OTL Blog

The first-ever Roman Fee Theatre Award was handed out on Thursday, March 19, 2009, in the Grand Salon of Montreal’s Hyatt Regency Hotel. The Donor and Student Excellence Recognition Ceremony was presided over by Concordia University President Judith Woodsworth, who handed out various awards and bursaries to graduate and undergraduate students across all faculties and for various successes.

Ms. Woodsworth and Diane Slonosky, the aunt of the late Roman Fee, presented the Roman Fee Theatre Award on behalf of the Department Of Theatre to Deborah Forde, a hard-working and talented Theatre and Development student and youth worker. Recognized for her success in community-building and using theatre as a tool to empower youth, Deborah Forde embraces social justice and shares many of the ideals of the late Roman Fee.

The Roman Fee Theatre Award was established in 2007 in the memory of Roman Fee, a Montreal-born social worker, activist, and theatre artist. Known to use theatre as a tool for social empowerment and to challenge oppression, Roman was a passionate advocate for marginalized communities. In addition to his career as a social worker in Vermont, over the years he worked with various Montreal-based theatre organizations such the Wahoo Family Theatre Company, the Optative Theatrical Laboratories, and the Montreal infringement festival. Roman also appeared in Tetsuro Shigematsu’s film “Yellow Fellas”

He is remembered fondly by family, friends and colleagues as a talented performer who daily demonstrated optimism, integrity, friendliness, diplomacy, professionalism, humour, and commitment to others. He is especially missed by members of the Optative Theatrical Laboratories, the producers of this blog and a lot of theatre activism in Montreal.

The award was created to not only honour the late Mr. Roman Fee, but to keep his memory alive by empowering those who share his commitment to helping others, often through theatrical means. Awards of this nature can be very empoweriing as donors fondly remember their loved ones while recipients benefit both through financial support and by being recognized for their valuable work. Donors and recipients also share stories and anecdotes, keeping the memory alive while embodying remarkable legacies, such as that of the late Roman Fee.

The Roman Fee Theatre Award is currently non-renewable (it will be handed out for 3 years), but fundraising efforts are planned in the future to try and make the award permanent. Stay tuned to this blog for more details!

Six years ago this past Monday, 23-year-old Rachel Corrie, who grew up in Olympia, Washington and traveled to the Gaza Strip as a member of the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) was crushed to death by an Israeli army bulldozer as she defended the home of a Palestinian pharmacist in Rafah.  Her memory, though, seems like it cannot be crushed and has only grown.

She kept a journal from when she was a small child and continued writing before and during her trip to Palestine.  That, along with a series of e-mails she sent to her parents became the text of My Name Is Rachel Corrie, a play edited by Alan Rickman and Katherine Viner.

It premiered at the Royal Court Theatre in London with actress Megan Dodds as Rachel and was an instant success.  Its American premier was scheduled to be in 2006 at The New York Theatre Workshop, but was abruptly cancelled, er, postponed, according to a statement.

The play and Rachel herself had become a symbol of what was happening to the Palestinian people that people in the west and in particular the United States could identify with.  She was a passionate and talented writer and her words humanized a situation that was distant for many.  This, for some, was dangerous.

A memorial to Rachel Corrie (2007)

“In our pre-production planning and our talking around and listening in our communities in New York,” artistic director James Nicola told the New York Times, “what we heard was that after Ariel Sharon’s illness and the election of Hamas, we had a very edgy situationWe found that our plan to present a work of art would be seen as us taking a stand in a political conflict that we didn’t want to take.”

Many in the New York theatre community and in communities around the world saw this as censorship for political reasons.  From underground artists to Vanessa Redgrave and Harold Pinter, voices rose to oppose Rachel’s voice being silenced once again.  Some of the voices opposed to the censorship decided to start a viral theatre project called Rachel’s Words and placed some of Rachel’s e-mails from Palestine on the web and encouraged groups in communities around the world to read them on the anniversary of her death.  They did.

In Montreal, OTL staged Rachels Words with Rachel’s e-mails read by actress Cassandra Witteman.  This was preceded by The Words About The Words, a verbatim theatre script taken from all the raised voices in the media and online debating the censorship of the play from both sides.

video from the Montreal reading of Rachel’s Words (2006)

In addition to raising awareness about Rachel’s story and what people in Gaza were going through, Rachel’s Words raised money for The Rachel Corrie Foundation for Peace and Justice.  The foundation hosts forums, gives out a scholarship and helps to finance projects such as The Rebuilding Project to rebuild the Nasrallah home that Rachel died protecting and The Olympia-Rafah Sister City Project.  In general, it hopes to continue the work that Rachel began.  Rachel’s parents, Cindy and Craig Corrie sit on the board.

