native American resistance at Wounded Knee in 1973, more than 60 members of the American Indian Movement (AIM) and their supporters died violently on or near the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. At least 342 others suffered violent physical This image was designed by Santiago Armengod and appears in assaults. The FBI compiled more 2012 Certain Days Calendar for the month of January. than 316,000 separate investigative Santiago Armengod is a Mexican printmaker, organizer, files on AIM members related to and illustrator who attempts to communicate the Wounded Knee alone. Over 562 The name COINTELPRO comes from urgency of radical change through his artwork. He enjoys AIM members and supporters were “COunterINtelligence PROgram, and and spends most of his time working with projects arrested for taking part, while another it was ordered by the infamous FBI and collectives he is part of: Justseeds, La Furia de las Calles, ZAM, Colectivo Cordyceps, and ECPM68. 600 individuals across the nation were Director, J. Edgar Hoover, to “misdirect, charged for supporting the defenders, discredit, disrupt, and otherwise including Chicanos from Colorado. These 562 arrests resulted neutralize” progressive and radical organizations and leaders, up in the indictments of 185 people, many with multiple charges. In to and including outright assassination of leaders and key activists. two years of trials that followed, there were only 15 convictions, Illegal FBI operations also included infiltration, wiretapping of mostly on minor charges. After several failed attempts with phones, opening mail, break-ins, psychological warfare, grand others, the government convicted AIM leader Leonard Peltier of juries, frame-ups, imprisonment, and a wide range of other the murder of two FBI agents at Pine Ridge, although there is no surveillance, harassment, and intimidation operations. While actual evidence, and there are growing demands for his release. COINTELPRO was an FBI operation, it now also worked with The government’s purpose was to disrupt the entire movement many other government and military agencies, local police, and for Indigenous rights. right-wing organizations. 12
At the Heart of Resistance In the case of Puerto Rico, government repression and attacks go back to the colonization of the island in 1898, and continue to target the Independence movement up to the present. The U.S. brutally repressed the Nationalist Party in the 1930s, imprisoning many leaders, and by the 1970s had gathered files on 165,000 adults in Puerto Rico. The Puerto Rican movement of the 1950s was one of the earliest targets of COINTELPRO. And recently in 2005, the FBI assassinated independence leader Filiberto Ojeda Rios. The Chicano/Mexicano movement also grew and expanded greatly during these times, including struggles in the agricultural fields and for immigrant rights, student demonstrations throughout the Southwest, and a powerful movement against the war in Vietnam. It too was met with intense repression, including the assassination of student leaders. There were also numerous operations aimed against progressive, left, and radical organizations such as Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), as well as the entire antiwar movement, GI resistance inside the armed forces, the resurgence of the women’s liberation and start of the gay liberation movements, the prison rights movement inside and outside the prisons, and many other organizations considered subversive by the FBI and other federal and police agencies.
About the political prisoners who work on the Certain Days Calendar: Robert Seth Hayes was arrested in 1973, after police opened fire on his apartment while he was home with his wife and children. This occurred as a result of the U.S. government’s illegal Counterintelligence Program (COINTELPRO), in a climate dominated by portrayals of black militants as murderers and cop-killers. Seth, a former member of the Black Panther Party, was convicted for the death of a NYC transit cop and for the attempted murder of the cops who stormed his apartment. He received a sentence of 25 years to life, and is being held at Sullivan Correctional Facility in Fallsburg, New York. In 1998, Seth was diagnosed with diabetes, and has been struggling with prison administrators to get decent healthcare for his disease. Seth became eligible for parole in 1998, but despite an excellent prison record, Seth’s sixth bid for parole was denied in 2008.You can find out more about Seth and listen to his solidarity statement with Six Nations here: www.sethhayes.org. Robert Seth Hayes #74A2280 Sullivan Correctional Facility P.O. Box 116 Fallsburg, New York 12733-0116 USA
This image was designed by Kara Sievewright and appears in 2012 Certain Days Calendar for the month of September Kara Sievewright is a writer, artist, and activist from Vancouver who has worked with radical movements locally and internationally. More of her work is available at makerofnets.tumblr.com.
The existence of COINTELPRO was discovered in March, 1971, when a still-anonymous group of antiwar activists found secret files when they raided a draft board that shared offices with the FBI in Media, Pennsylvania. They removed the files and released them to the press. While there were congressional investigations and some of these illegal activities were exposed, many of the crimes of COINTELPRO remain unknown. In addition to the highly destructive impact of COINTELPRO during those times, many political prisoners, convicted in the 1960s and 1970s, remain in prison to this day. ♥
Herman Bell has been a U.S. political prisoner for over 36 years. A former Black Panther, he was involved with political community work and subsequently went underground because of relentless FBI and police attacks on the Party. Herman was captured in New Orleans in 1973 and illegally extradited to New York to stand trial with Albert Nuh Washington, Jalil Muntaqim, Francisco Torres, and Gabriel Torres on charges of killing two NYC police. Though the jury could not reach a verdict the first time, the NY District Attorney persisted and used many illegal tactics to obtain convictions for Herman, Jalil and Nuh. Herman was also a founder, along with Carol Dove and Michael Vernon, and core member of the Victory Gardens Project, a collaboration between inner city and rural community groups in the northeastern U.S., in which food, as the organizing tool, was grown and distributed free of charge back into the communities. In 2007, Herman was extradited to San Francisco for prosecution of a 38 year-old unsolved cop-killing case. He was charged along with Jalil Muntaqim and six other former Black Panthers, now known as the San Francisco 8. In July 2009, he pled to reduced charges and received 5 years probation. Herman maintains this was a strategic decision which would help the defense of the others and would allow him to return to New York and continue fighting for freedom. The plea in no way jeopardized the other defendants in the case. His decision paved the way for the dismissal of four of the SF8, once Jalil Muntaqim joined Herman in accepting a plea for probation. Herman Bell #79-C-0262 Great Meadow Correctional Facility 11739 State Route 22, P.O. Box 51 Comstock, New York USA 12821-0051
David Gilbert is a longtime anti-imperialist. He became active around the civil rights movement in 1960, and later organized against the Vietnam War. He spent 10 years as part of an underground resistance to imperialism. Working as an anti-racist ally of the Black Liberation Army in 1981, David and others were captured in connection with an attempted expropriation (theft for political reasons) of a Brink’s truck in Nyack, NY. David was sentenced to 75 years to life and is currently being held at Auburn, a maximum-security prison in New York State. In 1986, David became active as an advocate and educator around AIDS in prison after his codefendant Kuwasi Balagoon died suddenly of AIDS while still in custody. He is the author of No Surrender: Writings from an Anti-Imperialist Political Prisoner. It can be ordered from AK Press, www.akpress.org, info@akpress.org, AK Press, 674-A 23rd Street, Oakland, CA 94612 USA. He also just completed Love and Struggle: My Life in SDS, the Weather Underground and Beyond, which is forthcoming through PM Press. He is also the subject of a mini-documentary, “Lifetime of Struggle,” which is available from AK Press or the Freedom Archives (www.freedomarchives.org). David Gilbert #83-A-6158 Auburn Correctional Facility P.O. Box 618 Auburn NY USA 13021
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QPIRG Concordia Working Groups Journal - January 2012
RESISTING DEPORTATIONS: A COMMUNITY GUIDE contributed by Solidarity Across Borders www.solidarityacrossborders.org
immigrant” distinction that is inherent within government and NGO approaches to migration. We assert that everyone should have the freedom to move and stay wherever they choose, whether those difficult decisions to migrate are motivated by war, violence, economic factors, or other reasons. We are using our experiences and research as a tool to minimize the intrusion of Immigration Canada and the Canada Border Services Agency in people’s lives.
Solidarity Across Borders, a working group at QPIRG Concordia, received a summer stipend in 2011 in order to produce and finalize the publication “Resisting Deportations: A Community Guide.” The guide, which will be available in English, French, and Spanish, includes the following sections: a quick guide to the immigration system; agencies of immigration and border control in Canada/ Quebec; thinking strategically; support work versus case work; common support work scenarios; methodology (or knowing how to get answers); doing support work; direct actions; preparing for a deportation; living underground; legal recourses; and detention centers.
Ultimately, any support work effort must be linked to public campaigns that demand just and fundamental solutions. Caseby-case, some deportations can be stopped, but the overall machinery of the immigration bureaucracy still succeeds in removing and detaining unwanted migrants. We need to confront the unjust system as much as we do support work with individuals and families.
The entirety of the more than 40-page guide is available for download on our website, and there are published versions of the guide now available in English, and soon-to-be-available in French and Spanish. For this year’s “At The Heart of Resistance,” we highlight some sections from our community guide.
As a direct result of attempting to resist deportations, Solidarity Across Borders in Montreal demands an end to deportations and detentions, and the abolition of the double punishment of migrants with criminal records. We demand Status for All (meaning an ongoing and comprehensive regularization program for all non-status people) and we organize to build a Solidarity City in Montreal, where everyone can have access to services and resources, without discrimination.
From the Introduction: Solidarity Across Borders is a migrant justice network based in Montreal, active since 2003. We are comprised of migrants and allies, and we organize together to support individuals and families who are confronting an unjust immigration and refugee system. We mobilize through popular education, support work, as well as political mobilizations, including demonstrations, pickets, and direct actions.
While struggling for our larger demands, we continue to resist deportations, and this guide is one tool in our collective struggle for self-determination and liberation.
This guide provides some practical resources and information to resist deportations, building on the lived experiences of individuals and families who’ve confronted Canadian immigration and border authorities in Montreal for the past decade. This guide compiles the tools and information used by individuals undertaking support work within Solidarity Across Borders. Importantly we reject the “bad immigrant” versus “good
From Support Work versus Case Work: Lawyers, social workers, and agencies often refer to “case work” or their “case load”; that is, the active files they take on as part of their professional work. We prefer to emphasize another 14
At the Heart of Resistance model called “support work.” Support work de-emphasizes the specialist role played by certain professionals on parts of a given case, and acknowledges the various and different roles people can play, and do play, in doing support work.
deportation regime. Visuals such as photographs of the individual being deported, banners with pertinent slogans, and relevant images of the consequences of deportation can help increase the level of awareness with regards to the deportation industry. One potential tactic: if passengers object to a deportation they can stand-up and loudly state that they refuse to be complicit with the deportation. The flight and the deportation may be temporarily delayed.
Support work in practice involves breaking isolation, socializing, providing childcare, assuring access to food and housing, doing research, and much, much more. The support work model emphasizes solidarity, mutual aid, and collective empowerment, not the predominant service-based or charity approaches.
In Europe, people have physically resisted their removal order in the airport and on the plane. This tactic has led to repression from border guards who can engage in a variety of methods that include gagging, hand-cuffing, physical beatings, and drugging. Deportations have been delayed or temporarily suspended after a person has actively resisted at an airport because the border guards decided not to put the person scheduled for deportation on a plane.
The support work model is a microcosm of a Solidarity City, where the networks of mutual aid we develop in doing support work can be generalized and built on a citywide scale. From Direct Actions: Direct actions against migration controls happen everyday and are made up of self-organized unmediated actions undertaken by a person fighting deportation, detention, and any other form of unjust treatment. Surviving the racist immigration system is a form of direct action in itself. Below, we outline other examples of direct action against the injustices of the immigration system.
We demand Status for All (meaning an ongoing and comprehensive regularization program for all non-status people) and we organize to build a Solidarity City in Montreal, where everyone can have access to services and resources, without discrimination.
Delegations, Pickets and Demonstrations Immigration institutions, including local CIC administrative headquarters, the IRB, CBSA, detention jails, Immigration and Public Security ministers’ government offices as well as their constituency offices can be the target of collective action.
A delegation can be comprised of the person directly affected by the deportation order, their family, friends, and supporters who have decided to converge on a targeted office with the express intention to bring a clear message and specific demands. It can be useful to have a letter stating the reason for the delegation that outlines the specific demands and is addressed to the highestlevel decision-maker of the institution in question. The letter ensures a paper trail that can guide future steps in a campaign to stop deportations, and provide grounds for demanding accountability from decisionmakers. The goals of the delegation should be decided prior to the actual visit, and the person facing deportation should set the terms of their involvement. Supporters can determine the degree to which they will stay to demand a response from the decision-maker, setting the parameters for the action that include the risk of arrest.
