This Day. Anniversary of the Proclamation of War Measures in 1970

Police powers unjustly imprisoned hundreds uring 1970 “October Crisis”

Army deployed on the streets of Montreal October 15, 1970, the day before the War Measures Act is invoked.

October 16 marks the 51st anniversary of the proclamation of the War Measures Act by Pierre Elliott Trudeau and his Liberal government. Trudeau declared a state of “apprehended insurrection” in order to use the powers of the War Measures Act, which had been used in World War I and World War II, to indefinitely detain people without charges or trial.

Last ditch attempt to influence election outcome with muckraking

In this election none of the main cartel parties are reaching a target or winning position. This is because they are so self-serving and opportunistic, anything goes to win power — something the polity views with disdain.

As desperation sets in, certain forces are muckraking related to Justin Trudeau’s lack of judgement this time related to a 2016 deal to permit a book about him to be published in China. While the entire ruling class is self-serving, corrupt and will go to any lengths to get themselves into positions of power, accusations of being self-serving and an agent of China are once again centred on Trudeau. In tandem with this, while the ruling class scrambles to find someone who can claim a mandate to rule this country by decree in favour of narrow private interests, quite a few rats are once again scrambling to get off the sinking Liberal ship. Not knowing who pays for muckraking leads to suspicions that another attempt at a palace coup is taking place within the Liberal Party, or that it is a desperate attempt to gain a Conservative win, or both.

Urgent need for workers to unite the people in the fight for the rights of all

By Pierre Chénier

A prominent feature of the last leaders’ debate on September 9, was what has come to be known as Quebec-bashing. A self-serving manipulation of the issue of values makes sure no discussion takes place on what values people actually hold and how they can be expressed in a manner decided by the people themselves.

June 23, 1990 – Defeat of Meech Lake Accord

Democratic Renewal and a Modern Constitution Are an Urgent Need – The significance of the Meech Lake Accord today is that in this era the people want to be the arbiters and decision-makers. It is the work for democratic renewal which will open society’s path to progress.

On June 23, 1990, the Meech Lake Accord was defeated. It was a set of amendments to the Constitution of Canada negotiated behind closed doors in 1987 by Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and the provincial premiers. The failure of the Meech Lake Accord marked a deepening of the constitutional crisis which has now become an existential crisis due to Canada’s all-sided integration into the U.S. war economy and state arrangements.

June 21: Summer Solstice — National Indigenous Peoples Day

Government passes back-to-work legislation against Montreal dock workers

Members of cabinet and Conservative MPs should go work on the docks. Perhaps that will notch their anti-worker arrogance down a peg or two. Support the demands of the dock workers! Denounce the government legislation and anti-worker arrogance! #CUPE375

Oppose the Criminalization of Workers’ Just Demands!

Integration of Quebec’s northern regions into US war economy

Canada’s strategic critical minerals: Who decides? | Fernand Deschamps

TML Weekly explained in February how Canada and Quebec are being further integrated into the U.S. imperialist economy and war machine through the Canada-U.S. Joint Action Plan on Critical Minerals Collaboration.[1] A recent Quebec government announcement reveals that the next step is to build infrastructure to guarantee a supply chain to ship these critical minerals to the United States.

Current US attempts to sow chaos in Cuba

A campaign of interference in Cuba’s internal affairs is being undertaken by U.S. diplomats, politicians and anti-Cuba terrorists in the United States.

1. Oppose Imperialist Interference in Cuba and Violation of Diplomatic Norms

By Nick Lin

CALENDAR OF EVENTS

A campaign of interference in Cuba’s internal affairs is being undertaken by U.S. diplomats, politicians and anti-Cuba terrorists in the U.S. This is being done by inciting Cuban youth to take up counterrevolutionary activities, in flagrant violation of the rules governing diplomatic relations.

On November 30, Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez, through his official Twitter account, denounced the direct participation of the U.S. Chargé d’Affaires in Havana, Timothy Zúñiga-Brown, in inciting and assisting in illegal acts against public order and health standards in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. Similarly, Carlos Fernández de Cossío, the Director General in charge of the U.S. at the Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Minrex), pointed out “the serious violations of the functions as diplomat and head of mission” committed by Zúñiga-Brown.

Putting Canadian and Quebec territory and public space in service of aggressive military alliances

October 30, 2004. Demonstration in opposition to the presence of warships in Montreal.