Despite the global outcry and show of solidarity, Rachels Words were censored again by CanStage in Toronto when they cancelled their proposed production of My Name Is Rachel Corrie for similar reasons as the NYTW later the same year.

The play eventually made its way to the New York stage when the Minetta Lane Theatre  finally staged it off-Broadway in October 2006 with Dodds as Rachel and was presented in Canada as a co-production between Vancouver’s Neworld Theatre and Montreal’s Teesri Duniya Theatre in 2007 and 2008 with Adrienne Wong as Corrie.  It has since been staged in many different cities.

promo image for Neworld Theatre/Teesri Duniya production

Hardships and war in Gaza haven’t gone away, as was made perfectly clear with the bombardment a few months ago.  Neither have the voices speaking out against occupation and oppression, be they prominent or not.  Rachel’s voice is still among them.

On Monday, Theaters Against War and Rachels Words combined readings of Rachel’s e-mails wtih a reading of Caryl Churchill’s Seven Jewish Children written in response to the events in Gaza this past January.  They also ran some videos of those events as part of an evening in tribute to Rachel’s memory.  Musicians have written and continue to write songs about and for Rachel and artists and activists around the world still continue to mark her death and remember her life.  Many use the occasion to reflect not only on her and what she stood for but for those she fought and died to protect.

Rachel Corrie’s words are still with us and the world is better for it.

March 15th marked the 13th International Day Against Police Brutality, and in Montreal the mood was tense after an unusually brutal year whereby police officers killed a young man after they found him playing dice with his friends. Early in the evening on August 9th, 2008, 18 year old Fredy Villanueva was shot dead at point-blank range by Constable Jean-Loup Lapointe, as his accomplice, Stéphanie Pilotte, looked on. After killing the unarmed Villanueva, Lapointe went on to shoot two of the other youth present, one of them in the back. In Montreal police abuse is systemic, and there are special concerns about racial profiling, harassment of the disadvantaged, and police brutality in general.

Protest Against Police Brutality

Protesters met at 2 p.m. in front of Mount Royal metro station to express their displeasure with the Montreal police and their brutal ways. Organized by the Collective Opposed to Police Brutality (COBP), the protesters are demanding justice for victims of police brutality and the end of police oppression. The COPB also provides legal information for people who are threatened by police.

Unfortunately most years in Montreal the International Day Against Police Brutality turns violent once police begin attacking protesters. Ironically by instigating violence against those opposing police brutality, the police actually highlight the message that they are, in fact, brutal. Last year there were over 30 arrests after police turned violent.

Dramatically-speaking, it has been a farcical year in Montreal with the police attempting to control the theatre in the streets, demanding the banning of masks and even attempting to make illegal certain types of discourse, script or language. Exacerbating these problems is the fact that the police not only want to curtail critical drama on the streets, but they have also upped the stakes of their own intimidating performance;  allegedly as a form of protest for higher wages, police have altered their uniform/costume by dressing up in military fatigues. Despite the fact that the mayor of Montreal has asked police to act professionally and not to wear the camoflage pants at the protest, the police refused, essentially creating provocative recipe for violence.

The protest began at 2 p.m. at Mount Royal metro station. Usually a bustling square, the public space was transformed into a huge carnivalesque gathering place, with protesters preparing to march as the Chaotic Insurrection Ensemble rehearsed.

Chaotic Insurrection Ensemble rehearsing

The crowd was thick with arts-activists and many people wore masks of all varieties, a reminder of the recent victory against the attempted mask-ban.

Lovely dramatic masks

One man even dressed up as a Taser to raise awareness about the deadly police weapons.

Taser costume

Visiting the fringes of the gathering was a surreal experience, as critical citizens and dramatic voices melted away to what resembled a police state. Hidden in alleyways were riot cops, two helicopters buzzed overhead, and vans full of police officers lined surrounding streets.

Police chopper overhead

More overtly, a few lines of riot cops were visible on most sides of the square. One officer belonging to the very police force that attempted to ban masks was actually spotted wearing two masks himself.

Officer wearing 2 masks

Even more bizarrely, the horses of the cavalry unit were actually outfitted with riot masks.