Sanctuary People who decide to disobey a removal order can seek sanctuary in a church that has accepted the commitment to provide shelter until a permanent solution regarding their landed immigration status is reached. Sanctuary is a historical and unwritten understanding between the state and the clergy in which police and border officers do not violate church premises where a person who has defied their deportation order is sheltered unless authorized by the church. However, there have been instances when sanctuary has been violated without permission from the church. Before taking sanctuary, the religious establishment must agree to offer it. Sanctuary is extremely rare and often church authorities are worse than Immigration Canada when deciding about who is admissible and who gets to stay. Since 2001, there have been at least 8 cases of sanctuary in Montreal and the surrounding area.
Pickets and demonstrations are moments of collective consciousness for both the participants and the general public. They can help break the silence surrounding deportation and detention, highlighting the humanity of the suffering and the violence of the abuse imposed by the immigration system on the many. These types of actions also further the global critique of migration controls and the system, going beyond the case-bycase approach.
Airports and Planes The airport can be a site of struggle as well. A series of actions with varying degrees of intensity can be undertaken to continue the fight against deportations at this stage. For example, if someone would like to publicly denounce their deportation and make it known to the public that it is happening, supporters can arrive at the airport prepared with flyers that outline the circumstances of the deportation and the person’s case. They can also highlight the profits that the airline industry gains from their role in the
Collective resistance is one of the most effective ways to engage in direct actions. Collective action can overwhelm the daily 15
QPIRG Concordia Working Groups Journal - January 2012 operations of an inhumane bureaucracy, interrupting “business as usual,” bringing the immediacy of a person’s suffering to the forefront and exposing the contradictions of the system and its decisions. Solidarity City In 2009, Solidarity Across Borders launched the “Solidarity City” campaign. Inspired by the Right to the City movement and sanctuary cities across the USA, this campaign aims to make Montreal a city where basic services (health care, education, food banks, housing, community resources, etc.) are accessible to all, regardless of immigration status. We also want to make our schools, our hospitals, our shelters, our workplaces, and our neighborhoods spaces where the Canada Border Services Agency and the police will not enter in order to uproot and take away members of our families and communities. Building a Solidarity City also means the building of a city that rejects a system that generates poverty and fear, not only for migrants and refugees but for all the thousands of Montrealers who face precarity. We also see this campaign as a way to generalize and expand basic concepts that have guided migrant justice struggles in Montreal: - breaking isolation and fear; attempting to network and unify around common, direct, and straightforward demands (ie. Status For All, as well as opposing deportations and detentions and double punishment); - practicing tangible mutual aid and solidarity (support work) in contrast to charity or “service” approaches; - organizing campaigns arising from on-the-ground realities and lived experiences; - building the capacity of our mutual aid and support networks over the long-term;
Image by Al Blair
- holding decision-makers directly accountable for their actions and policies; - using direct action to achieve justice. ♥
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Working Groups Directory
QPIRG Concordia Working Groups (2011-12) Working Groups are the heart of the Quebec Public Interest Research Group (QPIRG) at Concordia in Montreal. Working groups are small groups of volunteers who want to organize around a specific issue, idea, project, or campaign. Groups usually organize around ongoing or long-term issues, though some focus on a particular time-sensitive theme or topic. Many of our working groups contributed material to our second edition of this journal. If you would like to reach any of them or find out more information, check out the directory below: Anarchist Tech Support/ Anarchistes pour des technologies solidaires ats-mtl@riseup.net www.ats-mtl.net
ATS (Anarchist Tech Support) is a collective seeking to make the use of technology in our communities more secure and resistant to state surveillance and repression.We do this by researching, distributing tools, skillsharing, and doing popular education on secure technology. L’ATS est un collectif dont le but est de rendre la technologie utilisée dans nos communautés plus sécuritaire et résistante à la surveillance de l’État, et de la protéger contre la répression. Nous faisons ceci en recherchant et en distribuant des outils, en partageant des compétences et en présentant des ateliers d’éducation populaire sur les technologies de sécurité.
Association pour la Liberté d’Expression/Association for Free Expression assoliberteexp@gmail.com 514-848-7583
L’Association pour la liberté d’expression est un observatoire sur la répression politique qui a pour but d’informer la population et d’appuyer les personnes et les groupes ciblés par le profilage politique. Nous souhaitons dénoncer la censure, les arrestations massives à caractère politique et tout autre matraquage de la liberté. Plus précisément, nos interventions se traduisent par des campagnes d’éducation populaire et des appuis directs à des causes judiciaires par le biais d’un fond de défense. The Association for Free Expression is a political repression watchdog with the goal of informing and supporting individuals targeted by political profiling. We aim to denounce censorship, political mass arrests, and other attacks on freedoms. Specifically, we engage in public education campaigns and direct support of legal cases with financial grants.
Centre Sociale Autogéré/ Autonomous Social Center info@centresocialautogere.org 514-934-3057 www.centresocialautogere.org
Le projet de centre social autogéré vise à occuper un espace dans le quartier PointeSt-Charles afin d’en faire un lieu d’activités sociales, culturelles, et politiques autogéré. Différents comités et projets autonomes déjà actifs composent ce projet : bar/spectacles, centre de médias indépendant, atelier vélo-libre, « tube digestif », cinéma itinérant, éducation populaire, etc. The Autonomous Social Center aims to occupy a space in the neighbourhood of Pointe-St-Charles in order to create a place for self-organized social, cultural, and political activities. Various different committees and autonomous projects are already active, including: bar/shows, independent media, bike workshop, roving cinema, popular education, etc.
Certain Days Political Prisoner Calendar Committee info@certaindays.org 514-848-7583 www.certaindays.org
The Certain Days Political Prisoner Calendar Committee works to support, educate about, and fundraise for political prisoners through the production of a yearly calendar. The calendar is a project produced by organizers in Montreal and Toronto, with the support of three political prisoners in upstate New York. We work with an antiimperialist, anti-racist, feminist, queer and trans positive perspective to help free our movement’s political prisoners. Le comité Certain Days Political Prisoner Calendar appuie les prisonniers politiques en éduquant le public et en amassant des 17
fonds grâce à la publication annuelle d’un calendrier. Des organisateurs de Montréal et de Toronto coordonnent le projet avec la participation de trois prisonniers politiques du Nord de l’État de New York. Le travail du comité est mis de l’avant dans une perspective antiimpérialiste, antiraciste, féministe et pro-LGBT pour contribuer à la libération des prisonniers politiques de notre mouvement.
Collectif opposé à la brutalité policière (COBP) cobp@hotmail.com 514-395-9691 www.cobp.resist.ca
Le Collectif opposé à la brutalité policière (COBP) est un groupe autonome de personnes victimes, témoins et/ou concernés par la brutalité policière et tout abus perpétré par la police. Le COBP a pour but non seulement de dénoncer les harcèlements, violences, intimidations, arrestations et abus de pouvoirs policiers et d’informer les gens sur leurs droits face à la police, mais aussi de soutenir les victimes en les aidant par exemple à porter plainte en déontologie et à faire face à des accusations abusives. The Collective Opposed to Police Brutality (COBP) is an autonomous group that includes victims, witnesses, and others who are concerned about police brutality and all abuses perpetuated by the police. The COBP’s goal is not just to denounce harassment, violence, intimidation, arrests, and abuse by the police, but also to raise awareness about our rights, and to support victims of police violence.
Convergence des luttes anticapitalistes (CLAC) info@clac-montreal.net 438-838-8498 www.clac-montreal.net
La Convergence des luttes anticapitalistes de Montréal est une organisation anticapitaliste visant à unir et à renforcer les différentes luttes. Nous organisons la manifestation anticapitaliste annuelle du Premier Mai,
Working Groups Directory appuyons les accusés du G20 de Toronto 2010, diffusons un journal deux fois l’an et faisons la promotion générale des points de vue anticapitalistes.
L’ecole libre radicale/rad school
The Anti-Capitalist Convergence (CLAC) is an anti-capitalist group that brings together and unites different struggles. We organize the annual May 1st demonstration, support the G20 Toronto defendants, distribute a bi-annual newspaper, and in general promote anticapitalist ideas and organizing.
L’École libre de Montréal offre un espace où les enfants sont libres de poursuivre leurs propres intérêts, d’explorer à leur rythme et de participer à une communauté démocratique. Ils sont encouragés à s’intéresser à ce qui les passionne, à explorer, à questionner, à découvrir et à grandir! Ce groupe de travail vise à rendre accessible à tous une éducation basée sur un apprentissage personnel. Liberté en éducation pour tous!
Dignidad Migrante dignidadmigrante@gmail.com 514-848-7583 www.dignidadmigrante.org
Dignidad Migrante est un collectif hispanique de travailleuses et de travailleurs immigrants, ainsi que de leurs alliéEs. Notre mission est : premièrement, de rassembler les membres de la communauté hispanique de Montréal qui font face à l’injustice et à l’exploitation dans leurs milieux de travail, sans égard à leur statut; deuxièmement, nous voulons ouvrir un espace de discussion où les membres de cette communauté peuvent exprimer en toute sécurité leur colère, leurs frustrations ou tout autre sentiment qui résulte de leur situation; troisièmement, nous voulons collaborer pour réfléchir aux moyens de combattre l’injustice et l’exploitation auxquelles font face les travailleuses et les travailleurs immigrants, tout en s’assurant que tous les membres du groupe sont à l’aise avec les actions entreprises par le collectif (compte tenu du statut migratoire précaire de plusieurs membres). Colectivo Dignidad Migrante is made up of Spanish-speaking immigrant workers and their allies. Our goals are to: 1) bring together people of this community in Montreal who face injustice and exploitation in their workplaces, whether they have legal working papers or not; 2) create a space where people of this community feel safe to express their anger, frustration, or any feelings at all about their situation; and 3) work together to think of ways to fight the exploitation and injustice faced by immigrant workers, while making sure that everyone in the group feels safe and comfortable with the actions we take (given the fact that many group members have a precarious immigration status).
montreal@ecolelibre-freeschool.org 514-848-7583 www.ecolelibre-freeschool.org
The Rad School provides a space for children to pursue their own interests, explore at their own pace, and participate in a democratic community. They are encouraged to learn what they are passionate about, to explore, question, discover, and grow! This working group is focused on making student-centered learning available to everyone, freedom in education for all! If you are interested in getting involved with this project, please visit our website.
Montreal Sound Team/ Équipe Sonore equipesonore@riseup.net 514-848-7583 www.equipesonore.wordpress.com
Équipe Sonore/Soundteam provides sound services for Montreal-area community groups that cannot afford to pay professional rates. We build, maintain, and operate PA systems for community events, rallies, conferences, and performances. We also strive to disseminate and democratize the technical knowledge of audio production systems. Our purpose is to support people’s grassroots initiatives and act in the interests of communities and their struggles for economic and political justice. L’Équipe sonore offre des services sonores aux groupes communautaires de Montréal qui ne peuvent payer des frais professionnels de techniciens du son. Nous mettons sur pied, gérons et assurons le fonctionnement de systèmes de sonorisation lors d’évènements communautaires, de manifestations, de conférences et de spectacles. Nous voulons disséminer et démocratiser les connaissances techniques 18
liées à l’équipement de production sonore. Notre but est d’appuyer la mobilisation citoyenne et d’agir dans l’intérêt des communautés et des luttes pour la justice sociale et économique.
Ethnoculture contact@ethnoculture.org 514-992-5488 www.ethnoculture.org
Ethnoculture est un organisme sans but lucratif dirigé par des bénévoles. Sa mission est d’organiser des évènements répondant aux enjeux sociaux, politiques, culturels et économiques qui concernent les personnes LGBT (lesbiennes, gais, bisexuelles ou trans) et à double esprit des communautés autochtones et racialisées de la région métropolitaine. Ethnoculture is a not-for-profit, volunteer-run organization whose sole mandate is to organize events addressing social, political, cultural, and economic issues of concern to lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer and two-spirited (LGBTQT-S) people from indigenous and racialized communities living in Montreal and beyond.
Free Education Montreal info@freeeducationmontreal.org 514-848-7583 www.freeeducationmontreal.org
The purpose of Free Education Montreal is to encourage students and other community members in the Montreal area to think critically and hopefully about education and the role and responsibility of educators and students, as well as to support and bring together student and other community groups fighting the rising costs and deterioration of education. Our shortterm goals are to prevent further tuition and fee increases and profit-driven influences at our educational institutions in Quebec. Our long-term goals are to eliminate tuition and fees in educational institutions and increase the quality of education through public re-investment in and the democratization of Canada and Quebec’s education system. Le but de Free education Montreal est d’encourager les étudiants, et autres membres de la communauté montréalaise et des environs, à développer une pensée critique, préférablement à propos de
Working Groups Directory l’éducation, sur le rôle et la responsabilité des éducateurs et des étudiants. Le groupe appuie et rassemble les étudiants et les membres d’autres groupes communautaires qui luttent contre la hausse des frais de scolarité et la détérioration de l’éducation. Notre but à court terme est d’empêcher de nouvelles hausses des droits de scolarité et lutter contre la tendance au profit dans les institutions d’enseignement du Québec. Notre but à long terme est la gratuité scolaire et l’amélioration de la qualité de l’éducation au Canada et au Québec par le biais d’un réinvestissement public et une démocratisation des institutions éducatives.