By Christine Dandenault and Claude Brunelle

Canada is a founding member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) established on April 4, 1949. It has also been a member of the North American Aerospace Defence Command (NORAD) since May 12, 1958. The integration of the Canadian military into the U.S. military has been one of the characteristics of Canada’s membership in these military alliances. Despite the determined and continued opposition of the Quebec, Canadian and Indigenous peoples to any participation of Canada in such alliances and wars of aggression and occupation under the helm of the U.S. imperialists, the Canadian government continues its interventions against the peoples of the world. This translates into putting the territory, public space and public funds at the disposal of these alliances.

La Presse reported on October 21, that the Canadian government will be increasing the federal budget allocation for war based on its commitment as a member of NATO. “NATO figures show that Canada is on the verge of committing 1.45 per cent of its GDP to the military this year. This not only represents a significant hike from last year’s 1.29 per cent, but the largest share of the GDP for defence in a decade.[1]

“It also exceeds the Liberal government’s original provisions, set out in the 2017 defence policy, to spend 1.4 per cent of the GDP on the military by 2024-2025 – the year NATO members were to reach the two per cent target.”[2]

Remembrance Day: Affirm our aspirations for peace and a world without interference, threats, war and aggression!

January 25, 2020. Demonstration in Montreal opposing U.S. aggression against Iran.

By Christine Dandenault

The workers of Canada and Quebec do not want Canada to contribute to world conflicts or wars of aggression against friendly peoples. The 2003 march of more than 200,000 people in the streets of Montreal in minus 20 degree Celsius weather against the invasion of Iraq, along with various actions organized against the presence of NATO warships in the Port of Montreal and elsewhere against the promotion of war amongst the youth clearly attest to this.

50th anniversary of War Measures Act (VI) – Film Les Ordres by Michel Brault (1974)

Sixth in a series on the issues and goals of the “October Crisis” and the forces in motion, reposted from TML Weekly.

Image from the film Les Ordres

Michel Brault’s film Les Ordres (The Orders) was made four years after the events triggered by the proclamation of the War Measures Act in October 1970. The film focuses on the repercussions of the War Measures Act, and more precisely on the resulting arbitrary arrests. At the time of the making of the film, the frustration among the people arising from the events of October 1970 was still palpable as a result of the flagrant violation of the individual freedoms of citizens. The film deals with this legislation and the reaction of the government of Pierre Elliot Trudeau to trample the rights and freedoms of citizens in the name of public safety. The message conveyed by Michel Brault is clear. He explains that he “didn’t want to make a film about the October Crisis, but rather about humiliation.”

To view the film click here. 

For a trailer of the movie Les Ordres with English subtitles, click here.

50th anniversary of War Measures Act (V) – Courageous resistance to military occupation and attempt to isolate Quebec

Fifth in a series on the issues and goals of the “October Crisis” and the forces in motion, reposted from TML Weekly.

University of Calgary students hold a large rally on campus on October 27, 1970 to denounce the War Measures Act. After the rally, 300 students march angrily to downtown Calgary. Some 1,000 students in Regina organize similar actions.

By Christine Dandenault

When the government of Pierre Elliot Trudeau enacted the War Measures Act on October 16, 1970 and the army was deployed in the streets of Ottawa and Montreal before that and arrests began, opposition and resistance was immediate across the country. Students and youth, intellectuals, working people and other collectives in their thousands protested all across the country. The following account is taken from newspapers published by the Communist Party of Canada (Marxist-Leninist) and its affiliated organizations at the time the events were taking place.

50th anniversary of War Measures Act (IV) – Honour to those unjustly imprisoned during the 1970 ‘October Crisis’

Fourth in a series on the issues and goals of the “October Crisis” and the forces in motion, reposted from TML Weekly.

Rally of 1,500 in Vancouver, October 19, 1970, one of many actions across the country supporting the Quebec people’s struggle and opposing imposition of the War Measures Act.

Youth fill Paul Sauvé Arena in Montreal in support of Quebec national liberation on the eve of the declaration of the War Measures Act in October 1970. A number of the youth in attendance are among those arrested in the raids which follow the Act being invoked.

50th anniversary of War Measures Act (III) – State-sanctioned Black Ops and cover-ups

Third of a series on the issues and goals of the “October Crisis” and the forces in motion, reposted from TML Weekly.