Even police horses wore masks

At 2:30 p.m. the crowd began to surge and move. The marching band started playing, vegetables were thrown and fireworks exploded in the air, adding to the festive atmosphere. The line of riot police had to get out of the way at 2:50 p.m. as the protest surged to the west towards the tony Saint Denis street, which was quickly inundated with protesters chanting “A qui la rue? A nous la rue!” The Reclaim the Streets action quickly shut down traffic in both directions, and the avenue of pricey consumerism was transformed into a theatre of protest, complete with activist couples dancing as the Chaotic Insurrection Ensemble played on.

Dancing in the streets

As the carnivalesque march moved south, at around 3:25 p.m. it was greeted by a wall of riot cops on Saint Denis and Sherbrooke streets. Rather than let the dramatic march continue, police fired tear gas at the crowd, who responded by pelting their own projectiles such as vegetables, eggs, and paint bombs.

Police fire tear gas at activists

The police responded with more tear gas and strategies to divide and disperse the crowd. Activists broke into smaller groups and police played cat and mouse with many of them throughout the afternoon, with reports of rubber bullets being fired at demonstrators. How many people were injured by the police is the subject of speculation, but there is evidence that over 200 people were arrested, an unusually high number for a march of this nature. Shell casings retieved following the police tear gas attack revealled that the chemical weapon is actually called “Direct Impact”.

police chemical weapon casing

Upon reflection, this important protest was very theatrical in nature. As activists struggled for control of the street performance to get the critical message out, police cracked down on the show with their own brutal theatricality. It was empowering to see activists countering the police’s helicopters, cavalry units, tear gas shells, and military costumes – with fireworks, a DIY marching band, Reclaim the Streets, dramatic performances, and a strong, clear message that every Montrealer should heed – no more police brutality!

Every person has a history and every group of people does, too.  What happens, though, when the history of two or more groups took place in the same geographic space?  Generally, that of the socio-economically, politically and militarily dominant group sets the narrative.

One only has to look back a few weeks to the recent debate over the proposed re-enactment of the battle of the plains of Abraham to see two dominant historical groups, the French and the English, essentially fighting over whether the historic defeat of one group at the hands of the other should be celebrated or mourned, ignoring completely a third group, Native people, whose own history has been almost erased.

The historic battle of the Plains of Abraham

A similar such situation happened last summer during the celebrations of Quebec’s 400th anniversary.  While discussions raged over who was to be in charge of the festivities and whether it should take a Quebec or Canada slant, the fact that they were commemorating the colonizing of another group’s land was left almost completely out of the discourse.

Around the same time, plans were afoot in Montreal to completely destroy any historical trace of the Irish communities that had originally settled in Griffintown and replace it with an elaborate  shopping mall.  Griffintown, is therefore quite an appropriate place for a discussion on how to reconcile many histories in one community and tonight it will be.

Griffintown redevelopment plans

A Changing Community is the name of a discussion taking place tonight.  It’s organized by the University of the Streets Café, hopes to find out how we can have a better understanding of the various histories that exist in Montreal today and asks if our diverse collective histories need to be merged into one unified story or if the multiplicity of stories can exist as their own narratives.

Historian and community archivist for the Black Studies Center Dorothy Williams will be the special guest and the event is being moderated by Lise Palmer, Youth Project Coordinator at the Quebec Community Groups Network.

It runs from 7-9pm and takes place at Café Griffintown, 1378, rue Notre-Dame Ouest, corner de la Montagne.

International Women’s Day is a yearly event that raises awareness about women’s issues across the planet, and has been doing so since 1911 after activist Clara Zetkin called for its creation in Copenhagen, Denmark. Created unanimously within a union hall called Folkets Hus (“The People’s House”), International Women’s Day has not shown any signs of abating over the decades. The ongoing global fight for gender equality and the end of abusive patriarchal behaviour continues to this day, and International Women’s Day is one strategy that brings together women and supporters to celebrate achievements while resisting patriarchy and demanding positive social change. It is a struggle fraught with challenges and nowhere on the planet has patriarchal oppression entirely disappeared. Ironically, one needs only look as far as Copenhagen where the movement began. In 2007 the historic and symbolic union hall where Clara Zetkin first created International Women’s Day was intentionally demolished – by a patriarchal Christian group calling itself Faderhuset (“The father’s house”) no less.

