Feb 16
Yesterday was a very interesting one for Toronto’s City Hall. Shortly after noon a group of people from the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty setup camp in front of the mayor’s office to protest the city’s policy on shelters. It was a planned event, OCAP had booked space in the neighbouring Anglican Church of the Holy Trinity …
Feb 10
It’s no secret now that Canadian activist movements have a problem with violence. Every major activist event in the past few years has been stained by violent acts- the 2010 Olympics, G20, the student fees protests in Quebec. Yet, despite the fact such violence very few activists have dared to speak-out. People who have, like …
Jan 28
Back in October a group of activists with We Are Change Victoria (WACV) organized what they called a ‘Solutions Rally. It was a refreshingly unique idea. Rather than yelling, complaining and blocking traffic they would instead talk about how things could be made better. So, they got a permit, got the setup a stage, a sound …
Jan 15
One of the most fascinating parts of attending a ‘militant’ demonstration is watching the interaction between the militants and the police. This varies a lot by country- generally, the more repressive the nation, the more repressive are the police and the more responsive are the protesters. I’ve watched police officers pulverize protesters in Russia, and listened to sound …
Jan 09
Update 3: The Observer has now re-posted Solomon’s book on their website– only, they have cropped the image of the book cover to hide the fact she claims to be Pulitzer nominated. They’ve also added a disclaimer about the book saying “Out of print since 2010”. And, still, no public apologies have been issued for the …
Jan 06
There’s been a lot of discussion this week about Attawapiskat’s investment portfolio. Investments are made in the name of the Attawapiskat Trust- a fund that was setup in 2007 to receive payments from De Beer’s for income from the Victor Diamond Mine. The trust’s documentation is available for download from Attawapiskat website, it’s an interesting read. …
Jan 03
One of the more controversial demonstrations that’s come out of the Idle No More (INM) movement is the Aamjiwnaang rail blockade. It began on December 24th when a group of people setup a camp on the middle of a rail track in Sarnia, Ontario. And, despite that Chief Theresa Spence and INM have called for …
Dec 23
One of the first things I noticed when I moved to Toronto was how often I heard people speaking Hungarian. There’s hardly been a day I’ve not heard them- at a store, on the bus, or someone talking on a cell phone. My Hungarian is getting a bit rusty after so many years so I …