Indigenous Solidarity Committee/ Solidarité autochtone Montréal indigenoussolidaritymontreal@gmail.com
514-848-7583 www.indigenoussolidaritymontreal.net The Montreal Indigenous Solidarity Committee works in direct solidarity with Indigenous organizers and communities fighting for land, freedom, and self-determination, from an anticolonial and anti-capitalist perspective. We have organized efforts in opposition to the 2010 Olympics, supporting Indigenous-led efforts in particular. We are also active in support of other Indigenous self-determination efforts, including direct solidarity work with communities in Kanesatake, Akwesasne, Tyendinaga, Kahnawake, Six Nations, Grassy Narrows, as well as Churchill Falls, Labrador. Solidarité autochtone Montréal (Indigenous Solidarity Committee) est solidaire avec des organisateurs et des communautés autochtones qui se battent pour leur territoire, leur liberté et leur auto-détermination dans une perspective anticoloniale et anticapitaliste. Nous avons organisé une partie de la résistance aux Jeux d’hiver de 2010 en appuyant plus particulièrement les initiatives menées par des autochtones. Nous appuyons aussi d’autres mouvements d’autodétermination, ce qui inclut un travail de solidarité directement auprès des communautés de Kanesatake, Akwesasne, Tyendinaga, Kahnawake, Six Nations, à Grassy Narrows, ainsi qu’avec les Innus du Labrador.
Justice for the Victims of Police Killings/ Justice pour les victimes de bavures policières
Montreal Anarchist Bookfair/ Le collectif du Salon du livre anarchiste de Montréal
22oct.mtl@gmail.com 514-848-7583 www.22octobre.wordpress.com
info@salonanarchiste.ca 514-679-5800 www.anarchistbookfair.ca
The Justice for the Victims of Police Killings Coalition brings together directly affected families and friends of the victims of police killings, as well as their allies. Our main goals and purpose as a coalition are to remember the victims who lost their lives due to police violence, impunity and abuse; and to support their families and friends in any way we can. The Coalition follows from years of struggle and support for the families and friends of police killing victims. The Coalition currently involves the family members and friends of Anas Bennis, Claudio Castagnetta, Ben Matson, Quilem Registre, Gladys Tolley, and Fredy Villanueva, all of whom died as a direct result of police actions and interventions. We continue to reach out to family and friends of other victims of police killings. La coalition Justice pour les victimes de bavure policière réunit des proches de victimes tuées par les forces policières de Montréal, et des alliés, qui demandent que justice soit faite. Notre but et principale raison d’être en tant que coalition est de commémorer les victimes mortes à la suite de violence, d’impunité et d’abus de la part de la police, mais aussi d’appuyer les familles et les amis des victimes de la police. La coalition regroupe actuellement les membres et amis des familles de Anas Bennis, Claudio Castagnetta, Ben Matson, Quilem Registre, Gladys Tolley et Freddy Villanueva, tous morts des suites d’agissements et d’interventions de la police. Nous continuons de tenter de rejoindre d’autres familles et victimes mortes aux mains de la police.
The Montreal Anarchist Bookfair - and month-long Festival of Anarchy (May 2010) - bring together anarchist ideas and practice, through words, images, music, theatre, and day-to-day struggles for justice, dignity, and collective liberation. The Bookfair and Festival are as much for people who don’t necessarily consider themselves anarchists, but are curious about anarchism, as they are spaces for anarchists to meet, network, and share in a spirit of respect and solidarity. All are welcome. Curious about anarchism? Come check us out! “No gods, no masters; no bosses, no borders!” Le Salon du livre anarchiste de Montréal et le mois du Festival de l’anarchie (qui aura lieu en mai 2012), rassemble les idées et les pratiques anarchistes sous toutes ses formes : paroles, images, musique, théâtre, les luttes quotidiennes pour la justice, la dignité et la libération collective. Le Salon et le Festival s’adressent autant aux personnes qui se considèrent anarchistes qu’aux personnes curieuses d’en savoir plus sur l’anarchisme. Ce sont des espaces de rencontre, de réseautage et de partage pour des anarchistes offrant un environnement respectueux et solidaire. Toutes et tous sont bienvenus. Le Salon du livre et le Festival représentent un des plus grands évènements anarchistes de l’année en Amérique du Nord. Au cours de la dernière décennie, ils sont devenus un important point de rassemblement et de référence pour les idées et les pratiques antiautoritaires.
Montreal Childcare Collective childcarecollective@riseup.net 514-848-7583 www.childcarecollective.blogspot.com
The Childcare Collective offers strategic childcare in response to the fact that childcare is frequently overlooked and underappreciated. We aim to assist parents, caregivers, youth, and children, including but not limited to low-income communities, non-status and immigrant communities of colour, and queer and trans communities. 19
Working Groups Directory Le Montreal Chilcare Collective offre une aide stratégique dans les soins et la garde des enfants, considérant que c’est un aspect qui est souvent ignoré et peu apprécié. Notre but est d’assister les parents, les aidants naturels, les jeunes et les enfants dans les communautés à bas revenu, mais sans être exclusif à ces dernières, pour les sans-statuts, les immigrants, les personnes de couleur et la communauté LGBT.
Open Door Books/ Livres aux prisonniers et prisonnières bookstoprisoners@gmail.com 514-848-7583 www.opendoorbooks.wordpress.com
The Open Door Books (ODB) collective is part of an informal network of Books to Prisoners programs throughout North America. ODB seeks to support and work in solidarity with imprisoned communities. We believe that prisons and the (in)justice system act as institutions of social control and oppression, further targeting marginalized communities as a result of patriarchy, racism, homophobia, transphobia, classism, ableism, and an ongoing history of colonization. Livres aux prisonniers et prisonnières fait partie d’un réseau informel de programmes de livres pour les prisonnières et prisonniers à travers toute l’Amérique du Nord. Nous avons comme mission d’appuyer et d’œuvrer en solidarité avec la communauté carcérale. Nous croyons que les prisons et le système de (in)justice agissent comme institutions de contrôle social et d’oppression. Ils ciblent les communautés marginalisées comme résultante du patriarcat, du racisme, de l’homophobie, de la transphobie, du classisme, du capacitisme et du colonialisme.
People’s Commission Network commissionpopulaire@gmail.com 514-848-7583 www.peoplescommission.org
The People’s Commission Network is a Montreal network monitoring and opposing the “national security agenda.” The network is a space for individuals and groups who face oppression in the name of “national security” - such as indigenous people, immigrants, racialized communities,
radical political organizations, labour unions, and their allies, to form alliances, share information, and coordinate strategies to defend their full rights and dignity. Le Réseau de la commission populaire est un réseau montréalais de suivi et d’opposition aux projets politiques de droite de « sécurité nationale ». Le réseau est un espace permettant aux individus et aux groupes qui font face à l’oppression au nom de la « sécurité nationale » (les peuples autochtones, les immigrants, les communautés racialisées, les organisations politiques radicales, les queers et les syndicats), ainsi qu’à leurs alliés, de former des alliances et de coordonner des stratégies.
Prisoner Correspondence Project info@prisonercorrespondenceproject.com
514-848-7583 www.prisonercorrespondenceproject.com
The Prisoner Correspondence Project is a collectively-run initiative based out of Montreal, Quebec. It coordinates a direct-correspondence program for gay, lesbian, transsexual, transgender, gendervariant, two-spirit, intersex, bisexual and queer inmates in Canada and the United States, linking these inmates with people a part of these same communities outside of prison. In addition, it coordinates a resource library of information regarding harm reduction practice (safer sex, safer drug-use, clean needle care), HIV and HEPC prevention, homophobia, transphobia, coming out, etc. The project also aims to make prisoner justice and prisoner solidarity a priority within queer movements on the outside through events like film screenings, workshops, and panel discussions which touch on the broader issues relating to criminalization and incarceration of queers and transfolk. Le Projet de correspondance pour prisonnier.e.s est une initiative gérée collectivement qui est basée à Montréal. Le groupe coordonne un programme de correspondance directement auprès des incarcéréEs gais, lesbiennes, transsexuels, transgenres, variant-de-genre, a double esprit, intersexuel, bisexuel et queers du Canada et des États-Unis. Le projet crée des liens entre les détenuEs et des membres des mêmes 20
communautés hors de prison. De plus, il coordonne une bibliothèque de référence concernant les pratiques de réduction des méfaits (pratiques sexuelles sans risque, consommation sécuritaire des drogues, pratiques sécuritaires dans l’utilisation des seringues et des aiguilles), du VIH et de la prévention de l’hépatite C, de l’homophobie, de la transphobie, de la sortie du placard, etc. Le projet vise aussi à rendre prioritaire la justice et la solidarité avec les prisonniers dans le mouvement queer du « dehors » à travers des évènements comme des soirées de cinéma, des ateliers, des panels de discussion qui touchent aux enjeux relatifs à la criminalisation et à l’incarcération des queers et des gens-trans.
Project X info@theprojectx.ca 514-848-7583 www.theprojectx.ca
Project X is a community-based group that’s mission is to give all of those affected by racial profiling from “authorities” a chance to speak their minds. We already know that racial profiling in Montreal (and across the world) is a big problem and a lot of authority figures are abusing their powers. We’re collecting testimonials to see how you feel about the police in Montreal, and gather information on how they’re treating people in our neighborhoods. We also have a workshop put together on knowing your rights AND on knowing what to do when your rights aren’t respected (which we know they often aren’t). CONTACT US if you have any testimonials you want to share, or if you want us to give a workshop at your community centre or school. Projet X est un groupe communautaire dont la mission est d’offrir la possibilité de s’exprimer à toutes celles et ceux qui sont affectéEs par le profilage racial. Nous savons que le profilage racial est un grand problème à Montréal (et ailleurs dans le monde) et que plusieurs figures d’autorité abusent de leurs pouvoirs. Nous collectons des témoignages pour en savoir plus à propos de la police à Montréal. En plus, nous recueillons de l’information sur le traitement que la police réserve aux gens dans nos quartiers. Nous offrons aussi un atelier pour connaitre vos droits ET pour savoir quoi faire lorsqu’ils ne sont pas respectés (et nous savons qu’ils ne le sont pas!). Contactez-nous si vous avez un témoignage à partager ou si vous souhaitez que Projet X présente un atelier dans votre centre communautaire ou dans votre école.
Working Groups Directory
PROS&CONS travailder uenuit@cactusmontreal.org
514-562-4450
PROS&CONS is a group bringing together people involved in the criminalized drug trade. The aim of the group is to explore the effects and consequences of illicit drugs and the drug trade through the sharing of individual experiences, and by creating dialogue between people involved in different aspects of the drug trade, and those affected by the criminalization of drugs and drug-use. PROS&CONS est un groupe qui réunit des personnes impliquées dans le commerce criminalisé de la drogue. Le but du groupe est d’explorer les effets et les conséquences des drogues illicites et de leur commerce à travers un partage d’expériences individuelles, tout en créant un dialogue entre des personnes impliquées dans différents aspects du commerce de la drogue, en s’adressant aussi à celles et ceux qui sont affectéEs par la criminalisation des drogues et leur usage.
Qteam qteam.mtl@gmail.com 514-848-7583 www.qteam.org
Qteam is a radical queer collective that organizes around the intersections of oppressions and strives to consciously unsubscribe from the corporate versions of queerness that devalue our realities. Qteam has been a working group of QPIRG Mcgill and QPIRG Concordia for the past four years. Qteam began in 2007 and was originally an initiative of members of the Anti-Capitalist Ass Pirates. Qteam does queer, anti-racist, anti-oppressive programming and solidarity work with other struggles throughout Montreal and beyond. Qteam est un collectif radical queer qui s’organise autour des intersections entre les oppressions. Il cherche à se désinscrire consciemment des versions corporatives de ce qui est queer, qui dévaluent nos réalités. Qteam est un groupe de travail du GRIPMcGill et du GRIP-Concordia depuis 2007, à l’origine une initiative de membres des Anti-Capitalist Ass Pirates. Qteam présente une programmation queer, antiraciste, antioppressive et travaille en solidarité avec d’autres luttes montréalaises et d’ailleurs.