This year International Women’s Day fell on Sunday March 8, and in Montreal an event called “WONDER WOMEN” was created by local female artists. An evening of music and performances, the event was designed to “highlight the number of women who participate in Montreal’s cultural community and to raise awareness about the challenges that come with working in part-time, flex-time, contract, piecework, work-at-home, and other atypical conditions.” According to organizers: “These working environments do not provide a living wage. Rather, they keep women underemployed and in constant need of community support.” Living and working in the neigbourhood with Canada’s highest concentration of artists is a constant challenge, and many artists who cannot afford to live on their craft alone must work. As such, many of the workers on the Main lead double lives as artists, and “WONDER WOMEN” featured some of the best:

ANASTASIA LOMONOVA
AURESIA
BANANA AND THE FLYING COLORS
BITCHIN’ KITCHEN w/NADIA G.
CAMILLE McOUAT
CATCHFRAMES
CHRISTINE RIGBY
DEBORAH ADAMS DESIGN
ELLY ABRAMOVITCH
GRLFRNZ
FOCUS ALEATOIRE
JEANETTE HATHERILL
JULIA LOAN
KRISTI ROPELESKI
LADIES’ LUNCHEON
MAPLE FALLS
SUSAN MOSS
SVEA JONES
‘LADY LIKE’ DESIGNS

The evening was a truly interdisciplinary event with a vernissage of paintings and photographs alongside live music and theatre performances.  Strong and inspiring female characters peppered the evening, including Madonna, Freida Khalo, Rosie the Riveter, Lucile Ball and Wonder Woman herself.

Assuming the role of Lucile Ball, nursing student and bartender Eli Merkis performed because she feels strongly about gender equality: “Lucile could pull off anything – she could do it all. She didn’t want to fake anything about her life – her career, her dreams, her achievements – except her hair colour. She was a real pioneer and paved the way for women in film, for women in charge, and for proving that it’s not just men who can be sucessful both onscreen and off. She even broke a taboo by being the first woman on television to be visibly pregnant.”

Attesting to the popularity of the “WONDER WOMEN” performance was a packed house that cheered heartily all evening long. Erik Hamon, a male member of the audience, enjoyed the International Women’s Day performance because it “not only draws attention to issues affecting women today, but it also showcases extremely talented artists and performers.” Tim Hardman, another male spectator, exclaimed: “Patriarchy is useless. After all, when we sleep we are all equal in our dreams, so why not when we are awake?” Guests were invited to put pink handprints onto canvas to help create artwork opposing violence against women. These were sold later on, with proceeds going to women’s charities.

Behind the scenes, the organizing team is associated with an advocacy group called “The Main for women” who are putting feminist issues under the spotlight in for those living and working in the  Montreal historic site:

“the main boulevard has always been proud to call itself a liberal, all inclusive haven for workers of all industries to unite in the comforts of its cultural and material expressions. we’re trying to reinstate the values of our community by putting women’s rights back on the main agenda.”

A survey of female workers on the Main such as bartenders, waitresses, and other service staff reveals prominent concerns about the job environment: sexist attitudes and sexual harassment are prevalent from both staff and customers, there are expectations of objectification (e.g. “dressing up” to sell more product), it is difficult to get access to labour standards, getting home safely is no easy matter, and job security is non-existent.

Laura Nagy, one of the chief organizers of the collective hopes to bridge the gap between atypical workers, women artists, and women working in the service industry. She believes The Main is symbolic because it represents the main street of any city, and hence the best place to put women’s rights in the spotlight and on the agenda.

The Main for women collective plans to arrange a deal with ATLAS taxi company to ensure female staff can get home safely, and challenges are being launched against the hypersexualization of women through the group REBELLES, whereby sexist advertising has been culture-jammed with anti-sexist stickers. An action is planned for Worker’s Day and on May 4 organizations such as the CSN, Commission de normes du travail du Quebec, and WomenAware will meet to further discuss the agenda and take action against patriarchal oppression in the workplace.

Overall, International Women’s Day has once again proven itself to be a great opportunity to challenge sexist thinking through theatrical performance. Hearty applause goes to the female workers and artists who put the show together to raise awareness and challenge the oppressive patriarchal system that permeates our society.

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Any feminist and specifically Montreal feminists will tell you that the battle for gender equality is under attack every single minute of our lives.

When its not Harper bashing long- earned rights such as equal pay, chewing away at access to safe abortion or closing the Women’s Commission, it’s Father’s Rights or Fathers-For Life groups lashing out at feminists for not hearing God’s words, or their words, or whoever’s words.

