Power to the People

Communists Rally Downtown

NewsElise Favis — Published September 13, 2011

The original version of this article wrongly credited the Communist Party of Canada for this event instead of the Revolutionary Communist Party of Canada. The Link regrets the error.

This past Sunday, Sept. 11, an anti-imperialist demonstration stormed the streets of downtown Montreal.

Beginning outside the Atwater Metro station, the red-flag-toting, scarf-wearing activists prepared their sharpie-covered signs that read “REAL terrorism = Imperialism.”

After a few short motivating words screamed through a megaphone, the group began their march down Ste. Catherine St., waving their flags, chanting, “Fuck the police,” and “Occupation is a crime.”

Organized by the Mouvement étudiant révolutionnaire and members of the Revolutionary Communist Party of Canada (RCP), the protest took aim at American imperialism, citing it as “central to most of our concerns and struggles” along with “the rights of refugees and immigrant peoples, wars of aggression, pollution, […] the increasing number of prisons and the augmentation of torture, domination of capitalism on people and bourgeois media discourse.”

Held on the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, the participants at the demonstration stressed that the ensuing war on terrorism was politically contrived and its real aims distorted by mass media.

“Even the people who died in New York City were sort of indirect victims of the politics of their own government,” said Pierre, one of the main organizers, who did not want his last name published.

From beginning to end, the police were on alert, escorting the group as they marched. Halfway through the event, an American flag was lit on fire on the sidewalk in front of SNC Lavalin, a large engineering and construction corporation. The burning drew loud screams of approval from the crowd. Bystanders, however, kept their distance.

Anique Lann, a Concordia film studies student, was taken aback by the abrasive reaction of onlookers. “It’s just a protest, and it shouldn’t be so surprising to people,” she said at the demonstration. “People should be wanting to join; that’s my biggest impression.”

Remaining peaceful, the protest continued for most of the afternoon, wrapping up at Place des Arts.

This article originally appeared in Volume 32, Issue 03, published September 13, 2011.