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La Coalition opposée à la tarification et à la privatisation des services publics has declared this week a week of action. More than 15 demonstrations will take place in the Greater Montréal area alone. As they say on their Facebook page, The Non Aux Hausses coalition invites everyone, everywhere to join in on the demonstrations against the austerity measures of the Liberal government.

Today is already the second day of actions. Yesterday at Place Émilie Gamelin, at least 500 people attended the gathering held by the teachers, protesting the Liberal government’s austerity measures. The main point was the state of the education system and how the Liberals are leaving it into shambles. There was also interventions from social groups on how the recent measures are directly affecting the welfare of the poorest in our society and especially women. The speakers also indicated that today’s action was but a shadow of things to come with actions to be taken on a weekly and even daily basis throughout the province.

The event closed off with a march accompanied by the SPVM intervention squad.

Click on the image below to see a gallery of photos from Sunday’s event. All photography by Gerry Lauzon.

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Today’s Anti-Austerity Demonstration

Today at 11:30, a group of protesters occupied the offices of the Bankers Association of Canada in downtown Montreal. The protesters met at McGill College and Sherbrooke, and walked towards Place Montreal Trust. The protest lasted roughly an hour.

More manifs to come in the next three days

Check out this poster below for to see what else to expect this week. If this is what folk are planning for this week only, it looks like Spring 2015 promises to be anything but boring.

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On November 29, thousands of people gathered at Place du Canada to protest the austerity measures proposed by the Liberal government. The anti-austerity demonstrators marched on Avenue Rene-Levesque, from Rue Metcalfe all the way to Rue de la Montagne, from there they moved up to St. Catherine. The march ended at Place des Festivals.

The march was organized by Confédération des syndicats nationaux, following a grand advertising campaign under the motto: “Refusons l’austérité!” The PLQ government has built up on the budget cuts imposed on Quebec universities under the PQ government; however, the cuts have started to affect more than students. Social and health services will also be affected by the cuts, which is why students and social workers alike marched together.

One group of demonstrators broke off from the main group, calling for a mass strike in Spring 2015. The Comité Large Printemps 2015 has been attending and organizing multiple direct action demonstrations, and it seems that they will continue to do so until Spring 2015. Does it smell like maple to you, too?

Anti-AusterityAnti-Austerity

Click on the photo above to open the gallery. All photography by Cem Ertekin.

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The annual March and Vigil for Missing and Murdered Native Women will take place at Place Émilie Gamelin, this Saturday, on October 4, between 6PM and 9PM.

Saturday’s event will be the ninth in a series of vigils, the first of which was organized by Bridget Tolley, an Indigenous woman whose mother was killed by Quebec police in 2001. Initially, the vigils were held in collaboration with Sisters in Spirit, an Indigenous research and policy initiative of the Native Women’s Association of Canada (NWAC). However, the initiative lost its federal funding in 2010, yet the vigils go on.

This year’s vigil is held by Missing Justice, Quebec Native Women and the Centre for Gender Advocacy; and will include speeches given by activists such as Bridget Tolley, Ellen Gabriel, Melissa Mollen Dupuis and more.

As to why this event is extremely important, here is what the organizers have to say about it on the event’s Facebook page:

MissingMurderedNativeWOmen“The purpose of this event is to honour the memories of missing and murdered women and girls, raise awareness about the systemic nature of the violence and the ways in which media, governments, the legal system, police forces, and the education system all facilitate this violence. We demand that the government support the actions of affected families and communities by fulfilling resounding demands for a public inquiry into these unchecked levels of violence. The RCMP reported earlier this year that more than 1000 aboriginal women were homicide victims between 1980 and 2012, and a further 164 were missing. Meanwhile, indigenous activists put the number of cases closer to 3000.”

The Conservative government has been turning a blind eye to all requests for holding an inquiry regarding the missing and murdered Indigenous women of Canada. As of February of this year, NWAC has garnered more than 20 000 signatures, yet still Canada remains passive. If even having a simple inquiry is taking this long, just imagine how long would it take for the government to take any solid action to prevent more Indigenous women from becoming missing or murdered.

The least you can do is stand in solidarity with the friends and families of those whom we are remembering. Let them know that they do not have to stand alone.