Radical Reference/ Référence Radicale radrefmtl@riseup.net www.radrefmtl.wordpress.com
Radical Reference is a collective that supports activist communities, progressive organizations, and independent journalists by providing experienced research, support, education, and access to information. Services include online reference, workshops and training, and street reference. Référence radicale est un collectif qui appuie les communautés militantes, les organisations progressistes et les journalistes indépendants en leur offrant une aide de chercheurs expérimentés, de l’éducation et un accès à de l’information. Les services incluent des références en ligne, des ateliers et de la formation, ainsi que des références sur le terrain.
Recon recon.ftc@gmail.com 514-848-7583
Re-Con is a prisoner initiated reintegration program, created in 1999, for lifers and long-term prisoners pending release at the Federal Training Center in Laval, as well as, parolees on the outside. The motivation behind its inception was to establish a connection between the prisoner and the outside community, after a long-period of incarceration in an effort to aid in diminishing the effects of institutionalization. It is Re-Con’s main goal to establish links between prisoners and the community, especially regarding community resources which may help them on the outside. To this end, weekly meetings both on the inside and the outside focus on an exploration of the various services, resources and connections that are available outside the prison walls. Créé en 1999, Re-Con est un programme de ré-intégration initié par des détenus, pour des détenus ayant une sentence à vie et des incarcérés à long terme qui attendent leur libération du Centre de formation fédéral à Laval, mais aussi pour des anciens détenus en libération conditionnelle et des bénévoles de l’extérieur. Le but principal de Re-Con est d’établir des liens entre les prisonniers et la communauté en dehors des murs de la prison, après une longue période d’isolation et d’incarcération. Nous voulons réduire les effets de l’institutionnalisation en présentant 21
des ateliers de développement personnel et en introduisant les personnes incarcérées à des ressources communautaires qui peuvent contribuer à la réintégration sociale des détenus libérés. À cette fin, des réunions hebdomadaires, tant à l’intérieur qu’à l’extérieur, mettent l’emphase sur une exploration de divers services, ressources et réseaux qui sont disponibles en dehors des murs.
Right to the City antigentrification@gmail.com
From Milton-Parc to St. Henri to the Mile End, university students are in the vanguard of gentrification—the replacement of one population by another, in which race, class, and power play determining factors. As students, alumni, and community members, Right to the City bridges the divide between students and communities, through research and organizing, in struggling against gentrification. De Milton-Parc à St-Henri, jusqu’au MileEnd, les étudiants universitaires sont le fer de lance de la gentrification, soit le remplacement d’une population par une autre dans un contexte où la race, la classe sociale et les jeux de pouvoir déterminent plusieurs facteurs. En tant qu’étudiants, élèves et membres de la communauté, le Droit à la ville jette un pont sur le clivage entre les étudiants et les communautés par le biais de la recherche et de l’organisation, dans la lutte contre la gentrification.
Solidarity Across Borders/ Solidarité sans frontières solidaritesansfrontieres@gmail.com 438-933-7654 www.solidarityacrossborders.org
Solidarity Across Borders is a Montrealbased network engaged in the struggle for justice and dignity of immigrants and refugees. We are comprised of migrants, immigrants, refugees, and allies, and come together in support of our main demands: the regularization of all non-status people (Status for All!), an end to deportations and detentions, and the abolition of double punishment of migrants with criminal records. We are in the beginning stages of building a “Solidarity City” campaign – which includes access to all essential services, such as health care and education, for everyone regardless of
Working Groups Directory their immigration status. Some of us have direct experiences with the immigration and refugee system; some of us come from immigrant backgrounds; all of us organize as part of a collective struggle for justice and dignity. For us, there is no such thing as “illegal” human beings, only unjust laws and illegitimate governments. We organize not on the basis of pity or charity, but rather solidarity and mutual aid. Solidarité sans frontières est un réseau montréalais impliqué dans la lutte pour la justice et la dignité des immigrantEs et des réfugiéEs. Nous sommes formés de migrants, d’immigrantEs, de réfugiés et de leurs alliéEs. Nous nous unissons pour faire avancer nos revendications : la régularisation des sans-statuts (un statut pour toutes et tous!), la fin des détentions et des déportations et l’abolition de la double peine contre les migrants possédant des dossiers criminels. Nous sommes à la première étape de la mise sur pied d’une campagne « Cité solidaire », qui demande un accès universel à tous les services essentiels comme les services de santé et d’éducation, sans égard à leur statut migratoire. Certains d’entre nous sont passéEs par le système d’immigration, d’autres proviennent de familles immigrantes. Nous nous organisons ensembles dans une lutte collective pour la justice et la dignité. Selon nous, il n’y a pas d’êtres humains «illégaux», seulement des lois injustes et des gouvernements illégitimes. Nous sommes organisés en accord avec des principes de solidarité et d’entraide, et non de pitié ou de charité.
Ste-Emilie Skillshare mtlskillshare@gmail.com 514-848-7583 www.steemilieskillshare.org
Based in Montreal’s Southwest, the Ste-Émilie Skillshare is a politicized community art space run by a collective of trans people, queers, and people of colour. We are artists and activists, working together within an antioppression framework and moving towards social transformation. As historically marginalized people, sharing our art and skills are revolutionary acts as the art we produce can be used as a tool for political change. Functionally, the Skillshare hosts a paper and fabricsilkscreen studio, a black and white darkroom, sewing machines, and a multi-functional space that plays host to meetings, vernissages,
and parties. Everyone is welcome. Basé dans le sud-ouest de Montréal, le SteEmilie Skillshare est un espace artistique communautaire politisé dirigé par un collectif de personnes trans, queers et de couleur. Nous sommes des artistes et des activistes collaborant sur une base antioppressive et œuvrant pour la transformation sociale. En tant que communauté historiquement marginalisée, le partage de notre art et de nos compétences constitue un acte révolutionnaire puisque notre art est un outil de changement politique. Le Skillshare est un espace artistique communautaire qui loge un studio de sérigraphie, une chambre noire pour photos noir et blanc, des machines à coudre et une galerie. Tout au long de l’année, nous organisons des ateliers et nous cherchons toujours à mettre sur pied de nouvelles collaborations et de nouveaux bénévoles.
TAPthirst tapthirst@gmail.com 514-848-7583 www.tapthirst.blogspot.com
TAPthirst (Tap drinkers against privatization) is an initiative dedicated to promoting awareness of the social, environmental, and monetary costs of the bottled water industry, as well as issues of water privatization on a global scale. We aim to empower people at a grassroots level by supplying them with the information and tools necessary to question the commodification of water and its effect on our communities as well as the world at large. In doing this we hope to bring people one step closer to ethical water consumption and help to avoid the privatization of a natural resource. TAPthirst (Tap drinkers against privatization) est un groupe de travail du GRIP Concordia dont le but est d’éduquer le public sur les couts environnementaux, sur la santé, et sur les couts socioéconomiques de la privatisation de l’eau et de l’industrie de l’eau embouteillée. Nous voulons aussi encourager la mobilisation citoyenne sur les enjeux plus larges de la privatisation de l’eau. À Concordia nous avons contribué à encourager une tendance pour un campus libre de bouteilles d’eau. Nous travaillons avec Sustainable Concordia, le CSU, le Polaris Institute et plusieurs groupes communautaires et nous cherchons continuellement de nouveaux membres. 22
Termite Collective gpedicelli@yahoo.com 514-680-7447
The Termite Collective is a group of creative and concerned people who want to expose the ever increasing repressive nature of prison through political parody and criminal cabaret. We aim to use a humorous alternative method to outline these injustices.The multi-media skits are created using real prisoners’ experiences with prison issues on the inside and out (i.e. parole) as well as the effects of Harper’s new crime bills and plans for prison expansion in Canada. We attempt to highlight the difficulties prisoners face in attempting to navigate through such a invasive and restrictive process. All the situations and experiences in the skits are lived and true, only the names and faces have been changed. Le Termite Collective est un groupe de personnes créatives et concernées qui veulent mettre en évidence la montée de la répression dans les prisons en mettant en scène des parodies politiques et un « cabaret criminel ». Nous voulons utiliser une méthode humoristique non conventionnelle pour souligner ces injustices. Les pièces multimédias sur les enjeux dans les prisons, intramuros et extramuros (comme la libération conditionnelle), sont basées sur les expériences vécues par des prisonniers. Nous voulons aussi souligner les effets de la nouvelle loi omnibus contre le crime de Harper qui prévoit la construction de nouvelles prisons au Canada. Nous tentons de mettre en évidence les difficultés auxquelles les prisonniers font face lorsqu’ils tentent de naviguer dans cet univers carcéral très envahissant et rempli de contraintes. Toutes les situations et expériences présentées dans les pièces sont basées sur des faits vécus et sont véridiques, seulement les noms et les visages des personnes se trouvent modifiés.
At the Heart of Resistance
PAOLA ORTIZ, UNE « FAUSSE » DEMANDERESSE D’ASILE?
contribution de Dignidad Migrante www.dignidadmigrante.info
Au mois de septembre dernier, Paola Ortiz, une mère de famille mexicaine, a été expulsée vers son pays d’origine. Elle avait été sommée de quitter le Canada en raison du rejet de sa demande d’asile en 2006 et de sa requête de résidence permanente pour motifs humanitaires en 2008.
d’asile mexicain-e-s, qui a mené à l’imposition d’un visa d’entrée au Canada pour les ressortissant-e-s de ce pays en juillet 2009. Le ministre de l’immigration, Jason Kenney, a alors prétexté une quantité trop élevée de « fausses » demandes d’asile, pour justifier le geste de son gouvernement. Or, ces affirmations sont, selon nous, mal fondées.
Face à ses allégations d’avoir été victime de violence physique et sexuelle aux mains de son ex-conjoint, officier de la police fédérale mexicaine, les autorités canadiennes ont justifié leur décision en statuant que les femmes jouissaient de la protection nécessaire de la part de l’État mexicain.
Tout d’abord, les prétentions du gouvernement canadien doivent être mises en contexte : elles s’inscrivent dans une conjoncture de véritable guerre menée par les pays occidentaux envers les demandeurs et demanderesses d’asile. Afin de légitimer la répression envers ces dernier-e-s, les autorités présentent de plus en plus leurs motivations comme étant illégitimes; ils et elles sont stigmatisé-e-s comme abusant de la générosité des pays du Nord. Toutes sortes de stratagèmes ont été mis en place afin d’éviter que les demandeurs et demanderesses d’asile ne parviennent aux territoires de ces dits pays, l’imposition de visa constituant l’un d’entre eux. En outre, la criminalisation des demandeurs et demanderesses d’asile est une tendance préoccupante; l’incarcération de Paola Ortiz est symptomatique des pratiques canadiennes de cet ordre.
En plus de craindre pour sa vie, elle a dû prendre la décision déchirante de laisser ici ses deux enfants. Tous les deux citoyens canadiens, ils souffrent de graves problèmes de santé. Ils n’auraient probablement pas eu accès aux soins spécialisés dont ils ont besoin au Mexique. Ce verdict du Canada s’inscrit par conséquent en contradiction avec l’avertissement de la Cour suprême du Canada, qui, en 1999, a statué que les autorités migratoires devaient considérer les droits des enfants canadiens lorsqu’ils prenaient une décision concernant la déportation d’un parent non citoyen. Comme c’est devenu l’habitude depuis quelques temps, notre pays s’éloigne donc de plus en plus de la tradition humanitaire pour laquelle il a longtemps été reconnu.
En plus de craindre pour sa vie, elle a dû prendre la décision déchirante de laisser ici ses deux enfants.
Ensuite, beaucoup de demandeurs et demanderesses d’asile mexicain-e-s ont cherché à fuir une situation qui présentait une menace pour leur vie ou leur liberté à cause du contexte de violence généralisée et d’insécurité qui afflige le pays. Cependant, ces motifs ne coïncident malheureusement pas avec ceux, très restreints, de persécution admissibles selon la Convention de Genève de 1951 relative au statut des réfugié-e-s. Depuis la création de cette dernière, la nature de la violence s’est complètement transformée, mais l’instrument juridique servant à définir le droit d’asile ne s’est pas adapté à ces changements, le statu quo convenant aux pays désirant restreindre les flux de réfugié-e-s. Résultat: aujourd’hui, la majorité des victimes de déplacements forcés sont exclues de sa portée.
