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Feb 14

#ShutDownCanada Fails: Small Crowds, Aborted Train Sabotage & Unabashed Racism

By grenouf in #ShutDownCanada, Black Bloc, Daniel Johnson, David Eby, Krystalline Kraus, Vancouver, Vancouver Cop Watch

Yes, and they vandalized money…

In early January Vancouver activist Dan Wallace announced a potentially exciting protest called #ShutDownCanada. The organizer’s goal was to get people to join in from coast-to-coast-to-coast, block critical infrastructure, and “severely impact: the country’s economy”. Adding to the anouncement, Wallace declared the event would “respect diversity of tactics”- activist code that means it’s acceptable if some participants use violence.

The protests happened yesterday as planned, with only one exception- almost nobody showed up, and very little was shut down. Join me as we follow some of the highlights, lowlights, and abject stupidity of #ShutDownCanada protests from coast-to-coast.

Jan 28

Dogwood Initiative Anti-Oil Scare Tactics Ignore Inconvenient Truths (Feat. Kai Nagata)

By grenouf in Dogwood Initiative, Kai Nagata

Dogwood Initiative’s Kai Nagata

The Dogwood Initiative is a Victoria, BC based non-profit, and registered lobbyist group, that focusses on environmental issues. Like many NGOs, Dogwood has taken a strong stand against Kinder Morgan’s proposed twinning of the TransMountain pipeline- the subject of the recent protests on Burnaby Mountain.

Kai Nagata is the former Quebec City Bureau Chief for CTV News. Nagata’s claim to fame comes from when he wrote a blog posting attacking his former industry titled Why I Quit My Job. Nagata criticised Canadian media explaining he left for ethical reasons because it was impossible for him to be an “objective” reporter.

Nagata recently jumped from the media’s fire into the frying pan of the ENGO world when he joined the Dogwood Initiative in March, 2014. One would think that a journalist who left the media industry for ethical reasons would be the perfect person to bring truth to his new employer- checking his facts, and avoiding the over-sensationalizing he so loathed during his career with CTV. Unfortunately, Kai doesn’t appear to be doing much better at Dogwood.

Jan 26

[Updated] #BurnabyMountain Protesters Get Their Stupid On- Attack The Wrong People! (Feat. Tamo Campos)

By grenouf in burnaby mountain, Kinder Morgan

Audrey Siegl banging her drum…

UPDATE: More details have come available and have been added to the story.

A video came out yesterday showing how a group of protesters burst into North Vancouver’s Fishworks restaurant, interrupting a group of Kinder Morgan employees as they ate a meal together. It was a classy affair with former COPE Vancouver Audrey Siegl candidate walking in with her drum, fresh from her previous day’s activities publicly endorsing Jenny Kwan’s intention to run for Libby Davies’ MP seat in the Vancouver-East riding.

The evening’s star studded festivities also included David Suzuki’s grandson Tamo Campos- a troubled young man who works with some of the province’s most militant and violence prone activists. There was nothing out of the ordinary about the protest, same old yelling and banging we’ve got used to over the years, and a rip-off of Occupy Wall Street’s recent interruptions of people’s brunches.

There is, however, one thing that turned out to be a real laugh riot!

Jan 26

Multi-Million Dollar Homeowner Announces MP Candidacy In Vancouver’s Poorest Riding (Feat. Jenny Kwan)

By grenouf in Jenny Kwan, NDP

Oh, the irony!

Yesterday Vancouver NDP MLA Jenny Kwan announced her intention to run for Libby Davies’ soon to be vacant seat in Parliament. Kwan has a long history in the neighbourhood and was once a member of the Downtown Eastside Resident’s association- a now defunct housing organization partially founded by Davies that died after a financial scandal involving misappropriation of resources.

