Separatism is dead. Sovereignty is dying. I’m concerned about the latter; the former is still pointless. These terms have unfortunately come to be somewhat interchangeable in Canadian political discourse, particularly when it comes to the perennial ‘Québec Question’, though in my eye and in political/philosophical terms they are exceptionally different. I would like to devote the rest of life to ensuring each individual citizen comprehends the fundamental importance of the latter, and further ensuring that each individual living in our collective society understands the suicidal lunacy of the former…
Category: News
Tales from the Fringe border, or Why can’t we all just work together?
The Infringement is a festival dedicated to using art to challenge oppressive structures, and having fun while doing it. It was designed to capture the spirit of the original Fringe, lost when the festival started charging artists several hundred dollars to perform and…
On the Homefront – FTB dives into the municipal (politics) pool…
Recently, I’ve had the privilege of becoming more involved in municipal actions and political activities here in the city of Montreal. I currently sit as the Sud-Ouest Borough representative for Citoyens Responsables de leurs Animaux de Compagnie, a group dedicated to changing and modernizing Montreal regulations concerning companion animals. This has required me to attend…
Bell Canada needs a spanking: Telecom giant caught with false advertising for the second time in a month
Despite being fined $10 Million by the federal Competition Bureau for false advertising at the end of June, Bell Canada seems not to have learned their lesson. An exclusive investigation by Forget the Box has revealed that while the false prices which led to the fine have been removed from their website, other misleading and false claims persist.
Grain drain: Corn ethanol and a visual tour of Canada’s biofuel industry
With the effects of climate change becoming more pronounced and more dangerous each year, the push for greener fuels is growing around the world. Developers of plant-based fuels called biofuels are doing their best to be the ones to replace gasoline, but not all biofuels are as green as they seem. Some can take nearly as much fossil fuel to produce as they are supposed to replace. Corn ethanol is what is called a first generation biofuel because it is produced from a food grain. This fact has placed it at the centre of the food vs. fuel debate that pits the nutritional needs of people around the world…
To Gaza with Little Love
A year after the first freedom flotilla set sail for the Gaza Strip, resulting in the deaths of nine activists at the hands of the Israeli IDF, the world awaits the departure of Freedom Flotilla II. The flotilla of ten boats includes two cargo ships transporting nearly three thousand tons of aid, and eight other passenger boats with citizens of dozens of different countries. It was supposed to set sail at the end of June. Over the last week or so, it has been mired in sabotage…
The “Centre” Left and Moral Cowardice
In a political party there are few things as reprehensible, or indeed as volatile, as the combination of cynicism and populism. For an example of this we need only turn to the embarrassment that was the Michael Ignatieff campaign; run with an arrogance born of the former and a desperation significant of the latter. It was a pitiful, ugly thing from beginning to end. It is for this reason that there’s almost something sad about Liberal apologists who continue to cite voter apathy and disproportionate representation as reasons for their defeat. We know exactly how and when the Liberals lost and it had nothing to do with…
Hey hey, ho ho, Bill Blair has got to go!
This past weekend was my first trip back to Toronto in nearly a year. That’s because I avoided it like the plague. Last year I was a student at the University of Toronto, but after the “events” that took place at the 2010 G20 there was no going back. On June 26th 2010, I was attacked by several police officers in full riot gear. I was ripped from the sidewalk outside of the Novotel in Toronto, pushed to the ground, shackled, crammed into a paddy wagon and illegally slammed in a dog cage for 24 hours.
June Rants: Posties aren’t the only ones looking for work
Good Tuesday folks, It’s been a month or so since I’ve written a rant, so I may seem a slight bit rusty at it. Here goes nothing. The month of June has so far been quite eventful, from doing the spoken-word and visual art shows, along with Car Stories and Infringement Therapy, in the Montreal Infringement Festival this year to getting attacked by a gorilla named Ace at the fringe. Crazy days. The month of June has also caused me some suffering at the hands of the Federal government and the postal service…
Unlikely Sailors: An inside look at the people on the Canadian Boat to Gaza
On May 30, 2010, the Mavi Marmara led a flotilla of six ships and nearly 700 people across the Mediterranean Sea on a mission to deliver humanitarian aid to a blockaded Gaza. The flotilla was confronted by the Israeli military, whose soldiers shot and killed nine people on board the Mavi Marmara. One year later a flotilla of 10 ships and over 1,000 delegates from 20 countries, including France, Germany, Italy and the U.S., will sail to Gaza in late June. For the first time a Canadian boat, the Tahrir, will be part of the flotilla, transporting 50 people, including Canadian and international delegates and members of the media…