Une des principales conclusions ayant servi de base à l’ordonnance de renvoi nous semble très problématique. Le constat que les femmes jouissent d’une protection de la part de l’État au Mexique est à l’opposé même de ce qui fait consensus chez une grande quantité d’experts : les femmes, dans ce pays, sont victimes de formes extrêmes de violence et ce, dans un contexte d’impunité généralisée. Qui n’a pas entendu parler des tristement célèbres assassinats massifs de femmes à Ciudad Juárez? Bien que moins médiatisée, une étude du Congrès Mexicain montre que ce phénomène, le féminicide, s’étend à la grandeur du pays.
Comme plusieurs le savent, le Mexique a connu une hausse de violence ces dernières années, surtout liée au narco-trafic, qui a fait autour de 40 000 morts depuis 2006; cette hécatombe est également liée à un essor généralisé de la criminalité et de la violence. Ces réalités s’inscrivent dans un contexte de néolibéralisation de l’économie, dont l’ALÉNA est un élément clé. L’ouverture des frontières et le retrait de l’État ont ouvert la porte à l’émergence d’une puissante économie parallèle (trafic de personnes, de drogues, d’influence, para-militarisation, etc.)
Cette protection étatique pour le moins déficiente ne concerne pas seulement les femmes, mais la presque totalité de la population. Au Mexique, l’État de droit est gravement affaibli, le système judiciaire dysfonctionnel et l’accès à la justice inexistant pour la majorité des Mexicain-e-s. Nous aimerions aussi profiter de cette tribune pour revenir sur la controverse entourant les demandeurs et demanderesses 23
QPIRG Concordia Working Groups Journal - January 2012 qui opère en dehors de la loi et qui implique les hautes sphères économiques et politiques du pays. L’augmentation de la pauvreté, des inégalités et de l’exclusion sociale qui ont accompagné les réformes néolibérales ont aussi contribué à cet accroissement de la violence. Parallèlement à la mise en place de cet ordre économique, la militarisation du pays a entre autres servi à contrôler toute forme de remise en question de ce modèle de développement, qui privilégie les intérêts des corporations transnationales étatsuniennes et canadiennes aux dépens de la grande majorité de la population mexicaine. La violation fréquente des droits humains de ceux et celles qui tentent de résister à ce régime injuste a fait que plusieurs leaders de mouvements sociaux ont dû chercher refuge dans notre pays, afin de ne pas connaître le même sort que Mariano Abarca, assassiné en 2009 pour son opposition aux activités de la compagnie minière canadienne Blackfire Corporation. Au su de ces éléments, nous pouvons conclure que le Canada, en se voyant forcé à recevoir un grand nombre de Mexicain-e-s en quête de sécurité, récolte en quelques sortes les fruits dont il a semées les graines avec la signature de l’ALÉNA, puisque celleci a directement participé à la situation de misère, de violence et de désintégration sociale que vit le Mexique depuis quelques années. Finalement, nous refusons la conception selon laquelle les réfugié-e-s ont une légitimité morale plus importante d’être admis-es dans les pays du Nord que ceux et celles fuyant la pauvreté, idée qui véhicule une hiérarchisation des souffrances. En effet, le droit des réfugié-e-s est basé sur la prémisse, largement partagée, bien que non fondée, que l’individu victime de violence économique ne mérite pas la protection internationale qui est accordée à celui ou celle fuyant la persécution « du fait de sa race, de sa religion, de sa nationalité, de son appartenance à un certain groupe social ou de ses opinions politiques ». Pour cette raison, nous croyons que ce sont les contradictions inhérentes aux politiques de contrôle des migrations internationales qui créent ce que Kenney nomme les « faux réfugiés ». ♥
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At the Heart of Resistance
DECOLONIZE MONTREAL contributed by the Indigenous Solidarity Committee www.indigenoussolidaritymontreal.net The following short contribution was written at the outset of Occupy Montreal in October 2011, when the Indigenous Solidarity Committee and other local groups formed a “Decolonize Montreal” contingent to support Occupy Montreal while offering a critique of aspects of the Occupy movement
Anti-Colonial, Anti-Capitalist: Against Resource Extraction
In
Solidarity
It is important to emphasize that extractive industries have always been an important part of capitalism in Quebec and Canada. As a result, the financial districts of Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, and Montreal are all home to hundreds of mining company offices, and even more importantly, the banks, investment funds, and stock exchanges where decisions are being made daily about how best to profit from the destruction of the lands of Indigenous peoples. The Occupy movement has grown in the belly of this colonial beast, and is therefore wellplaced to directly challenge these financial institutions and the individuals who run them. As anti-colonial supporters of indigenous self-determination, we think this should be a priority. The 1% has been coordinating the colonization of the world for the past 500 years. We want the occupy movement to be a step towards making them stop.
We stand in solidarity with demonstrators at Wall Street and in cities around the world, rejecting this capitalist system and the misery it brings. We also recognize that cities on this continent, like Montreal, are already on occupied territory. We stand against colonialism and in support of Indigenous peoples across Turtle Island struggling for land, autonomy, and dignity. We stand against patriarchy and racism, and for the selfdetermination of all peoples. We are inspired by uprisings around the world, from Egypt to Chile, from Greece to South Korea, as well as dayto-day struggles that are ongoing here in Montreal. From Mohawk resistance to niobium mining in Kanehsatake, to community solidarity in the face of police repression in Montréal Nord; from anti-gentrification and social housing struggles in Montreal’s working class neighborhoods, to solidarity and support efforts with non-status migrants, this city is vibrant with people’s struggles for liberation.
In Indigenous communities such as Barriere Lake, Six Nations, and Kanehsatake, people are actively engaged in resistance to the mining of their traditional territories. Along with the Regroupement de Solidarité avec les Autochtones, we are working with traditionalist Mohawks in Kanehsatake to support their opposition to the proposed niobium mine of Niocan resources, as well as attempts by Augyva to use environmental cleanup as a pretext for involvement in the same mining project.
We fundamentally reject the notion that the police are “potential allies” of our movements, and call attention to the bloody and ongoing history of police impunity and killings in Montreal; as well as the fundamental role of police forces in instrumenting colonial governance and racist repression against the Indigenous peoples of Turtle Island and beyond. We support a respect for a diversity of tactics and a culture of solidarity and mutual aid, not division, within our struggles.
The Indigenous Solidarity Committee is a working group of QPIRG Concordia (in downtown Montreal). The mandate of the ISC is to work in direct solidarity with Indigenous organizers and communities fighting for land, freedom, and self-determination. We organize from an anti-colonial and anti-capitalist perspective, emphasizing popular education and direct action. ♥
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GENTRIFICATION IN DOWNTOWN WEST MONTREAL contributed by Right to the City antigentrification@gmail.com What is the “Quartier des Grands Jardins” revitalization project?
Moreover, the plan proposes to initiate a new cycle of renovation in existing rental housing in the neighborhood. However, no measure is taken to prevent inevitable rent increases.The housing situation is indeed in a pitiful state, some of the reasons being the serious lack of municipal housing inspectors and the absence of support for renters dealing with abusive landlords. Hence, the Concordia Housing and Job Bank saw over 60 complaints in the month of August (2010) alone. Discrimination by landlords according to nationality (for example, requiring payments many months in advance or confiscating passports) was one of the many offences reported by student tenants.
The so-called “Quartier des Grands Jardins” revitalization project is yet another upscale redevelopment project from the city of Montreal, this time taking over the neighborhood of downtown west Montreal. Although recently approved at city hall, the project has yet to be implemented and there is still time to act upon it. Stretching between Bishop and Atwater streets, and from Sherbrooke to the 720 highway, the plan revolves around three broad axes: heritage enhancement, quality of life environments, and economic dynamism. In concrete terms, this will include potentially beneficial initiatives such as green spaces, the protection of institutional gardens, and historical preservation.
Behind discourses of urban sustainability and mixité sociale, we find a project which prioritizes attracting and catering to the wealthy over the needs of ordinary Montrealers.
The neighborhood targeted by the plan is the home of a population already vulnerable to housing price fluctuations. In 2010, 92% of housing units were occupied by renters, 73% of residents had an annual revenue of 40 000$ (52% for all of Montreal), 29% had an annual revenue of less than 10 000$ (9.4% for Montreal), and 61% of households dedicated 30% or more of their revenue to paying rent. So far, to increase “quality of life,” the only project the city managed to endorse is the development of the Seville, a “prestigious” massive condo complex. Additionally, the fate of the Children’s Hospital, whose public mandate is threatened by the pressure of the private sector, remains unclear.
However, this project is blindly giving leeway to radical transformations worsening already existing problems, such as increased housing insecurity and the criminalization of homeless people, sex workers, and racialized minorities. Behind discourses of urban sustainability and mixité sociale, we find a project which prioritizes attracting and catering to the wealthy over the needs of ordinary Montrealers. Like other plans of this type, such as the Quartier des Spectacles, the Quartier des Grands Jardins has a narrow vision of economic development and prepares the community for gentrification.
Criminalization of homeless people, sex workers, and racialized minorities
Radically increased housing insecurity Meanwhile, the city of Montreal has yet to link housing insecurity with the issue of homelessness. The city prefers to essentialize identities and frame homelessness as a self-contained problem, isolated from socio-economic inequalities, maintaining a view of urban development deeply rooted in neoliberal ideology. Le Quartier des Grands Jardins project blatantly embraces this model.
One core element of this plan is to stabilize the population through incentives to increase private home ownership. On the other hand, it also affirms the intention to comply with the city’s own policy on the inclusion of social, community, and affordable housing. However, the plan maintains that, due to the high value of property, it cannot commit to fulfilling this goal. In reality, Montreal can’t impose social/affordable housing as a law because the Quebec government actually prevents it; it’s seen as illegal to impose this on developers. They can only suggest to boroughs to entice developers to adopt such practices. Everybody knows there is no money to be made in rental housing. Yet again, the market decides our wellbeing! Both the city and the boroughs lack the creativity and will to pressure both the government and real-estate developers.
$5.5 million will be spent on modifications to Cabot Square, but it is not clear if this is for the purpose of improving the community experience of the square or simply increasing property values. Moreover, discussions of the plan so far imply that Cabot Square and the surrounding area will be “revitalized” through increased police presence, maintenance of the premises, as well as “cooperation with” community organizations to increase safety. 26
At the Heart of Resistance This will result in an increase of criminalization of the homeless, sex workers, and racialized groups. With this mentality, a “clean” park becomes a catalyst for “prestigious addresses” and “quality real estate projects” at the expense of marginalized communities in the area.
Based on what has happened in similar neighborhoods, we feel this plan will simply reproduce inequality in the city. Although we welcome public investment into the area, we reject gentrification as a means to support improvements. We call on the city, along with the Quebec government, to adopt a more comprehensive anti-poverty strategy, and implement “neighborhood stabilization” measures such as social housing, and public benefit and antispeculation taxes. Additionally, Concordia University holds a privileged position in this project, and it is urgent for students to know what is done in their names and confront actively the central role university institutions are currently playing in the gentr ification process in west downtown Montreal and in the city in general. ♥
It is not new that we see certain people conceived of as being barriers to “economic development.” Historically, homeless people have been targeted by Montreal police: while they make up only 1% of the Montreal population, they were issued 31.6% of tickets issued by police in 2004. On the other hand, many of the users of Cabot Square who are framed as homeless do in fact have places to live. We must confront the problematic nature of profiling certain people as necessarily homeless based on appearance, race, and actions. With regards to the revitalisation project, it should be clear, firstly, that increasing police presence threatens rather than increases Cabot Square’s accessibility. Secondly, in order to improve the quality of life for all citizens, we should start with those who are most marginalized, stigmatized, and in the greatest states of precarity. Concordia’s complicity: In whose name? In August 2005, a working group was formed made up of major actors in the neighborhood, many of whom have important vested economic interest in the area. This Table de Concertation, or Community Round Table for the area consists of only six members of community groups and one resident; the remaining 17 have economic stakes in the area. Given that reality, one can be sceptical of their objectives to best reflect the priorities of all the residents of the neighborhood. Among the core actors in the Table de Concertation is Concordia University. Who are they representing? Students should be informed that, in their participation at the public consultation, representatives of the university did not, for the most part, speak about the interests of the students. It is again obvious that the increased privatization of the university has now penetrated its very governance and is threatening the institution’s public mandate.