This time around, a right-wing Quebec religious pro-life group ”Quebec Campagne-vie”  (Quebec Life Campaign) will be performing a 40 day vigil in front of the Morgentaler Clinic, a place providing safe accessible abortions, on the corner of St-Joseph and St-Laurent.  They are protesting what they see as baby-burning child-eating, godless women who seek to put an end to their pregnancy, for countless and sometimes desperate reasons.

Quite poignantly, their vigil begins during Lent, a Christian period of fasting and prayer preceding Easter.  It represents the time Jesus spent in the desert, where, according to the Bible, he endured temptation by Satan.  As I said: godless, baby-eating witches….

La Riposte, a grassroots pro-choice feminist collective, are gathering women once or twice a week to oppose the vigil in hopes of outnumbering Quebec Campagne-vie.

Their gatherings are non-mixed, simply meaning ‘no boys allowed’ which I believe is designed to make a point and show the integrity of the cause and the simplicity of the issue at hand.  This is not a battleground for bigger moral dilemmas, it’s not a war of ideas, it’s simply a ‘female’ issue.

The collective also organizes massive reappropriative workshops and conferences such as discussions on witches and other sterotypes associated with free women.

Like women’s bodies, abrotion clinics are renowned for being the battlegrounds of bigger social and moral  issues.  In the US and Canada clinics have been bombed and some doctors even killed.  Staff and members are often stalked and physically and mentally threatened.

Some pro-lifers have taken to more drastic means such as arson to prevent people from using these facilities.  In the U.S, 3 doctors, 2 clinic employees, a security guard, and a clinic escort have been killed in the past 10 years.

Women who often go through a very difficult period before deciding to abort often, as in the case of the Vigil at the Morgentaller,  face a parade of loud, intimidating men and women screaming:  ”you will go to hell”  ”baby killer” and ”murderer.”  Sometimes they brandish huge photos of (photoshopped or not) mutliated, sacrified and burned foetuses.  This time, the vigil will simply make a point about guilt and sin and the spirit of babies without the extreme fits associated with pro-lifers.

The battle for free and safe abortions has been incredibly rough in Canada and the states.  For example, abortion in Canada is not yet technically legal as there is no law indicating whether it is legal or not.  This means officials and legislators (incidentlaly +90% men) do not want to debate, know or think about the issue. Take that for complacency!

In Brazil and other south American countries women who are found to have had  (illegal or backalley) abortions are targets of fines, risk imprisonment and are forced to do community work in schools, kindergartens or nurseries.  Who says the state can’t psychologically harass you!

Quebec’s grassroots feminism is strong and alive, if not massively opposed and underground.  These women, young and old, fight uncompromisingly for the autonomy of women’s bodies.   Simply put they want people to: “address social issues, not women’s bodies” and “keep your laws out of my vag, out of my body.”  The lack of women’s rights to our bodies has often been associated with the historical view associating femininity with a meek mind and therefore lack of control over our own fate and bodies.

As I say, I am pro-life AND pro-choice and in other words, they say ”I’m pro-faith, pro-family, pro-health and pro-choice.”  Use that for a banner!

Contact La Riposte to make your Lent period more exciting: their next meeting is Thursday March 12 at 5:30 , corner St-Joseph and St-Laurent near the clinic.  You can also reach them by e-mail at collectiflariposte@gmail.com

On Saturday, May 16th, the main auditorium in the CEDA in Little Burgundy will be filled with people sharing ideas and information by buying and selling books, posters and DVDs as workshops take place in the rest of the space. The next day, it’s more workshops, many more.  This is the annual Montreal Anarchist Bookfair, probably the largest such event in North America.

This year, it’s year ten for an event that hopes to promote anarchism through grassroots democracy, direct action, autonomy and solidarity while opposing oppression in all its forms.  While rooted in anarchism, the bookfair is open to all, even those who do not necessarily consider themselves anarchist.  The only groups not welcome are those promoting capitalism, imperialism, patriarchy, capitalism, heterosexism, colonialism and statism.

While tablers vary from groups dealing with a particular political issue, zine writers and publishers, illustrators with anit-oppressive perspectives and activist theatre artists (the infringement Festival has tabled there since 2004), an emphasis when it comes to space allotments is placed on the written word.

Over the past decade, the Bookfair has seen a variety of workshops dealing with anarchist-themed topics.  Some delve into anarchist topics in depth while others deal with anarchist ideas in an introductory way and are designed to be open to non-anarchists.  OTL’s Radical Theatre: Culture-Jamming and Theatrical Activism workshop was presented as part of this series in 2002.

