Looking for Rev Left Members in Montreal for an Article

[TheCuriousJournalist]

Hello,

I've browsed the site for a while, but just signed up.
I contribute to the McGill Daily, a student newspaper in Montreal and hope to do a feature article next year on the political "extremes" present in Montreal.

I don't like using that phrase, but what I mean simply is that I want to take a look into the groups that exist on the far left and far right.

The newspaper season does not start until September, so I'm just trying to see if there's any interest at the moment.

If you are antifa, anarchist (especially if you've been involved in the protests in Montreal within the last year), etc and are interested please post here.

I have just come up with this idea, so naturally things will become more specific and organized as time goes on.

:thumbup1:

[jake williams]

Montréal is a busy town, so I'm not sure exactly what to suggest.

A couple thoughts off the top of my head though:

- Are you talking about organized groups, or ideas? Political parties? Vague ideological trends? Are you looking for groups that are important, or journalistically interesting?

- What do you mean by the "far left" and the "far right"? What defines "extreme-ness"?

- Are you talking about talk, or action? There's a pretty poor correlation between the groups that are really "radical" rhetorically, and the ones that actually do extreme things.

Right nationalism in Québec is full of protofascists (and though I'm unsure of the extent, outright fascist sympathizers, something that used to be pretty open). But I think big business, organized around the Conservative Party and tending to be federalist and almost even "internationalist", is probably objectively more dangerous.

Montréal has lots of whacko "anarchists" who for many intents and purposes are right-wingers, feudal restorationists, or bored punks who want to wax intellectual. Parts of the liberal left-nationalist intelligentsia are very into borderline pogrom-ist islamophobia.

It could be an interesting article, but the Daily could really use some political sobriety. If your goal is sensationalism about kids wearing black, the Gazette has you out-gunned.

[ellipsis]

Jacques Lantôt still lives in montréal, thats one extreme...

Moved to Mutual Aid.

[TheCuriousJournalist]

Montréal is a busy town, so I'm not sure exactly what to suggest.

A couple thoughts off the top of my head though:

- Are you talking about organized groups, or ideas? Political parties? Vague ideological trends? Are you looking for groups that are important, or journalistically interesting?

- What do you mean by the "far left" and the "far right"? What defines "extreme-ness"?

- Are you talking about talk, or action? There's a pretty poor correlation between the groups that are really "radical" rhetorically, and the ones that actually do extreme things.

Right nationalism in Québec is full of protofascists (and though I'm unsure of the extent, outright fascist sympathizers, something that used to be pretty open). But I think big business, organized around the Conservative Party and tending to be federalist and almost even "internationalist", is probably objectively more dangerous.

Montréal has lots of whacko "anarchists" who for many intents and purposes are right-wingers, feudal restorationists, or bored punks who want to wax intellectual. Parts of the liberal left-nationalist intelligentsia are very into borderline pogrom-ist islamophobia.

It could be an interesting article, but the Daily could really use some political sobriety. If your goal is sensationalism about kids wearing black, the Gazette has you out-gunned.





I feel as though even with the daily, a very narrow portion of the left is represented. We hear about alot of riots/protests in Montreal, and of the word anarchist for example, but all of it is from mainstream news source, who ignore the purpose/ideals/cause of these people.

I want to hear their voice.

I'm also interested in talking to people who oppose the right and fascism more militantly (including antifa like actions) as these are the ones demonized the most.

So talk, backed up by action.

[ellipsis]

you might want to look in the intro forum.

this user for example lives in Montréal:

http://www.revleft.com/vb/communist-greetings-canada-t159344/index.html

[jake williams]

I feel as though even with the daily, a very narrow portion of the left is represented. We hear about alot of riots/protests in Montreal, and of the word anarchist for example, but all of it is from mainstream news source, who ignore the purpose/ideals/cause of these people.

I want to hear their voice.

I'm also interested in talking to people who oppose the right and fascism more militantly (including antifa like actions) as these are the ones demonized the most.

So talk, backed up by action.
You could try poking around the RCP or the Collectif opposé à la brutalité policière, but (especially if you're an anglo and/or don't have personal connections), expect a lot of suspicion and mistrust, especially from people who actually engage in activities the police doesn't like, like fighting fascists. Frankly I don't blame them, because as much as there is a lack of actual access on their part to the media to actually express their demands, they've also been given no reason to trust voyeuristic journalists, McGill students perhaps especially.

The Daily isn't shy on riot porn and the last few politically substantive articles in March were basically love letters to the black bloc kids and grumpy condemnations of the evil unions. In fact if the Daily is short on anything, it's coverage of the actual organized left in Québec, around the student and labour movements, the feminist movement, and the political parties.

That said, if the Daily is going to cover anarchists and riots, they might as well do it properly. What might be interesting is if you could get them to run an op-ed from someone who actually does antifascist work. They might.

[TheCuriousJournalist]

Hmm, very interesting, and some great ideas. Im relatively new to the school and dont speak French, so I may have a bit of a problem though. So there are groups around which actively do seek out fascists to fight then?