DERA’s death marked the beginning of a new disaster called the Portland Housing Society. Kwan’s ex-husband Dan Small was an executive at PHS who got caught misusing the non-profit’s funds for luxury travel and hotels in Vienna, London, and Disneyland. Kwan was put in the spotlight when it was discovered she was with her husband on these trips. Claiming she was unaware he was using PHS funds to pay for her accommodations (and not questioning his choices to stay in $800+ per night hotel rooms) Kwan slipped away from the controversy after paying back $35,000 to PHS.

Kwan’s supporters tell us we should forgive her and accept the fact she was clueless of her surroundings. The problem is, if Kwan’s story is true, how is someone so clueless qualified for such an important job?

Jan 25

CRA Audited Charity Sponsors Book Tour For Anti Free Speech Violence Advocate (Feat. Harsha Walia)

By grenouf in Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, Harsha Walia, Naomi Klein

Sponsored by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives

The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives’s about page contradictorily describes itself as “an independent, non-partisan research institute concerned with issues of social, economic and environmental justice” that since has become “one of Canada’s leading progressive voices in public policy debates”. The page explains how the CCPA works with “with top-notch researchers to shed light on the key issues facing Canada”. Projects include researching income inequality, “climate justice”, and their annual Alternative Federal Budget “that reflects the values of the large majority of Canadians”.

Harsha Walia is a Vancouver based anarchist whose work promoting and enabling Black Bloc tactics has made her a global icon for violent protest. Wallia leads No One Is Illegal Vancouver, a contradictory organization that both sells the ideology Canada should dissolve all border controls while promoting itself as a “settler ally” helping indigenous communities protect their treaty rights. Wallia was organizing at the front-lines during the violence at the 2010 Toronto G20 and the recent clash with police at the Burnaby Mountain protests, and is one of the many pro-violence activists seen organizing at the RCMP monitored extremists at the Unist’ot’en Camp in Northern BC.

So, what does this tax-exempt charity have in common with Canada’s most visible icon of violent revolution? Disturbingly, it appears the CCPA has become one of Harsha Walia’s most unabashed institutional promoters…

Jan 24

CRA Audited Quebec Charity Promotes Fundraiser For RCMP Monitored Extremist Camp (Feat. Équiterre)

By grenouf in Équiterre

And they still get tax-free status, really?

Équiterre is a Quebec based environmental charity whose founders claim to have been inspired after a transcontinental flight to the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development’s 1992 Earth Summit in Rio Janeiro. The first sentence in their mission statement claims their goal is to “build a social movement”, encouraging society “to make ecological and equitable choices”. Some of their initiatives include assisting family farms sell produce through organic basket sales, assisting and encouraging government to buy locally grown food (similar to the UN initiative), promoting and educating on energy efficiency and fair trade.

The Unist’ot’en Camp is on Crown land in Northern BC, organizers claim their protest sits at the junction of several planned pipelines. Unist’ot’en is funded and supported by violence tolerant NGOs including the US based Deep Green Resistance, Council of Canadians, and Victoria anarchist Zoe Blunt’s Forest Action Network. The camp is surrounded by barbed wire (Blunt’s currently fundraising for gates); their policy and practice is to threaten, assault and “confiscate” the equipment of pipeline workers who cross their path. In October 2014 the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network exposed how the RCMP designated Unist’ot’en as an “extremist” group in 2010 and have been monitoring ever since.

So, what do this tax-exempt charity and violent (foreign backed) extremists have to do with each other? Well, it appears that the charity promoted a fundraiser for the extremists!

Jan 14

Planning A Life Of Crime? Move To Vancouver! (Feat. Vancouver Police Department)

By grenouf in Vancouver, VPD

Not a criminal? Then don’t work in a coffee shop…

On the morning of January 11th at about 10am a man walked into the Waves coffee shop at 305 Main Street in Vancouver. Shortly after the young woman working alone behind the counter opened the till, the man grabbed some money, and ran away. Officers were dispatched after someone called 911 and officers from the Vancouver Police Department quickly apprehended the suspect. So far so good, right?

