FROM KABUL TO QUEBEC CITY:
NO JUSTICE ON STOLEN AND OCCUPIED LAND
+++++++++++++++
Protest the parade of Canadian Armed Forces soldiers in the Old City
of Quebec; Canada out of Afghanistan!

JULY 3, 2008, QUEBEC CITY
Rendez-vous: 7am sharp;
in front of 1455 de Maisonneuve Ouest, MONTREAL
PLEASE RESERVE YOUR SPOT ON THE BUS NOW
blocktheempire@gmail.com
+++++++++++++++*

This coming July 3, 2008, Quebec City is commemorating the 400th anniversary
of its colonial foundations, "discovered" by Samuel de Champlain in the name
of the King of France.

On the same day, the 22nd Royal Regiment of the Canadian Armed Forces, just
returned from Afghanistan, will be openly parading on the streets of old
Quebec City.

In response to a call to action by the Guerre à la guerre Coalition in
Quebec City to continue opposition to the war in Afghanistan, Block the
Empire Montreal invites you to join the resistance on the streets to oppose
this unabashed show of colonial domination and imperial power. The main
mobilization in Quebec City will be child-friendly.

* ENDORSE THE ANTI-COLONIAL CONTINGENT*

In support of the anti-war demonstrations in Quebec City on July 3, 2008,
Block the Empire-MONTREAL is organizing an "ANTI-COLONIAL CONTINGENT" to
highlight opposition to the colonial underpinnings of Canada & Quebec, to

By Yves Engler

Over the past century, a line has divided the left around the world. On one side sit “progressive forces” willing to support imperialism and war, usually in return for a “seat at the table” or some other perk of power. The most discussed example of Left support for imperialism was at the beginning of the First World War when most parties of the Second International sided with their own ruling class and governments in the slaughter that followed. On the other side of the Left divide, are those individuals and organizations that take a principled position in favour of real democracy for all the world’s people and oppose imperialism and colonialism in all its forms, especially when it is their ruling class involved. Some might say the former is the “pretend Left” and the later the “authentic Left.”

So what sort of Left is there left in Québec? To help answer this question the case of Haiti is instructive.

Monday, March 31 2008 @ 06:36 PM PDT

About 300 anti-militarists took the streets Friday, March 28 in Quebec city. In a rare showing of unity, the main anti-capitalists groups of the city marched together, along with delegations from other cities, such as Montreal and Sherbrooke. The marchers commemorated the 90th anniversary of the riots against conscription and took the occasion to again express their opposition to the war in Afghanistan.

==> Our photo-report
http://www.flickr.com/photos/10060289@N05/sets/72157604305532435/

Anti-militarist Quebec city

"Quebec city is not only a garrison town, it also has a proud anti-militarist past" said Mathieu, of the Northeastern Federation of Anarcho-Communists (NEFAC). It’s not on the agenda of the insipid 400th anniversary of the city, but 90 years ago, the city inhabitants rose against conscription. Five days of rioting occurred downtown, which ended in a bloodbath when the army opened fire on a crowd of civilians, leaving 4 dead and 35 injured. "It’s this popular history that we want to take out of oblivion" added the anarchist militant.

Resistance to war

A critical take on the NDP convention.

by Corvin Russell, September 18, 2006, from Rabble

Like a jovial, latter-day Lenin, a giant Jack Layton stares at me from a banner hanging over the front doors of the Quebec City Convention Centre, where NDP activists are gathering for their convention. Layton's image and name are ubiquitous here, at the first biennial party convention in nearly four years. The cover of the convention guide features five photos: four of Layton, and one of a woman holding a “Jack Layton” sign. Above the registration desk, Layton's name dwarfs the party's.

In this interview Nicolas Phebus reflects on the Québec student movement and its most recent mobilization in the Spring of 2005 against cuts to education funding by the ruling Liberal Party under Jean Charest. The Liberals’ attempt to convert more than 100 million dollars in grants and bursaries into loans, thereby effectively doubling the indebtedness of poorer students, was met by an unprecedented student mobilization. The mobilization evolved into a massive general strike: at its peak, more than 200,000 college and university students were out on strike. Highlighted by a demonstration involving as many as 100,000 students in Montréal on March 16, the student mobilization also involved school occupations and a campaign of economic disruption, including a blockade of the Port of Montréal. The strike was effectively ended when the government reversed course and agreed to abandon the loan conversion scheme. The education sector will continue to be an important front in the resistance to neoliberalism, with students in Québec once again leading the way. In this interview with Aidan Conway, Phebus provides some historical context for this most recent student struggle and reflects on the openings it has provided for developing radical perspectives on, and currents within, contemporary social struggles.

18 mai 2005 by Pierre Dubuc

Dear friends,

Those of you who are inclined to reduce the sponsorship scandal to a mere
tempest in a teacup have a short-sighted and highly imprudent grasp of the
political situation in Canada. If it were only a question of dollars and
cents, the sponsorship scandal would no doubt appear almost insignificant
compared to that of the fire arms registry. However, as the present
parliamentary crisis attests, this is above all a political scandal.
Judging from the English-Canadian press, it appears that the wake-up has
been brutal for those who believed that the issue of Quebec separation had
been laid to rest on October 30, 1995. Nightmare scenarios were evoked: a
landslide win by the Bloc in the next elections, followed by a victory by
the Parti Quebecois and the holding of a new referendum.

Seen from Quebec, we get the distinct impression that "a spectre is haunting
Canada" - to paraphrase a famous expression - but rather than communism,
that spectre is separatism. English Canada did not take the 1995 referendum
too seriously, but that will never happen again now that it knows it could
lose. So, the editorialists and columnists wheel out the heavy artillery:
Plan B, the Clarity Act. The only thing they haven't done is brandish the
threat of the partition of Quebec's territory, but that shouldn't be long in
coming.

CTV.ca News Staff

A mysterious group has claimed responsibility for an apparent bomb attack on a Hydro-Quebec tower.

In a message received by news media outlets on Monday, IRI -- in French, the Initiative de Resistance Internationaliste (IRI) -- denounced what it describes as the "pillaging" of Quebec's resources by the United States.

Friday, March 5, 2:30pm -- Members of the No One Is Illegal Campaign in Montreal have learned that Mohamed Cherfi has been arrested in Quebec City. Mohamed had been in sanctuary inside the Saint-Pierre United Church, on the invitation of the church's pastor, the Reverend Gerald Dore.

By La Nuit (NEFAC-Quebec)

When the top management of the ALCAN multinational
announced, during the World Economic Forum in Davos,
Switzerland, the closing of Arvida aluminium smelters
they undoubtedly did not suspect the Pandora's box