For more information on the revitalization project, visit the Office de Consultation Publique de Montréal website : http://www.ocpm.qc.ca/consultations-publiques/revitalisation-de-louest-ducentre-ville-ppu-quartier-des-grands-jardins
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QPIRG Concordia Working Groups Journal - January 2012
LE CENTRE SOCIAL AUTOGÉRÉ : UNE HISTOIRE D’EXPROPRIATION POPULAIRE contribution du Centre social autogéré de Pointe-Saint-Charles www.centresocialautogere.org Un espace antiautoritaire ouvrira bientôt ses portes à PointeSaint-Charles, dans un bâtiment exproprié au capitalisme par une lutte qui dure depuis presque cinq ans. Dans le contexte de l’embourgeoisement des quartiers populaires de Montréal, la lutte du Centre social autogéré et de plusieurs autres acteurs communautaires de la Pointe est une merveilleuse illustration de victoire populaire et permet de croire à la possibilité de renverser la tendance à l’embourgeoisement. Depuis que les autorités du capital ont annoncé vouloir déménager le Casino de Montréal dans la Pointe en 2005, la lutte ne s’est qu’accrue.
« tables » autonomes de Montréal), de la Fonderie Darling (centre d’artistes) et du Centre social autogéré. Le collectif compte aussi dans ses rangs un architecte et des citoyenNEs en leur nom personnel, dont certainEs ont des projets à réaliser dans le bâtiment. Pendant un peu plus de deux ans, le collectif a réclamé le bâtiment auprès du propriétaire en utilisant une stratégie oeuvrant sur plusieurs fronts. Pendant que la Fonderie Darling établissait un lien direct et formel avec le propriétaire pour négocier, la table Action-Gardien utilisait son canal de communication avec les nouveaux éluEs locaux pour les influencer et le Centre social autogéré agissait directement sur le terrain, en envahissant le bâtiment, en maintenant une présence physique sur les lieux, en faisant comme si le bâtiment était déjà à nous... Une espèce de « diversité des tactiques » appliquée à une lutte regroupant des acteurs alliés qui reconnaissent leurs différences mutuelles.
Le Centre social autogéré (CSA) de Pointe-Saint-Charles est un projet en évolution depuis 2007. L’objectif est d’ouvrir un espace culturel, politique et communautaire qui puisse offrir une base pour la consolidation d’une communauté de personnes et de groupes antiautoritaires à Montréal. A court terme, dès son entrée dans le bâtiment, un café-bar, une salle de spectacle, un espace atelier et des salles multifonctions seront aménagés.
La conjonction des différentes tactiques a fini par avoir raison du propriétaire et de la pensée rationnelle, paternaliste et crissement capitaliste des fonctionnaires et autres amiEs du développement urbain. À l’automne 2011, une entente de cession fut signée entre le collectif et le proprio. Celui-ci donne la bâtisse pour 1$, vend le terrain à un prix à être déterminé, en décontamine une partie et donne 800 000$ pour les réparations urgentes, le tout en échange de reçus d’impôts qui seront donnés par la Fonderie Darling. Dès lors, le rêve semble se concrétiser. Tout n’est cependant pas terminé : l’entente globale pour le redéveloppement de tout le site – dont fait partie l’entente sur le Bâtiment no. 7 – doit être approuvée par le Conseil exécutif de la Ville de Montréal. Et là, ça brette.
Depuis sa création, le CSA tient des activités et organise des événements de façon itinérante dans des locaux prêtés ou squattés. De 2007 à 2009, des dizaines d’ateliers d’éducation populaire, de projections de film, d’ateliers de réparation de vélos et de bouffes populaires ont été organisées dans Pointe-Saint-Charles. En mai 2009, le CSA a décidé de « s’installer dans ses locaux permanents » et de squatter ouvertement un bâtiment sur les rives du Canal de Lachine, qui devait être rasé pour faire place à des condos de luxe. Une manifestation de 500 personnes réquisitionna le bâtiment sans problème et, dès le lendemain matin, l’électricité était plus ou moins rebranchée et la préparation du party d’ouverture allait bon train. Cependant la police montréalaise ne l’entendait pas ainsi et elle mit le paquet pour nous sortir quelques heures avant l’ouverture officielle.
Nous voulons des relations sociales riches, égalitaires, qui nous permettent d’assouvir à la fois nos besoins vitaux de base et nos désirs d’amour, d’amitié, de culture et d’art.
Qu’à cela ne tienne, le CSA s’est reviré de bord et est revenu à sa cible initiale : les anciens « Terrains du CN », où plusieurs bâtiments sont pratiquement abandonnés depuis 2003. Avec d’autres acteurs de Pointe-Saint-Charles et des environs, il a formé le Collectif 7 à Nous, qui vise à réquisitionner – exproprier – un des bâtiments sur le site, gratuitement, au profit de la collectivité. Une autre lutte s’engage donc... Le Collectif 7 à Nous est formé du Club populaire des consommateurs de Pointe-Saint-Charles (organisme communautaire en sécurité alimentaire), de la Table de concertation communautaire Action-Gardien (une des dernières
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Un nouvel espace antiautoritaire Le CSA, qui va ouvrir ses portes en 2012, veut d’abord offrir des espaces en dehors des territoires capitalistes. Une philosophie de l’économie alternative anime les membres du CSA et un des objectifs majeurs est d’arriver à mettre sur pied des relations d’échange et de travail qui soient débarrassées des relations d’exploitation, de travail aliéné et de recherche du profit. C’est le travail socialisé qui est privilégié, l’effort humain dans le but de se donner les moyens de vivre des existences libres et autonomes. Le Café-bar et la salle multifonctionnelle permettront
At the Heart of Resistance l’organisation d’événements culturels ou politiques. La cuisine permettra de remplir nos panses, le coin enfants permettra à notre progéniture de s’émanciper aussi, des salles à multiples usages rendront possible l’existence de plusieurs projets, quels qu’ils soient. Le terrain environnant, de même que le toit, permettront l’agriculture urbaine (une serre et des abeilles sont envisagées), etc. Nous invitons quiconque partage les valeurs et les principes du CSA à s’impliquer dans l’ouverture du centre. Nous avons besoin de gens motivés, polyvalents, qui en ont marre d’interagir dans une société patriarcale, capitaliste, raciste et avide de biens matériels. Nous voulons des relations sociales riches, égalitaires, qui nous permettent d’assouvir à la fois nos besoins vitaux de base et nos désirs d’amour, d’amitié, de culture et d’art. Nous lançons donc un appel aux antiautoritaires montréalaisEs : venez faire du Centre social autogéré et du Bâtiment no.7 un des piliers de la société égalitaire et autonome dont nous rêvons toutes et tous. ♥ Contactez-nous à info@centresocialautogere.org (www.centresocialautogere.org) [Article écrit par Marco Silvestro du Centre social autogéré de Pointe-Saint-Charles]
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QPIRG Concordia Working Groups Journal - January 2012
INFORMATION LITERACY FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE IN THE DIGITAL AGE contributed by Radical Reference Montreal radrefmtl.wordpress.com Celeste West, a radical librarian in the San Fransisco Bay area in the 1970s, used the term “informationally marginalized” when describing her zine Synergy. The zine, which was produced by the Bay Area Reference Center (BARC) and had a publication run from 1967-1973, covered all aspects of counter, alternative, and radical culture, and explored ways for young-at-heart librarian professionals to extend and improve library services and get involved in their communities. Synergy, West states, “offered a narrative by, for, and about the informationally marginalized” (West, 2003, p.9).
definition of literacy encourages critical social perspectives; it encourages us to understand our place in history, to be aware of the connections between our lives and the social structure, and to recognize possibilities for change. Additionally, it forces us to act, to use our knowledge and understanding to strive for an equal and just society (Mulcahy, 2010, p.2). Teaching, learning, and promoting critical information literacy can be easy if you keep the most basic guiding principle in mind: being constantly critical. More detailed models for specific source types exist and can be found online or at just about any library. Ask a librarian! Or send Radical Reference a question! In this article we will go over a helpful and established model that exists for sorting out the CRAP:
When West used the term “informationally marginalized” she was referring to people and groups in society about or for whom information was not made available. A situation in which content was not created for or disseminated to individuals and groups whose values deviated from the status quo. West’s point of view was that libraries were supposed to be institutions that promoted and democratized access to information for all peoples.
• Currency – how recent is the information and how prevalent is it to the most recent developments in the subject area? • Reliability – what kind of information is included in the resource/is the content of the resource primarily opinion or balanced/does the creator provide references for data or quotations? • Authority – who is the creator or author/what are their credentials/who is the publisher or sponsor/are they reputable/ what is the publishers’ interest (if any) in this information/are there advertisements on the website? • Purpose/Point of View – is this fact or opinion/is it biased/is the creator or author trying to sell you something?
While this limited access is still true today, the development of the internet and information technologies – while still not an ideal situation – have enabled the creation and dissemination of information about and for marginalized communities to be easier (though there are many current issues related to privacy and use of the internet that should be paid attention to in the context of information literacy in the digital age).
This is a very, very brief attempt to discuss some of the issues of information literacy and critically approaching the sources we encounter. It is meant as a reminder that becoming skilled at deriving meaning from the plethora of information that exists is a wholly muddy and everlasting process, but one that is necessary if we want to achieve the social realities towards which we aspire.
In today’s increasingly digital and increasingly online society the “informationally marginalized” could be taken to mean people and groups who do not have regular access to the internet or information technologies – a subject we will not discuss in this article, but a gap that many working groups seek to fill in many different ways in the work that they do. It could also mean the people and groups who do not have the appropriate tools to evaluate the information they encounter. In this phase of late capitalism in the digital age, any citizen of the global society can be informationally marginalized if they do not know how to generate meaning from the information they encounter.
The adage that knowledge is power is cheesy and cliched. But it can also be taken to heart. Issues related to the “informationally marginalized” or issues related to being made insignificant or peripheral in society because of a lack of knowledge of the proper tools for processing information afflict not only those whose views deviate from the status quo, but all members of society in some way (including or especially those who are mediamassaged). Encouraging a critical perspective about information literacy will help take steps towards creating a democratic, knowledgeable, powerful people. ♥
Having the appropriate “tools” to take in and evaluate information is also known as information literacy and can be taken to mean any meaning-making process when interacting with an information source of any format (i.e. text, online, technical, symbolic, etc). Information literacy does not refer to simply the ability to read and write, it also refers to the ability to critically engage, navigate, and transform information encountered. Ernest Morrell (2008) emphasizes that literacy is not just a neutral skill-set, rather it is multiple and deeply tied to power relations in society. This broad
Morrell, E. (2008). Critical literacy and urban youth: Pedagogies of access, dissent, and liberation. Michigan: Routledge. Mulcahy, C. M. (2010). Marginalized literacies: Critical literacy in the language arts classroom. United States: Information Age Publishing. West, C. (2003). Revolting librarians rides again. Revolting librarians redux: Radical librarians speak out (p. 9). North Carolina: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers.
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At the Heart of Resistance
POSTER SERIES: BAN BOTTLED WATER ON CAMPUS contributed by TAPthirst drinktapconcordia.wordpress.com
TAPthirst is dedicated to promoting awareness of the environmental, health, and socioeconomic costs of the privatization of public water. We believe that free and open access to water is a human right and that any actions that put a price on water is an unacceptable violation of this right. Over the past three years we have focused our work on fighting for a bottled water free campus. We choose this campaign because we see it as a window issue for people to engage with that begins to shed light on wider water privatization issues.
The posters seen here were created for our 2011 campaign leading up to a referendum vote on the sale of bottled water on campus. They are intended to be a spoof on an ad campaign for the bottled water company Glaceau, a Coca-Cola subsidiary. The referendum vote results were 70% in favour of a ban on the sale of bottled water on Concordia campus. ♼
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QPIRG Concordia Working Groups Journal - January 2012
P’TITES IDÉES POUR UNE GRANDE GRÈVE contribution de la Convergance des luttes anticapitalistes (CLAC) www.clac-montreal.net Nous vivons dans un monde violent. L’écart entre les riches et les pauvres continue de grandir, tant au Canada1 que dans le monde2. Sous les attaques du néocolonialisme depuis les années 1980, la plupart des besoins essentiels sont devenus des marchandises. La majorité des habitantEs de la terre ont vu l’assouvissement de leurs besoins vitaux menacé4, que ce soit l’éducation, l’accès aux soins de santé, l’alimentation, etc. Évidemment, les premières à faire les frais de tels réajustements systémiques sont les femmes5, mais on ne peut pas ignorer que les crises servent de justification à une augmentation de la répression6 et du conservatisme, ce qui a pour effet de limiter les libertés civiles, d’augmenter le racisme, l’homophobie7, etc.
soins nécessaires, alors que ce dernier tente de se départir de ses obligations sociales par tous les moyens nécessaires. C’est pourquoi les luttes et actions se répètent, car le problème demeure le même... depuis au moins 150 ans. De là l’importance de tenter de voir dans les précédentes luttes sociales ce qui pourrait être utilisé dans les nouvelles, et comment elles sont reliées : comment le syndicalisme a pu aider la cause des femmes, ou comment l’écologie et les luttes étudiantes vont main dans la main. Surtout que les mêmes rituels se produisent: revendication, refus, salissage médiatique, répression. C’est le propre des mouvements sociaux luttant contre le capitalisme, contre la violence du système ou même pour une simple transformation de celuici, de subir la répression.