Once the perpetrator was caught, the police officers brought the man back to the coffee shop with handcuffs on. According to a report by a man who was there, the officers brought the man up to the woman working behind the till and he was asked to apologize to her. The witness commented that the woman “was so scarred and the VPD asked if she will press charges, she was too scared and said no.” The cops then took the handcuffs off of the man and set him free.

Jan 13

Dubunking Alan Dutton’s #BurnabyMountain SLAPP Allegation With One Link!

By grenouf in burnaby mountain, Kinder Morgan, Simon Fraser University

Alan Dutton: Climate change warrior and Nazi hunter...

Alan Dutton: Climate change warrior, Nazi hunter, and all around weasel…

BC’s Burnaby Mountain protests were back in the news again today. The Simon Fraser University Institute for the Humanities’ associate (and past intrepid Nazi hunter) Allan Dutton was in court claiming that Kinder Morgan’s lawsuit was a SLAPP, intended to deprive him of his right to engage in legal protest activities. Dutton exclaimed to the media outside of the courthouse today that, “The allegations we engaged in conspiracy to commit various unlawful acts that’s of course a ridiculous charge,”

Oh, really?

Perhaps Dutton forgot his previous statements, like the one he was quoted saying in the Wall Street Journal just a couple of days before KM hit him with the lawsuit, “We will continue to take nonviolent direct action to stop Kinder Morgan’s activities in Burnaby.” Direct action to “stop KM activities in Burnaby” means to damage the company’s ability to conduct their business- KM wasn’t attacking Dutton’s right to “free speech”, they were trying to stop him from doing damage to their ability to do business.

Busted!

Jan 12

BC “Activists” Harass The Working Man- Make Perfect Argument For Bill C-639

By grenouf in BCCLA

On December 3, 2014 Conservative Member of Parliament Wai Young introduced private member’s Bill C-639, an act intended to amend the Criminal Code to protect Canada’s critical infrastructure. Young noted how the people interfering with our country’s infrastructure put our country at risk and how their acts “should be considered more than just petty crimes”.

Needless to say, Young’s proposed bill upset many people, particularly the activists who’ve been using the gaps in our country’s laws to get away with their (often) cowardly acts. It’s her belief that by increasing the penalties for these acts, we’ll be more able to deter people engaging in economic disruptions. The dangerous clowns at the BC Civil Liberties Association disagreed- going as far as to bring their complaint to the United Nations.

The problem with the BCCLA’s complaint, as we saw on Burnaby Mountain, is that not all protesters are as “peaceful” as they claim. Beyond that, as common sense dictates, protesters don’t have a right to interfere with infrastructure projects- their rights end at the point where they impact the rights of others. There’s no better example of this than a protest posted on YouTube yesterday afternoon.

BCCLA, Bill C-639, Pipeline, Squamish, Wai Young
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Jan 03

Will Protesters #ShutDownCanada In 2015? (Feat. Dan Wallace)

By grenouf in #ShutDownCanada, Dan Wallace, First Nations

Multi-issue extremists run a multi-issue protest

Canadian author Doug Bland recently released a new book called Time Bomb that warns Canada is at risk of reaching a “flashpoint” with indigenous relations. Bland has some impressive qualifications, he was a senior officer in the Canadian Forces and served as the chair of defence studies at Queens University. His 2012 book Uprising explored a chilling potential outcome if armed First Nations protests broke out across the country

Bland’s research explains how protesters could take advantage of weaknesses in Canada’s transportation infrastructure to freeze and/or have a significant impact on our economy. Basically, as a large country with a relatively small population, small groups of geographically distributed protesters could cause economic chaos by shutting down rail, bridges, and highways across the country.

Sounds scary, doesn’t it- but, is this really a possiblity? Well, if the organizers behind #ShutDownCanada are successful, the (faux) revolution will be televised on February 13th…