By Montreal Simon On my way home today I visited the park where Occupy Toronto once lived. And I could hardly recognize the place. The old gazebo where so many passionate speeches were made, and so many dreamed of a better world, was quiet now. And where there were once tents huddled together in the […]
Quebec: No longer just a student protest
By Montreal Simon There was another amazing freedom party in Montreal on Saturday night. Thousands and thousands of people marched peacefully through the streets, beating pots and pans. Defying the police to arrest them for taking part in an illegal demonstration. And what struck me the most, apart from the incredible energy, was the diversity of […]
Quebec: The Casserole Symphony
By Montreal Simon In many Montreal neighbourhoods last night people were banging pots and pans in another casserole symphony of protest. The latest tactic in this awesome struggle. “It’s a nightly ritual known as les manifs aux casseroles, that sees hundreds of people step out of their homes, armed with pots and pans. At the […]
Law 78: Built to fail
By John Klein (aka SaskBoy) Who defends the rights and freedoms of Canadians? A) soldiers B) police C) citizens D) lawyers E) press F) politicians If you came to your own conclusion, and answered “G) All of the above”, then you understand a functioning democracy. Daniel explains: “The government is clearly aware that this ‘law […]
Quebec strike: Je désobéis
By Montreal Simon It’s just after 8pm in Montreal, and the reporter from CUTV is talking to a young mother who is taking her two kids to the 28th nightly demonstration in a row. Even though she knows she could be arrested, for defying the Charest government’s totalitarian Bill 78, like so many were the […]
Arcade Fire wear red square on SNL
A BoB short: Quebec’s striking students received some high-profile musical support last night when Montreal’s Arcade Fire appeared on “Saturday Night Live” wearing the symbol of the student movement, a red square. The Grammy-winners, along with Nick Fraiture of The Strokes, accompanied host Mick Jagger on a version of the Rolling Stones’ 1965 single, “The […]
Quebec students: If you can’t beat them, cane them
By Montreal Simon Well I suppose it was inevitable eh? Ever since the Quebec students began marching, the Con media has been attacking them like a pack of rabid hyenas. The Con liberal Andrew Coyne called them a violent mob. The windy little teabagger Rex Murphy called their protest a self-indulgent parody. The petty-bourgeois hack […]
The student strike and the savage state
By Montreal Simon Uh oh. It looks like my Quebec student’s victory celebration party, from which I’m still recovering, was a little premature. Students in a half dozen colleges and 10 university faculties and departments voted to reject the agreement on Monday after the Charest government boasted of having won the battle. Students at other […]
Jan Wong’s Globe and Mail blues
OUT OF THE BLUE By Jan Wong Self-published by Jan Wong, distributed by Dundurn 264 pages, $21.99, paperback Reviewed by Brian Brennan Jan Wong was a star of The Globe and Mail newsroom, a driven, gutsy, award-winning reporter who observed the Tiananmen Square massacre at first hand, and tested the limits of Canada’s airport security […]
Montreal: Not just about tuition fees
By Montreal Simon It’s reached a point where I almost can’t bear to read or watch any MSM coverage of the Quebec student strike. Because all I usually see is a bunch of kooky old right-wing pundits flapping their gums, or hissing like kettles. Like the grotesque Con dwarf Rex Murphy. Who should have been locked […]
