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 17
A short while ago Rising Tide Toronto sent out an alert that “a group of individuals from the Six Nations & their allies” have occupied a Line 9 maintenance site in North Dumfries. Pictures that are circulating indicate that at least four indigenous protesters are on-site, and some familiar anarchist “settler allies”. Rising Tides’ alert says …
May 20
Update: This report initially said that the Line 9 spokesperson claimed this dig would fix 400 defects, that was inaccurate, and has been fixed. If you read my story Yawn, Another Line 9 Pipeline Occupation, then you probably don’t need to bother reading any further, today’s 12-hour ‘blockade’ of a Line 9 site is pretty …
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 …
Dec 17
UPDATE: The story originally identified the person in the beige jacket feeding the fire as Chelsea Flook of the Sierra Club. Flook has written and said that it was not here. Your Humble Narrator apologizes for any misconceptions as a result of this error, but still points out that Flook promoted this event- behaviour that’s …
Nov 26
Last week the Vancouver Observer published a scare story criticising the Harper government’s extensive spying on anti-oilsands groups. The writer explained that the “federal government” (wait, I thought it was Harper?) has been “vigorously spying” on anti oil sands activists and organizations across the country. Adding some fuel to the fire, they also hinted at a …
Sep 02
Earlier during this week one of Toronto’s most prolific professional protesters got into trouble with the police. He was stopped while allegedly running a red light on his bike- when asked for his identification he responded saying “who are you!”. This, of course, didn’t work out very well- moments later he was in handcuffs. His …
Aug 16
Someone with a sharp eye for anarchist criminality pointed out an interesting picture posted on the Toronto Media Co-Op today. They call it a ‘meme’. At the top, there’s a picture of the Black Bloc anarchists who smashed up Toronto during the G20 saying “Get On the Fence”. At the bottom is a picture of …
Aug 16
The protesters who occupied the Line 9 pumping station in Westover had their first day in court on Wednesday. To celebrate, they and their allies arranged a pre-court protest. A motley crew of anarchists, rabble rousers, and useful idiots showed up- and, as expected, they seriously went off the rails. What was billed as a …