Dec 07
Yesterday the Canadian Press published a story based on a Transport Canada intelligence report outlining the risk of extremists might inflitrate pipeline protests and use them as a cover to engage in violence. The report, of course, is way off mark- most of the pipeline protests I’ve been to and reported on were already led …
Aug 07
Update: Despite the slacktivist’s efforts Roosh Valizadeh has arrived in Canada without any problems at the border. After a quick scan of his work, I get the feeling that Roosh Valizadeh is a bit of a douchebag. Roosh is a pickup artist guru with a twist- he not only promises to teach lonely men how to …
May 05
Vancouver’s May Day celebrations have had a history of violence over recent years. Things started to heat up in 2013 when Vancouver Police allowed a group of masked thugs to march through downtown with flaming torches and swarming the entrance to the PIDGIN restaurant- a couple of days later anarchists burned down and East Vancouver …
Mar 21
One of the first things I learned when I moved to Budapest was to beware of the police. The dreaded Rendőrség were as equally well known for their low IQ’s as they were for their unpredictability and occasional violence. The Communist government liked them this way; dumb enough to be controllable, yet scary enough to …
Feb 21
Earlier this week Greenpeace released a document they acquired from the RCMP. The paper warns that certain elements of the environmental movement pose a “realistic criminal threat to Canada’s petroleum industry, its workers and assets, and to first responders”. As expected, the news has caused quite a stir in the environmentalist world- with many supporters using …
Aug 07
Introduction: In November 2012 a group of leaders from NGOs, unions, academia, first nations and militant anarchist groups converged for a conference at the University of Toronto. Their goal was to come up with a strategy how to interfere with Enbridge’s plan to reverse their Line 9 pipeline- limiting Canada’s ability to export our oil …
Jul 08
The Ontario Trillium Foundation is a provincial government agency whose purpose is to build “healthy and vibrant communities” by “strengthening the capacity of the voluntary sector”. Causes they support include arts & culture, environment, social services and recreation. Trillium promote themselves on their website as “Ontario’s leading grant-maker”. Trillium grant recipients get more than just …
May 19
Last weekend LeadNow.ca organized their Defend Our Climate, Defend Our Communities rallies across the country. LeadNow claimed they had events in over 100 locations (some possibly in people’s living rooms), and that many thousands of people showed up in support. The two largest gatherings were in Vancouver and Toronto- many of the usual suspects appeared, …
May 12
One of my most disturbing discoveries while researching the resurgence of activist militancy was the large number of ‘legitimate’ organizations who’ve been willing to work with people who promote violent tactics. Sometimes it’s blatant, like when a leader at the Council of Canadians helped bring the Black Bloc into the Olympic protests; or things that make …
May 03
Update: Someone just shared an interesting video of Sasha Wiley-Shaw (sharing a stage with NDP MP Libby Davies) saying that Davies “has been a political mentor of mine since my childhood”, and then discussing the incident in 2012. Very interesting, and answers a few questions… Update 2: The arrested cyclist is Jakub Markiewicz, whose prior claim to …