SkyscraperPage Forum - The Great Protests in Canada Thread

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The Great Protests in Canada Thread

Protests are quite usual, in my hometown at least. Post great protests from your area, past and present!

Every 15 of March, there is a protest against police brutality in Montreal. Again this year, there were reports of injured protesters and policemen. It's always a riot!!

http://images.lpcdn.ca/924x615/20180...nifestants.jpg

http://images.lpcdn.ca/924x615/20180...s-nombreux.jpg

That was a great attack:
http://images.lpcdn.ca/924x615/201803/15/1519715.jpg

All pictures from CATHERINE LEFEBVRE, La Presse
http://www.lapresse.ca/actualites/gr...es-blesses.php

Man esquire, you were fast

Anyone got pictures for G20 protest?

That banner didn't go down too well...

http://storage.tvanouvelles.ca/v1/dy...200x&version=1

Ah, the good old anti-police brutality protests from violent and savage anarchists.

The Ungovernable of the Hammer in early March 2018... smashing Locke St. shop and car windows... lighting firecrackers... scaring people just going about their average Saturday night social activities... Not explicitly saying what they're protesting but gentrification and taking it to those who make something of themselves and their community are the suspect causes (aside from general anarchy and disaffected angst).

https://i.cbc.ca/1.4561625.152027531...n-hamilton.png
Source

http://media.zuza.com/7/5/756e5134-e...K3K0AM.2-0.jpg
Source

We protest everything in Newfoundland and Labrador - there are small protests of a dozen or so about some issue every week, and every year has a handful of larger protests. Regardless of their size, they are quite likely to get angry here - for example, students don't just protest the cost of tuition, they break down the door to the Board or Regents meeting where decisions are being made, sit with their signs, and scream. Fishermen don't just gather outside federal government buildings, they literally kick in the door and occupy the offices until senior staff agree to a meeting, etc.

Quite a few of them have been formative in our history. Our strong labour movement largely began with violent strikes in Harbour Grace and Carbonear in 1832, and solidarity strikes that continued throughout the island well into the 1840s. It wasn't until the Sealer's Strike in St. John's in 1902 that the former two were eclipsed in size and impact. The St. John's strike was unique because it put the fear of God into the upper classes - the sealers were almost entirely migrant workers from rural Newfoundland, Ireland, and England. They didn't have public support, and didn't give a shit about destroying the city - unlike the earlier strikes which took place in rural areas where many of the men had families, interests, and support. When the sealers started trashing Water Street (they even hauled a large ship up out of the harbour and into the middle of the street), the merchant class started treating them better, including higher pay. It kicked off more rapant unionism in Newfoundland, which has almost always had the most unionized workforce among what are today the provinces of Canada.

http://i64.tinypic.com/vqh10h.jpg
MUN Archives

Probably still does, but Quebec looks higher to me...

http://i63.tinypic.com/n6ud53.png

Immediately after our independence in 1855, we entered a period of deadly riots - election day shootings, open warfare between neighbouring communities, and so on. Growing pains as the Protestant upper class adjusted to the new Roman Catholic political class. Some of these riots are still remembered for their impact on the course of our history.

Perhaps the single most important protest/riot in our history was the sacking of our Parliament, the Colonial Building, on April 5, 1932 - the most visible moment from the drawn-out death of our nation.

http://i64.tinypic.com/2enmed4.jpg

http://i65.tinypic.com/25svgp3.jpg
MUN Archives

Quote:

Having barely survived a decade of political chaos and failed get-industrialized-quick schemes fueled by foreign debts in the 1920s, the island now found itself in the doldrums of the Great Depression. Most of the country was tied up in resource exports—fish, forestry, and mining—and as those industries collapsed, the ranks of the unemployed swelled dramatically. The government, buckling under nearly $100 million in debt (roughly $1.7 billion today), was all but powerless to handle the roughly one-third of the country on a six-cents-a-day dole.

The situation wasn't helped by the fact that the Squires government was hilariously corrupt. At the same time as it was trying to retain creditor confidence by slashing as much public spending as possible without actively killing the poor, Squires was pocketing the War Reparations the island was getting from Germany. Another one of his ministers was being paid a salary as 'Immigration Officer' despite the fact that Newfoundland literally had no immigration at the time. This, while growing numbers of unemployed and destitute people were beginning to march in the streets.

On April 5, 1500 people paraded up from the Majestic Theatre downtown to present a petition demanding a "proper investigation" into accusations of corruption. By the time they had arrived at the Colonial Building, it had grown into an agitated mob of 10,000 [Note from me on SSP lol: that's only a few blocks. That's how much of a powder keg the country was at the time]. The band tried to calm them by playing "God Save the King" twice, but each time they finished the crowd got more and more restless. Eventually, word reached the crowd that the petitioners had been refused entry to the House, and someone started chucking rocks at the windows.