Déjà, les gens prennent part à différentes initiatives et se rendent compte d’un des plus grands problèmes liés au capitalisme: la croissance infinie. Les écologistes, comme les groupes de solidarité avec les luttes autochtones, ne peuvent ignorer que les territoires qui restent sont menacés directement par celle-ci. Les groupes opposés à la guerre ou les groupes de solidarité internationale, s’ils veulent identifier les sources de l’impérialisme, doivent se pencher sur la croissance économique et la nécessité de l’asservissement à de nouveaux marchés. Le capitalisme, aussi fondé sur la capacité de vendre sa force de travail, n’a jamais réussi à intégrer correctement les facteurs naturels de la vie (comme la grossesse et la maladie), entraînant ainsi une immense partie de la population à dépendre de l’État pour recevoir les
Ainsi, un réel pacifisme ne serait possible que par le désarmement des États. Étonnamment, Carl von Clausewitz (théoricien militaire ayant publié De la guerre, traité militaire majeur du XIXe siècle dont se sont inspirés plusieurs peuples en lutte, de la Russie au Vietnam en passant par l’Afghanistan) définit la guerre comme la continuation de la politique par d’autres moyens, qui a donc pour objectif de désarmer l’ennemi. C’est ce que fait la CLAC : premièrement le travail politique de dénoncer, informer, sensibiliser et organiser, pour ensuite désarmer l’État pour dissoudre le capitalisme. Vétérans de l’aventure de la ZLÉA, il est clair pour nous que l’État 32
At the Heart of Resistance n’écoute que lorsqu’il est menacé, lorsque la population crée un rapport de force.
que notre agitation fonctionne et que les gens se mêlent de leurs affaires, qu’ils et elles mettent fin à leur domination.
Quelles sont les étapes pour gagner une guerre ? Premièrement, il faut une stratégie, soit la manière d’organiser les confrontations directes avec l’ennemi, et ensuite des tactiques à appliquer dans ces confrontations8. Si l’on applique très directement ces notions au combat que l’on mène : les engagements sont les actions de rue, et les tactiques sont les moyens employés dans ces actions.
C’est ainsi que nous savourerons les victoires du mouvement étudiant dans la grève à venir, et que nous vous prions de vous rappeler que vous n’êtes pas seulEs, que votre lutte se place en continuité avec d’autres luttes que nous vous invitons à découvrir. Ensemble encore nous subirons la répression, et dans la grève à venir on fera jouer la carte de la violence pour monter les groupes les uns contres les autres, pour diviser le mouvement et faire oublier la vraie violence : celle des frontières, de l’exploitation économique, de l’austérité et de la destruction environnementale. Si l’on prend Emma Goldman au mot, « the most violent element in society is ignorance »: en s’attaquant à la hausse des frais de scolarité, de quelque façon que ce soit, on ne s’attaque qu’à la violence. ♥
Ces tactiques ne nous permettent pas encore de tirer des gains de la part du gouvernement, mais elles montrent que le capitalisme à visage humain n’est qu’une illusion, que la résistance anticapitaliste existe et que les mouvements sociaux peuvent s’unir pour tenter de nouvelles tactiques dans le cadre d’une stratégie commune visant à mettre fin au système capitaliste.
Nous annonçons haut et fort notre solidarité avec touTEs les manifestantEs et défendons les victimes de la répression policière, peu importe ce qui s’est produit. Car à Montréal, les policiers n’effectuent pas tant les arrestations en fonction des tactiques utilisées qu’en fonction de l’idéologie des groupes appelant aux manifestations
Toutefois, les limitations légales des actes de résistance sont très fortes. Par exemple, dans le contexte du sommet du G20 de Toronto, le simple fait de dire que les clôtures sont illégitimes et devraient être enlevées a mené à des accusations criminelles, entraînant des peines de prison9. Mais au final, si l’État ne se cachait pas derrière des clôtures, ces accusations ne seraient pas possibles !
C’est pourquoi nous optons pour la diversité des tactiques: nous annonçons haut et fort notre solidarité avec touTEs les manifestantEs et défendons les victimes de la répression policière, peu importe ce qui s’est produit. Car à Montréal, les policiers n’effectuent pas tant les arrestations en fonction des tactiques utilisées qu’en fonction de l’idéologie des groupes appelant aux manifestations10. La répression des groupes fondée sur leur idéologie alimente aussi la criminalisation des acteurs sociaux. En effet, on note souvent la disproportion de cas d’arrestations pour « voie de fait sur agent de la paix ». Par exemple, au premier mai anticapitaliste dernier, les seules accusations qui ont été portées sont « voie de fait sur agent de la paix ». Il va sans dire que si les policiers n’étaient pas intervenus de manière brutale, ces accusations n’existeraient pas.
1 http://www.policyalternatives.ca/publications/reports/rise-canadas-richest-1 2 http://www.commondreams.org/headlines05/0826-03.htm 4 http://social.un.org/index/LinkClick.aspx?fileticke t=wBur60X01VQ%3d&tabid=1562 5 Ibid. On note à la page 58 du rapport une augmentation des agressions à caractère sexuel, sans compter que les femmes sont celles qui restent en charge des enfants dans la majorité des cas de divorces, qui augmentent aussi selon la page 57 du rapport. 6 Notons au passage La stratégie du choc de Naomi Klein, et pour un point de vue plus radical, L’éloge du désordre de Marc Guillaume 7 http://www.tnr.com/blog/jonathan-chait/93873/didgay-marriage-cause-the-economic-crisis 8 Clausewitz, De la guerre: http://www.gutenberg. org/files/1946/1946-h/1946-h.htm 9 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v9NnAorPigc et http://www.clac-montreal.net/jaggi 10 http://citation.allacademic.com/meta/p_mla_apa_research_ citation/3/0/8/6/7/pages308673/p308673-1.php
Finalement, on aura souvent entendu dire que la diversité des tactiques incite à la violence. Rappelons que la violence est l’utilisation de la force physique pour contraindre une personne. Les fenêtres de banques cassées, les voitures de police incendiées, les marchandises pillées dans les magasins et les murs redécorés n’ont en commun que d’être la propriété de riches possédante-s ou de l’État qui les défend. Dans aucun cas il ne s’agit d’une contrainte physique qui les oblige par la suite à, par exemple, respecter l’environnement ou leurs travailleurs et travailleuses. Il s’agit plutôt d’une contrainte strictement politique : ils ont peur 33
QPIRG Concordia Working Groups Journal - January 2012
WHY FREE EDUCATION? contributed by Free Education Montreal (FEM) www.freeeducationmontreal.org Free Education Montreal asserts that education should be liberated from the incredible confines that it faces today.They outline what free education means to them in this short article.
allowed to pursue knowledge unbeholden to the dictates of the corporate money that has distorted our private and public institutions.
It is difficult to imagine what “free” can mean in the context of the modern university. We mean “free” as an adjective – a description, in a single word, of what education must be if it is to be a means of liberation. But that liberation is a work in progress, and so we also mean “free” as a verb. For education to be free, it first must be freed. Abolishing tuition as a means of funding education is only a step along this road.
Free from commercial interests Corporate elites now control the financial and administrative management of our institutions through boards dominated by executives of major corporations, many of whom have direct financial interests in university research. Education itself is also heavily tailored to corporate needs, so that commerce and engineering are favoured over humanities and arts. We actively resist this encroachment and believe that education should be controlled democratically and openly, without any one element of society exerting undue influence or warping education in a self-serving way.
Education is a social good Students across the world are currently engaged in struggles for these beliefs. Here in Québec, students began fighting for accessible post-secondary education in the 1960s and continue today. On the November 10th 2011, 30 000 students representing schools from all across the province took to the streets of Montreal to fight for their right to accessible education. Certainly the high turnout was primarily to protest drastic increases in tuition and fees, but this struggle transcends education as we all debate what kind of society we will live in. The slogan “je pense, donc j'endette” expresses the feelings of so many students: education comes at too high a cost. Education has become commoditized, and from this it must be freed.
Free from hierarchy Institutional education today creates sharp divisions between the community and the university, between faculty, staff, and students, between those who administer and those who are administered. In order for education to be free, these divisions must be removed – everyone has a stake in education, and so everyone should have a say in how it is done, and what ends it should serve. We recognize that the main function of education is the transmission of knowledge from generation to generation, from group to group, and from person to person, and so teachers must be free to teach what they know and students free to learn what they want and neither merely what they are told. We must value the people who actually operate schools, the non-academic workers who provide teachers and students with the opportunity to teach and learn.
Education should be a public good – a lifelong process that affords society with the critical faculties to deal with issues of great and small importance as human beings, not as cogs on a wheel or bees in a hive. Free education is a public good – a good that accrues to everyone, because as those around you freely learn, you become wiser as a community.
Free to think Free from complexes We must also seek to eliminate the artificial divisions between disciplines, which has had the effect of educating us in silos, creating Weber’s “specialists without vision,” and institutionalizing that lack of vision by appointing these same specialists to run our education systems. The discipline of disciplines must be one that does not build barriers, but bridge gaps. ♥
When Dwight Eisenhower left office in 1960 he warned of the domination of the military-industrial complex. We now identify a complex of complexes – military, industry, education, prison, research, police – all of which have been increasingly commoditized and directed toward private ends rather than public good. If education is to be free, it must be decoupled from these illegitimate private interests, and students and scholars 34
At the Heart of Resistance
LA NON-SCOLARISATION ET LES ÉCOLES LIBRES contribution de L’École Libre Radicale de Montréal www.ecolibre-freeschool.org économique et politique s’effondrerait de lui-même, en l’absence de stupides consommateurs et consommatrices: « La bêtise des masses est vitale pour les sociétés modernes. Maintenant, les gens bêtes ne sont plus seulement ignorants; ils sont les victimes de non-réflexions de deuxième main. Les gens bêtes sont maintenant bien informés sur les opinions du magazine Time et sur celles de CBS; leur travail de réflexion consiste à choisir quelles pensées préconçues ils préfèrent. »2 Illich va également s’intéresser aux rapports existants entre l’école et la société. Il mentionne dans Une société sans école que c’est dans la vie que l’on apprend, pas à l’école. Véritable cri d’alarme, il affirme que le désastre de notre temps est celui d’un monde scolarisé qui fabrique des individus manipulés par l’école institutionnalisée soumise à une logique de productivité. L’école institutionnelle des sociétés industrielles avancées se présente comme un monopole ayant une fin en soi : aliéner l’individu et procéder à une capitalisation du savoir. Il affirme également que l’école est un moyen de contrôle social. Dans une lettre à Ivan Illich en 1972, John Holt écrit :
Article écrit par Marike Reid-Gaudet de l’École Libre Radicale de Montréal Alexander Sutherland Neill est un éducateur avec une formation de psychanalyste. Il fonde en 1927 une école, Summerhill, en Angleterre. Les principes aux fondements de cette école sont la liberté et l’autogestion; c’est l’enfant qui est maître de sa formation. A.S. Neill pensait que les enfants n’apprennent vraiment que lorsqu’ils et elles ont envie d’apprendre. La liberté à Summerhill, c’est aussi le rejet de l’autorité de l’expert-e, de l’enseignant-e qui «possède le savoir». A.S. Neill postulait que le système scolaire traditionnel forme des individus facilement manipulables et dociles, en conformité avec les attentes d’une société de consommation. Si je m’intéresse à la non-scolarisation (unschooling), c’est parce qu’il s’agit plus d’une philosophie appliquée que d’une méthode d’enseignement. Cette philosophie, que je tente de vivre dans mon quotidien avec mon fils, aujourd’hui âgé de 15 ans, est également celle que l’on retrouve dans les écoles libres. Je crois que cette approche de la vie et du développement des enfants favorise l’indépendance d’esprit, la confiance en soi et le plaisir de vivre. Au fondement de la pensée de A. S. Neill, on trouve une philosophie libertaire de l’éducation dans laquelle s’inscrit aussi John Holt, qui inventa le terme unschooling dans les années 70 en discutant avec Ivan Illich, le génial auteur du livre Une société sans école.Vivre la nonscolarisation avec mon fils nous permet d’aller bien au-delà de la simple accumulation de savoirs. Déjà en 1842, le libertaire Max Stirner mentionnait que:
« Je travaille à faire advenir le changement que nous voulons pour une société conviviale, vous et moi avons différentes fonctions; vous êtes une sorte de prophète et moi je serais plutôt un tacticien. »3 Holt passera le reste de sa vie à imaginer et à tenter de créer une façon de parvenir à un changement de paradigme en éducation. Après avoir enseigné pendant des années, Holt considérait que les écoles (qu’il assimilait à une prison) ne pouvaient pas être réformées. En 1977, il créa le magazine Growing without schooling et, en bon tacticien, expliqua et démontra comment passer de la scolarisation (et non l’éducation) à la non-scolarisation, unschooling, un néologisme qu’il inventa à la place du mot d’Illich deschooling, (déscolarisation), parce qu’il trouvait que cette expression créait plus de confusion que de compréhension. Ce terme, unschooling, définit comment vivent et apprennent les familles en dehors des écoles au curriculum compulsif et institutionnel. Holt n’excluait pas la possibilité pour les unschoolers d’employer certains curriculums ou de suivre des cours avec une approche traditionnelle de l’enseignement, mais ce qui est déterminant, c’est le fait que c’est l’enfant qui choisit quoi, quand, pourquoi et comment il ou elle va faire ses apprentissages. L’enfant est responsable et en contrôle de sa propre éducation. Cette approche postule que
«Ce n’est pas le savoir qui doit être inculqué, c’est la personnalité qui doit parvenir à son propre épanouissement».1 John Taylor Gatto, qui a enseigné pendant vingt-six ans, est aujourd’hui un virulent critique de l’institution scolaire et croit que la non-scolarisation est une solution pour un changement radical, pas uniquement en matière d’éducation, mais pour l’ensemble de la société. Il postule que les étudiant-e-s apprennent à ne pas critiquer l’autorité et finissent par avoir une foi dogmatique envers les expert-e-s et les politiques gouvernementales. La scolarisation produit également de bons consommateurs et consommatrices et n’a pas intérêt à développer la pensée critique et la créativité des étudiant-e-s. Autrement, ce système
La non-scolarisation tient donc plus d’un processus que d’un contenu en tant que tel, le processus d’apprendre à se connaître soi-même étant primordial.