Police attack demonstration led by CPC(M-L) activists outside the Royal York Hotel in Toronto, March 3, 1971. The demonstration supports the Quebec people and opposes the attacks launched on them by Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau’s government.

By Anna Di Carlo

There are many official as well as media accounts of crimes committed against Canadians, Quebeckers and Indigenous peoples by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP). Some of the crimes are left out of the accounts altogether; others are said to be unacceptable aberrations or necessary despite the violations of rights. All in all, it is said that such crimes belong to the past or even that they have contributed to strengthening our democracy. The Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) was created in 1984 to, allegedly, “collect intelligence but not pass to action” and thus we were to believe that the days of the dirty deeds of the RCMP were over. Of course, it is not true that after 1984 the security services stopped violating the rights of the people. These include cover-up of their involvement in the 1985 Air India disaster. Since 9/11, every manner of excuse has been given to violate rights with impunity. Bill C-51, the Anti-Terrorism Act 2015 extends powers to CSIS to allow it to conduct activities that resemble those of the RCMP prior to 1984.

This article provides a brief review of the official story and what the Communist Party of Canada (Marxist-Leninist) had to say about this at the time the events were taking place. The aim of the review is to sum up this experience so that people can provide themselves with a suitable guide to action which serves the present and opens a path to a safe and bright future.

50th anniversary of War Measures Act (II) – Police power above the civil power: The true nature of Canadian democracy

Second of a series on the issues and goals of the “October Crisis” and the forces in motion, reposted from TML Weekly.

Demonstration outside Tanguay prison in Montreal, January 1971, calls for the release of political prisoners detained under the War Measures Act.

Media disinformation about the invocation of the War Measures Act in 1970 tends to focus only on some events which were taking place in October 1970 and discussion on whether or not Pierre Elliot Trudeau over-reacted or if there truly was a state of apprehended insurrection at the time. Information brought to light in 2010 about the RCMP’s secret plans, first devised in 1950, for indefinite detention and internment of thousands of Canadians, code-named PROFUNC (PROminent FUNCtionaries of the Communist Party), was used, amongst other things, to suggest that the phenomenon of the police being above the civil power was a thing of the past.

50th anniversary of War Measures Act (I) – The significance of the proclamation of War Measures

Demonstration on Parliament Hill in Ottawa in 1970 opposing the invoking of the War Measures Act.

First of a series on the issues and goals of the “October Crisis” and the forces in motion, reposted from TML Weekly.

The Significance of the Proclamation of War Measures

By Pauline Easton

Army deployed on the streets of Montreal October 15, 1970, the day before the War Measures Act is invoked.

October 16, 2020 will mark the 50th Anniversary of the proclamation of the War Measures Act by the Liberal government headed by Pierre Elliott Trudeau. Trudeau declared a state of “apprehended insurrection” in order to use the powers of the War Measures Act, which had been used in World War I and World War II to indefinitely detain people without charges or trial.

The police carried out more than 1,000 raids between October 7 and 10, 1970. Using the provisions of the National Defence Act, the army appeared on the streets of Ottawa on October 12 and on the streets of Montreal on October 15. After the War Measures Act was invoked, the police carried out another 3,068 raids and searches without warrants. During these raids police arrested 465 people and held them without charges. The vast majority of the people arrested were released after 21 days without charges while others were held for longer periods.

This Day. 30th anniversary of the brutal military assault on the Mohawk at Kanehsatà:ke

Although the siege ended, the land issues that were at the core of the dispute persist to this day. For Nation-to-Nation relations and an end to genocide of Indigenous Peoples | Fernand Deschamps 

March marks 25th anniversary of Oka uprising, July 11, 2015.

“The plight of the Indigenous peoples of this country is a matter of great concern to everyone. This includes the Trudeau government. Unfortunately, the government’s concern is not to redress historical wrongs as the times demand. It is to achieve what has eluded previous governments – which is to extinguish Indigenous peoples’ rights once and for all, so as to steal their lands and resources. At the same time, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau seeks to restore Canada’s tarnished human rights record on the world stage. This is a reputation as a violator of human rights due to its abysmal record of criminal negligence of the conditions of life of the Indigenous peoples in Canada and crimes committed against them.”  – Pauline Easton[1]

Thirty years ago, at dawn on July 11, 1990, about 100 heavily armed officers of the Sureté du Québec (SQ) attacked members of the Kanien’kehá:ka of Kanehsatà:ke (Mohawk nation, member of Haudenosaunee Confederacy) who had set up a blockade on a dirt road leading to a sacred Indigenous burial site to oppose the expansion of a golf club on Mohawk territory located close to the town of Oka, Quebec. For the project to proceed, the forest known as the Pines, as well as the Pine Hill Cemetery, the community of Kanehsatà:ke’s graveyard, would have to be bulldozed. To prevent this destruction, people of Kanehsatà:ke erected a barricade on a small, secondary dirt road through the Pines, as early as March 1990.

