Building a Future from the Grassrots up

    More and more the difference between struggles in the North and the South is evident.  For one thing, the peoples of the South, like Aboriginal peoples, struggle not only against what the neoliberal economy brings them, they also struggle, and to a very large extent, to defend the culture they have built over millennia. They defend their language, their traditional way of life, their values and future generations. In the North, the struggles have often been marked by a single-minded attack against what is seen as unjust. The weakness has often been that, once the particular difficulty has been overcome (work hours, pensions, salary gains, etc.), everyone settled down once again to their regular routine within the society that was theirs. And the manipulation and the corruption continued unabated.

Occupy the Heart of the Island, July 2012

     Perhaps, in some way that is why the case of Quebec (and various other minorities around the world) is somewhat different. The Francophone people in Quebec , like Aboriginal peoples, have something to defend (the beauty of their land, their language, the particular values that were entrenched in the Quiet Revolution of the 1970s). And yet, the majority in Quebec have been integrated into the values and lifestyle of the neoliberal economy and are all too willing to trust their social and political institutions to serve their needs -- much as is in the case for the Rest of Canada.
    There may now be a change at work. There is scepticism about the political machinery and its leaders; there is disgust at the way the financial world is functioning; there is a growing rejection of continuous cuts to social services; development plans erode the land itself; we witness a surrender of education to market interests; the French language is eroded in public places. These issues have drawn hundreds of thousands into the streets in recent month to defend what they have build and to demand accountability from their government. It remains to be seen whether that energy can get translated into a genuine cry for fundamental change.

Occupy the Place of the People, October, 2011

     The strength of the movement lies in its grassroots organizations, and here as elsewhere those organizations have tended to be dependent on financial support from various levels of government. What is needed is the creation of a broad grassroots economic and political life that is independent of government and not at all beholden to it. Here in Quebec we are at the beginning of this process.
    Very likely an election will be called within a month (to be held in early September). Already the pundits are saying that much depends on whether the students (who have led the charge since the beginning of the Maple Springtime this year) will translate their protest into political action by registering en masse and going out to vote. What is important is that, while no one thinks that a change of government will resolve the underlying issues, a more responsive government might be in a position to catalyze the grassroots energy into daring fundamental changes to our political and economic life.

Griefwalker

  The National Film Board of Canada has produced a documentary about the ultimate taboo in our society: death. Here is the link. (Note that it is a 70 minute film.)
  Stephen Jenkinson has accompanied more than a 1,000 persons on their deathbed and he  has some strong words to say about palliative care. The dying were afraid they would suffer and so palliative care offered to control that while allowing the person to remain present. The result: it was not the magic bullet promised. Fear of death runs much deeper. Follow him as he takes us through a journey that profoundly turns our sense of self around.
  Watch it when you are in a quiet, peaceful, centred space. This is strong medicine! And extremely beautiful, wholesome.
  This is above all what we need to learn together, to teach our children, and grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Then, life will be different and we will "live well together."
(Thanks to Phil Little for drawing my attention to this film.)

Petite-Patrie

   I live in a neighbourhood right in the middle of Montreal Island. Last night 10,000 people marched through the streets of the neighbourhood--as they have every night for the last week--banging their pots. We were one of a multitude of neighborhoods in Montreal that saw marches. Moreover the phenomenon has spread throughout the Quebec territory. Why do they do this?  The answer is not simple.
   Part of it is support for the student movement that has been on strike for more than 3 months now after the government of Quebec announced it would raise tuition and the students said that would exclude the poor. Part of it is also in response to the government's attempt to temper the street activity by setting rules with heavy penalties for non-compliance. Part also, without any doubt, is a more general reaction to the current Quebec government that is riddled with corruption, pressing ahead with huge resource extraction projects and cutting support to social services. Indirectly, this popular anger is also fed by the arrogance of the federal government, which is enacting a series of legislative changes that crack down on youth crime (even though it is decreasing) and on  immigrants without papers while making drastic cuts to charities, international aid and social services. One traditional symbol among the people here is the rooster (Coq). People seems to have come the conclusion that they are being plucked to the bone (like the famous allouette) and they have had enough.
   As the marches continue, the people are beginning to realize that, in addition to marching through the streets, there is need for stronger organizations. Citizens groups are springing up to take up the issues, to get those in all the political parties to join together to change this: to abolish the infamous law 78 and to support the students. A public inquiry has begun into government corruption; The list goes on.
   This is a unique and historic moment in Quebec history. Something that has not been seen since the time of the Quiet Revolution of the 1960s when Quebec took its destiny into its own hands. It is interesting that the official motto of Quebec is "I remember."  And indeed!

The Government is Teetering

   Since world news is being made here in Montreal, I suppose I should say something--briefly.

May 22, 2012 - estimated 300,000

   Last Tuesday, the student associations, the union federations and the community organizations called for a march downtown. At least 300,000 showed up: a historical first for Quebec. It was a joyous festive moment with all generations present. It was also illegal. Law 78, passed a few days earlier, was supposed to calm things down by suspending courses until August and putting a lid on demonstrations. However, people were outraged that the police had to be informed of any demonstration in advance along with the itinerary. For the monster march, the people did not follow the itinerary indicated. Anyway, we made our way to Park Lafontaine chanting slogans and generally enjoying a beautiful day. Later in the evening the police cracked down and there were many arrests.
   That evening at precisely 8 PM, pots started banging on my little residential street. The racket grew. Then people gathered for a while at the corner making quite a lot of noise. Finally we went to the main intersection where there were about four groups of 50 people (one on each corner since the law prohibits anything over 50 people without police approval). As the traffick lights changed we crossed the intersection and traded corners. It went on for a couple of hours.

Le Devoir, May 24, 2012

   Yesterday, Wednesday, the banging of pots started again at 8 PM but this time there were far more people at the intersection (perhaps 300).  It made the front page of the papers this morning.   Later in the evening, the police cracked down on protesters downtown and arrested over 500.  It doesn’t seem to have dampened spirits.
   Tonight, the same ritual except that there were at least 500 people at the intersection and at one point we met a march of at least 1000 people coming down the street toward us. Almost everyone joined in and we spent a good hour marching through the streets of our little neighbourhood of Montreal. We were in the end perhaps 2000. I left as the marchers moved south toward the center of town.  The same thing is happening in at least 60 other neighbourhoods throughout the city and in several other cities throughout Quebec.
   The initial idea was to offer support to the students in their efforts to settle their dispute with the government. (The Minister responsible for education resigned her post and her seat in the Assembly-- quite politics altogether. Now the chief political advisor to our head of government (Jean Charest) has also resigned. In the minds of most people it would seem that the Law 78 was the last straw and many will not be satisfied until elections are called and the government itself is changed. Few people support it at this point; there have been too many scandals and crazy development projects involving billions of dollars.
   Banging pots is such a simple thing. Anybody can stand at their door and do it. Parents bring along their kids who are happy to bang on their pots. The elderly join in from their apartments. It is a simple way that finally everyone can have a voice and it is certainly bringing our neighbourhoods to life.  Such a simple thing and it is tumbling the governement!

Comments would be more than welcome.