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QPIRG Concordia Working Groups Journal - January 2012 l’apprentissage, comme la motivation, est intrinsèque à l’individu. L’apprentissage commence et part de soi. Apprendre ne devrait pas être inféodé à un corpus de savoir pré-déterminé répondant à une demande sociétale. Le rôle des parents est d’encourager la curiosité des enfants, de les assister dans leurs recherches, projets et expériences. Par le terme unschooling, Holt entendait :
l’aider en le guidant dans ses recherches, l’assister dans ses expérimentations et le voir, avec plaisir, valider, invalider, nuancer, complexifier ses solutions et réponses, m’octroie le privilège d’assister à la naissance et à la formation de sa pensée critique, de sa personnalité, de son être. Illich retenait ultimement de l’école institutionnelle sa fonction d’unification des individus, la fonction d’aliénation de la scolarisation :
« C’est aussi connu sous les appellations suivantes : apprentissage autodirigé, centré sur les intérêts des enfants, apprentissage naturel, organique. Plus tard le terme non-scolarisation est devenu associé à un type d’éducation à domicile qui n’utilise pas de curriculum fixe et unique. Je définis la non-scolarisation comme le fait d’accorder aux enfants un maximum de liberté dans le contexte d’apprentissage, du moins tant que les parents se sentent confortables. Il s’agit de vivre et d’apprendre ensemble, de poursuivre intérêts et questionnements au moment où ils surviennent. Ceci est la façon dont nous apprenons avant d’aller à l’école et la façon dont nous apprenons lorsque nous quittons l’école pour entrer sur le marché du travail. Poursuivre ses intérêts peut amener l’enfant à lire des textes, prendre des cours, ou faire des projets, mais la différence significative est que ces activités seront choisies et pratiquées librement par l’apprenant-e. Ces activités ne seront pas dictées, imposées à l’enfant à travers un curriculum qui déterminera à quel moment spécifique et à quel endroit en particulier ces apprentissages doivent être réalisés, quoique les parents vont certainement influencer et guider les choix de leurs enfants. La non-scolarisation est la façon naturelle d’apprendre. Ce qui ne veut pas dire que les enfants non-scolarisé-e-s ne vont pas, par exemple, s’inscrire dans des classes traditionnelles ou utiliser des livres et du matériel scolaire. Apprendre à lire ou à résoudre des équations quadratiques ne fait pas partie d’un processus “naturel”, mais les enfants vont faire ces apprentissages lorsque cela aura un sens pour eux, et non pas parce qu’ils auront atteint un certain âge, établi arbitrairement par une autorité. Ce qui fait en sorte qu’il n’est pas rare de trouver un-e enfant non-scolarisé-e qui à huit ans a acquis des connaissances complexes en astronomie et un-e autre qui à dix ans vient d’apprendre à lire. »4
«Prisonnier de l’idéologie scolaire, l’être humain renonce à la responsabilité de sa propre croissance et par cette abdication, l’école conduit à une sorte de suicide intellectuel».5 La valorisation de l’interrogation va de pair avec une valorisation de la liberté d’action. Krishnamurti prétend que les individus ont besoin de déterminer eux-mêmes, pour eux-mêmes, ce qui fait sens dans leur vie. « Vivre signifie trouver ce qui est vrai pour soi-même, et vous pouvez le réaliser seulement dans un contexte de liberté. ».6 Je me souviens d’un matin très tôt en avril, Loïc avait autour de trois ans. Il voulait se déchausser et aller pieds-nus jouer dans le ruisseau. J’eus beau lui dire que les glaces étaient parties depuis peu, lui constatait une superbe journée ensoleillée et se souvenait d’avoir joué dans l’eau «avant l’hiver». Je persistais en expliquant qu’il devrait patienter : « Mon petit Loup, l’eau du ruisseau vient d’une source souterraine et la terre garde encore en elle le froid de l’hiver : elle n’a pas eu le temps de se réchauffer ». Rien à faire : il tape du pied, se fâche, se sent brimé. «OK Loïc, il n’y a rien comme faire l’expérience par soi-même, vas-y!». Sitôt déchaussé, sitôt dans l’eau, aussitôt en pleurs... Comment expliquer à quelqu’un-e qui ne l’a jamais vécu, expérimenté par lui ou elle-même, que l’eau glaciale paralyse les jambes aussi sûrement qu’un étau? Comment expliquer, par exemple à quelqu’un-e qui, venant d’un pays chaud, n’ayant jamais connu l’hiver à -35 degrés celsius, que ce froid «brûle» les joues et les doigts et que la métaphore du feu est appropriée!?! Loïc est ressorti du ruisseau, a remis ses chaussures... et a par la suite attendu en mai, chaque année, pour aller de nouveau jouer dans le ruisseau : son opinion était faite sur ce sujet ! ♥
Prisonnier de l’idéologie scolaire, l’être humain renonce à la responsabilité de sa propre croissance et par cette abdication, l’école conduit à une sorte de suicide intellectuel
La non-scolarisation tient donc plus d’un processus que d’un contenu en tant que tel, le processus d’apprendre à se connaître soi-même étant primordial. La pensée autonome Développer l’esprit critique des enfants leur permet de développer une pensée autonome. Autonomos : «qui se donne à soi-même sa loi». Castoriadis mentionne que se donner à soimême sa loi, cela veut dire qu’on pose des questions et qu’on n’accepte aucune autorité. L’autonomie dans le domaine de la pensée, c’est d’abord l’interrogation. Accorder de l’importance aux questions (nombreuses !) de mon fils, prendre le temps de l’écouter quand elles surviennent (même avec un pied en l’air sur un escabeau, ou lorsque je suis plongée dans un livre),
[1] M. Stirner, Le faux principe de notre éducation, 1842: http://apache-editions. blogspot.com/2010/03/stirner-le-faux-principe-de-notre.html [2] J.T. Gatto, Dumbing us down: The Hidden Curriculum of Compulsory Schooling, Philadelphia : New Society Publishers, 1992, page 26. [3] J. Holt, Teach Your Own, Perseus, 2003, page 60. [4] J. Holt, Op. cit., 2003, page 61. [5] I. Illich, Une société sans école, Seuil 1971, page 106. [6] Krishnamurti, De l’éducation, Delachaux et Niestlé Éditeurs, 1972.
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At the Heart of Resistance
WHAT HAPPENS AT THE MONTREAL ANARCHIST BOOKFAIR? contributed by the Montreal Anarchist Bookfair Collective www.anarchistbookfair.ca Anarchism brings together ideas and practices that privilege mutual aid, direct democracy, anti-authoritarianism, autonomy, and solidarity while uncompromisingly opposing capitalism, imperialism, patriarchy, heterosexism, transphobia, ableism, racism, colonialism, statism, and all other forms of oppression.
the Free (about the Anglola 3 prisoners in Louisiana), Tales from the G20, and Bastards of Utopia (filmed in Croatia). The Bookfair includes the works of anti-authoritarian artists as part of Art & Anarchy with sculptures, paintings, posters, banners, drawings, and other multi-media forms. Last year also featured an Autonomous Media and Technology Room, sharing the skills and knowledge of different mediums as deployed by anarchists – such as pirate radio, screen printing, secure communication, and more. The practice of anarchism extends to schooling and childrearing, and this is reflected in the Kid Zone, with activities for kids as well as presentations and workshops for both parents and kids.
The Montreal Anarchist Bookfair – and month-long Festival of Anarchy – bring together those anarchist ideas and practice, through words, images, music, theatre, and day-to-day struggles for justice, dignity, and collective liberation. Together, the Bookfair and Festival are one of the largest anarchist events in North America, and for the past decade, have been an important gathering and reference point for anti-authoritarian ideas and practice.
An important component of the Bookfair is the diverse range of workshops offered throughout the weekend, in English and French. Some are intended as introductions to anarchism for those who are new to anarchy, while others explore an anarchist-themed subject in some depth. Workshop topics are as diverse as the subjects that anarchists engage in and organize around. Last year’s subjects ranged from an anarchist critique of work to reproductive autonomy to anarchist responses to “austerity” measures (there were 26 workshops and presentations in total).
The first Montreal Anarchist Bookfair took place at a community center in CentreSud in 2000. Since 2004, the Bookfair has taken place at the Centre d’éducation populaire de la Petite-Bourgogne et de St-Henri (CEDA). The Bookfair has grown, and is now also co-hosted at the Centre Culturel Georges-Vanier, across from the CEDA in Parc Vinet. The Bookfair includes booksellers, distributors, independent presses, and political groups from all over Montreal, Quebec, North America, and abroad. Bookfair vendors share their publications and materials, most of which are hard or impossible to find at mainstream bookstores. Participants include large anarchist distributors like AK Press from the Bay Area, to community-based anarchist bookstores like L’Insoumise (Montreal), La Page Noire (Quebec City), and the Exile Infoshop (Ottawa). The Bookfair highlights anarchist art distributors like the Justseeds Artists’ Cooperative and the Beehive Collective, as well various local zine publications. Every year, there is strong participation by local community organizations, including many of QPIRG’s working groups.
The Anarchist Bookfair strives to promote anarchist ideas through workshops as well as the Bookfair itself, be that the introduction of these ideas to the public, or the elaboration of these ideas and dialogue between anarchist tendencies. We have a spirit of openness towards the different traditions, visions, and practices of anarchism. Importantly, the Bookfair and Festival are as much for people who don’t necessarily consider themselves anarchists, but are curious about anarchism, as they are spaces for anarchists to meet, network, and share in a spirit of respect and solidarity. The best way to know the Bookfair, and a great way to get acquainted with anarchist ideas and practice, is to attend the Bookfair itself. See you in May! ♥
In addition to diverse booksellers and groups, the Bookfair includes other kinds of programming. For example, there is an Anarchist Film Room, screening alternative films and documentaries. Last year’s program included three Montreal premieres: In the Land of 37
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