This Day. 7th anniversary of Lac-Mégantic tragedy – The need to build a public authority that defends public not private interests

By Pierre Chénier

July 6, 2020 marked the seventh anniversary of the Lac-Mégantic tragedy, one of the worst train disasters in Canadian history. 

On the evening of July 5, 2013, a freight train comprised of five locomotives and 72 tanker cars, unsuited for the type of crude oil they carried, was left unattended in Nantes, in Quebec’s Eastern Townships. At around 1:00 am the train started to roll down the slope towards the town of Lac-Mégantic. Shortly after, 63 of the tanker cars derailed in downtown Lac-Mégantic, spilling their contents and causing a series of fires and explosions of catastrophic proportions.

This Day. The Summer Solstice and Quebec’s National Holiday

186 years of National Day celebrations

On June 24, 1834, 186 years ago, Ludger Duvernay, founder of the patriotic institution Aide-toi le ciel t’aidera (God helps those who help themselves) inaugurated this day as the National Day of the fledgling Quebec nation and dedicated the first toast to “the people, the primary source of all legitimate authority.” Ever since, “this celebration, the purpose of which is to cement the union between Canadiens,”[1] is the occasion to celebrate, through music and song, gatherings, parades and neighbourhood activities, who we are as a people, where we come from and where we are going. It is a multi-dimensional celebration of the season, very much like the summer solstice and celebrates the need for us all, of diverse social and national backgrounds, to come together and take stock of our common history and social relations.

Military reports on seniors’ homes in Ontario and Quebec: The crisis reveals that decision-making power must be taken out of the hands of those who are unfit to govern

A serious question arises about why these reports from the Canadian Armed Forces on conditions in long-term care are being given such prominence. The publication of these reports portrays the military as a lead agency in addressing a public health crisis | PEGGY MORTON

Public sector workers demonstrate outside Quebec Premier Legault’s office, May 28, 2020.

 

The release of reports from the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) on conditions in long-term care facilities in Ontario and Quebec has been followed by announcements by Premier Doug Ford in Ontario and Premier François Legault in Quebec in which they promise to address the crisis in long-term and seniors’ care. The Ontario report on five long-term care facilities was issued May 20, and released to the media May 26. The report on 25 Quebec homes was released on May 27.

The reports generated major media attention, with the term “abuse” being the most common word used in headlines about the Ontario reports.

French-language “Leaders’ Debate”: Quebec-bashing over Bill 21

Quebec’s Bill 21 is raised often across the country as an “election issue.” It is expected to dominate the French-language “leaders’ debate” on October 10 as well. Renewal Update asked Diane Johnston who is running in the Montreal riding of Mount Royal for her opinion on Bill 21 and the Quebec-bashing which is taking place in this election.

Six years on from the train explosion in Lac-Mégantic: A shocking account of criminal negligence

The report and interview in this issue of Renewal Update provide a shocking account of the criminal negligence of governments and the self-regulating railway companies.

The terrible memory of what happened in Lac-Mégantic is still fresh in people’s minds, with local residents still reeling from the experience.

152nd anniversary of Confederation: All out to give Canada a modern constitution and definition of rights

July 1 marks the 152nd anniversary of Confederation. On this date in 1867, the British North America Act, 1867 united four separate colonies of the British Empire in North America into the Dominion of Canada. The Indigenous nations and peoples were made subject to the racist colonial Indian Act and subjected to genocide on a grand scale while the Métis people were also treated on a racist basis and the Métis Nation was ignored.

ABI workers, families and allies demand an end to Alcoa/Rio Tinto/Quebec government dictate

Powerful family solidarity march with locked-out ABI workers

Over 5,000 people marched with great spirit and dignity in the streets of downtown Trois-Rivières on Saturday, May 25. They marched in honour and support of the aluminum workers in Bécancour who have stood firm in defence of their rights despite being locked out of their smelter for over 16 months by the Alcoa/Rio Tinto/Quebec Government cabal, Workers’ Forum reports in an edition devoted to the manifestation.