All hell broke loose. A group of policemen who had been inside the building's lobby decided enough was enough, so they opened the front doors to push the protesters down off the stairs, indiscriminately cracking heads with their batons. They brained a child in the head and the crowd went wild. They pulled one cop down off a horse and beat the shit out of him. Every window in the building was smashed out with rocks as the mob rushed up the stairs and into the front door. The police were forced to retreat, forming a human barricade blocking the door to the legislature floor. The mob instead tore through the rest of the offices in the building basement instead, destroying everything they found. They tore up the books in the library and carried a piano out into Bannerman Park to smash it to pieces. Two separate fires were set inside. It was a glorious chaos.

...

They weren't long outside before the crowd recognized the prime minister, and before he could get into the car he was rushed by the mob. The police pulled Squires out and retreated inside the building, while a cadre of Catholic and Anglican priests tried to negotiate a safe passage out. The mob begrudgingly agreed, but the streets were too crowded for Squires' car to pass, so they had to make their exit on foot. The prime minister got barely fifty metres away when they rushed him again, this time clocking him in the face. The police managed to pull him out again and they booted it down the street, running down a side alley and into a private residence to escape the mob. The angry crowd roaming the streets lost him, and Squires spent the rest of the night hiding out in a bedroom while the demonstrators sacked all the downtown liquor stores.

https://www.vice.com/en_ca/article/4...prime-minister

Everything was destroyed or looted. We never recovered, and became one of the few nations on earth, and the only British Dominion, whose own government voted away its independence the next year.

There have been lots of great protests since, including our legendary student movement and university occupations, Cod Moratorium protests, Meech Lake protests, anti-Harper protests, the #NLRising movement - but none are stronger in people's understanding of who we are than 1932.

And here are a few typical examples of the dozens upon dozens of smaller protests that happen here throughout the year:

• Video Link

Protests season is back!

• Video Link

After Antifa, the communists strike

• Video Link

Busy day for the police

At least these years we're pretty safe from Stanley Cup Parade trashing and looting, that's at least that!

Quote:

Originally Posted by SignalHillHiker (Post 8121981)

We protest everything in Newfoundland and Labrador...

^ Nice summary there, however I think protests in Newfoundland are more of a symbolic or ceremonial thing; I think the people involved just do it as a lark, and then are quite content to go home and have drinks and dinner after. (Student protests involving the education system may be an exception). In BC, the home of Greenpeace, I find that protests are more of an ideology and lifestyle where lifelong protesters are willing to routinely go to jail if necessary, and physically and literally stand in the way of progress. I expect there are some aspects of both in other parts of Canada.

So it's pride week here in Edmonton, and this Saturday was the annual parade on Whyte Ave. This year, shortly after the parade started it was blocked by a number of people protesting the police and military's participation, similar to what happened in Toronto last year. The group had four demands which were accepted by the pride committee, and the parade resumed after about 45 minutes.

I think you're going to see a lot more of this type of thing moving forward. While I'm not a huge fan of the tactics being used to bring their issues to the forefront it does highlight some things that get forgotten in all the festivities and fanfare. What began as a protest, both in New York in the late 60's and in Edmonton in the early 80's has morphed into a street party and more & more mainstream organizations, companies seem to be using it as a method of rainbow washing rather than highlighting issues that do still prevail today. That's why we and a number of our friends did not go this year, choosing to have a back yard bbq at our place instead

http://edmontonjournal.com/news/poli...on-pride-march

Quote:

Originally Posted by 240glt (Post 8217054)

Are there unresolved or outstanding contemporary issues between the gay community and the Edmonton police, or is this just the importation of issues from other cities and other countries into Edmonton's parade?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Acajack (Post 8217065)

I'd say that a great number of the institutional issues have been resolved and the EPS has done a pretty good job of reaching out to and working with the broader community. Having said that, there are definitely some outstanding and lingering problems between the EPS and certain groups and individuals, the more marginalized First Nation population, Trans folks, people struggling with poverty, addiction, those types of things. In those cases the EPS still has significant barriers to overcome in dealing with those that are on the fringes of what's now become the mainstream

Quote:

Originally Posted by 240glt (Post 8217075)

I'd say that a great number of the institutional issues have been resolved and the EPS has done a pretty good job of reaching out to and working with the community. Having said that, there are definitely some outstanding and lingering problems between the EPS and certain groups and individuals, the more marginalized First Nation population, Trans folks, people struggling with poverty, addiction, those types of things. In those cases the EPS still has significant barriers to overcome

Fair enough. Thanks for the insight.

Quote:

Originally Posted by lio45 (Post 8176514)

At least these years we're pretty safe from Stanley Cup Parade trashing and looting, that's at least that!

The iconic Vancouver riot picture:
http://images.glaciermedia.ca/polopo...nucks-riot.jpg
Source

And the inevitable selfie picture:
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/resi...FNSMKVAA7UJQJY
Source

To me the iconic Vancouver hockey riot picture is the one with the couple kissing on the ground.

I know a number of people planning on skipping the Pride Parade in Toronto because of Pride Toronto's decision to decline the police from participating. Who knows. Maybe demonstrations will ensue.

You really can't win.

:haha: someone123 those pics are great, thanks for posting!

here's some G7 related canprop for y'all :cheers:

https://i.imgflip.com/2c0yd3.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/ndK0Ne8.jpg