Workers came from many regions of Quebec and as far away as Chibougamau in Northern Quebec, and Fermont, in the northern part of Quebec’s North Shore. Workers also came from Toronto and Hamilton. [More]

Devastating floods in Quebec, Ontario and New Brunswick

Affirmation of social solidarity and need for measures to protect shoreline municipalities

Devastating floods are currently affecting many regions of Quebec, as well as parts of Ontario and New Brunswick. According to the provisional report published by Urgences Québec on April 28, there are 6,424 flooded homes, 3,508 dwellings isolated by water and 9,522 evacuees in Quebec.

Reality Check 1: Operation ‘Brave New Canadian’ – The Haitians

This demonstration outside the Riding Office of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in Montreal did not make the front page of the monopoly media, let alone the inside pages. The demonstration demanded an end to the deportation of non-status persons of Haitian origin – The Action Committee on Non-Status Persons

The Canadian government is cynically using an orchestrated media operation centring around Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland and a Saudi teenager flown to Canada in a special plane from Thailand on January 12 to receive asylum to camouflage how it is trampling on the rights and dignity of immigrants, refugees and migrant workers.

Every day dozens of people are being deported from Canada to Haiti. Non-status persons of Haitian origin awaiting deportation are experiencing insufferable harassment on the part of the Canadian government. One day the government is deporting them, the next day it is not. One day their application for asylum is refused, their deportation date is set, and the next it is annulled and they are told that they will be called back in a couple of weeks. This is an inhumane and untenable situation.

Bombardier debacle shows what it means for Quebec to be ‘open for business’

By K.C. ADAMS

The U.S. warmongers of Boeing and the Pentagon have crushed Bombardier’s Canadian commercial jet production. While doing so, they also seized Brazil’s Embraer commercial jet production this past July. The anti-social pro-U.S. coup government of Brazil appears to have approved the Boeing takeover of Embraer. The former Brazilian governments of Presidents Lula da Silva and Dilma Rousseff opposed the U.S. war profiteers gaining control of Embraer. However, Rousseff was removed from office via a parliamentary coup in 2016 and Lula was unjustly imprisoned and blocked from running again for office this year. The foreign seizure of both Embraer and Bombardier’s commercial jet sectors leaves Boeing and the Pentagon in face-to-face open combat for dominance with Airbus and its European backers.

Bombardier economy in turmoil

Necessity for a new pro-social outlook and direction for the economy | K.C. ADAMS

For the second time in two years, Bombardier has announced massive cuts to its workforce. In 2016, the global oligopoly fired 7,000 workers; this time another 5,000 workers will be dismissed: 2,500 workers in Quebec, another 500 in Ontario and 2,000 elsewhere with Belfast in the north of Ireland the most probable target.

This day in 1885: Anniversary of the hanging of Louis Riel

Métis leader Louis Riel (centre) surrounded by councillors of the Métis Legislative Assembly of Assinaboia.

ON NOVEMBER 16, 1885, the British colonial power executed the great Métis leader Louis Riel. Riel had been charged and found guilty of high treason after the Métis were defeated at the Battle of Batoche in May of that year. The execution of Louis Riel was intended as an assault on the consciousness of the Métis nation, but was unsuccessful in putting an end to their fight for their rights and dignity as a nation. The struggle of the Métis to affirm their right to be and exercise control over their political affairs continues to this day.

Canada and the First World War

On the occasion of the centenary of the end of World War I, TML Weekly has been producing an excellent series of informative Supplements on the war and related matters of concern. This is the second in the series. Click for No. 1 (How the First World War Out); No. 2 (Canada and the First World War); No. 3 (British Movement of Conscientious Objectors); No. 4 (Contributions and Slaughter of Colonial Peoples in World War I);  No. 5 (Steadfast Opposition to the Betrayal of the Workers’ Movement); No. 6 (Poems on the Occasion of the Centenary of the End of World War I – Moments of Quiet Reflection.

Conscription
• Opposition to Conscription in Canada and Quebec
• The Case of Ginger Goodwin
• Recruitment of Indigenous Peoples
• Black Construction Battalion

Internment
• The War Measures Act and Internment of Canadians

Independent Labour Politics
• Registration, Conscription, and Independent Labour Politics, 1916-1917 – Martin Robin