The Bookdfair is now part of the month-long Festival of Anarchy which includes theatre and other anarchist-themed arts and events.

While submissions for workshops have closed for the year, there is still tabling space available and they are looking for volunteers.  You can get involved through their website.

If you’re new to this blog, this site or OTL in general, you may have noticed the frequent use of pairs of coloured sunglasses in photos, videos and even in the graphics on our homepage. These serve one main purpose and it’s not to block bright sunshine from the eyes (though that function is helpful, too, because many of our performances take place outdoors in the daytime). The Optative Glasses (or OGs) serve, above all, as a licence to play.

We’re not suggesting that someone needs permission to play ever. Rather, we all have the right and some might argue the duty to, from time to time, see the world through theatrical eyes. This allows us to create our own scene or change the script of one that’s already been established.

In a more conventional sense, they can be used as a theatrical device, as they are in Car Stories, that lets the audience know when the show, which is staged in actual streets, alleys, parked cars and bars, starts and stops. Glasses down, glasses up becomes a replacement for curtain up, curtain down.

Car Stories players wearing Optative Glasses

In a socio-cultural sense, Optative Glasses allow us to change our perception of some of the corporate and cultural theatrics we are exposed to daily such as billboard ads, reality advertising and symbols of authority such as “officials” of corporate street fairs operating on public space, store security during a culture jam and even the police. Instead of seeing them as entities in fixed natural roles, they become theatrical players working with a script written by others for a specific purpose.

By wearing the Optative Glasses, we get the symbolic permission to interject ourselves into the scene as any character we wish and alter the script. They are not designed to change reality, but rather to allow us to re-interpret it and see it as it really is. Oppressive structures rely heavily on perception for their authority and by altering this perception, we take the authority, or authorship, of the scene back.

The corporate players play their part and we, as activist players play ours. Thanks to the Optative Glasses it becomes perfectly clear to us what is happening as it’s happening. Rather than level the playing field, OGs equalize the playing space.

If you thought that the City of Montreal postponing the vote on its controversial anti-mask bylaw would silence the amendment’s opponents, you’d only have to look to the streets Monday night to know how wrong you were.

Protesters clad in masks met at Berri Square and after a speech took to the streets, literally. This Reclaim the Streets action known as Manifesuprise and organized by Le gros bon sens blocked traffic as it made its way down the snowy streets of south central Montreal, through Chinatown and into Old Montreal.

The marchers chanted out questions about just who masks, hoods and the streets themselves belonged to, then answered those questions by saying in unison that they belonged “to us.”

Police cars finally caught up with the march as it headed down St-Laurent Boulevard and ended up blocking traffic themselves as the group finally stopped in front of City Hall where a truck was waiting.  Once the group arrived, the truck opened to reveal a sound system, DJ console and two sofas which were quickly brought to the street.  As music pumped out of the speakers people began to dance (video coming soon)

Inside a city council meeting was in full swing.  This is where the ban on all types of masks at public demonstrations was supposed to be voted into law.  With mounting opposition, the Tremblay administration had pulled the controversial measure from the agenda three days prior, claiming it had to be re-evaluated.

The doors of City Hall were locked, most likely due to what happened when protestors tried to enter and speak as part of the Bal Masqué during the previous council meeting.  Members of the Gros bon sens took to the steps instead and addressed the crowd:

While the protest had clearly turned festive, the celebration was both bold in the way it reclaimed public space and cautious in how it accepted the victory of the bylaw vote being postponed.  The city hadn’t buried the law but rather sent it to be discussed and re-written. If they successfully greenwash the language so it doesn’t sound as glaringly big brother and ridiculous, the amendment might pass without the broad public disgust that the earlier version wrought. Despite that, the core problem with the law, the fact that it is a clear violation of our charter right to free expression as well as our right to anonymity, would still be there. This inspired the protest/party’s theatrical portion (courtesy of OTL/infringement) where a “riot cop” with a helmet and shield announced to the crowd that it was good they were celebrating because it wasn’t the law that was being buried that evening, but their rights instead:

After the performance the party continued and before everyone left, the Gros bon sens issued a warning and an invitation that this fight wasn’t over and as long as the city keeps the proposition on the table, it is only just beginning.

Despite the presence of an RDI camera, media coverage on this event has been minimal.  It seems like the media have taken the city’s lead and buried the story, which is why now more than ever it is important to keep the protest alive and try and get the mask ban buried for good.

Now that the plan to re-enact the Plains of Abraham colonial war has been canned, a debate is brewing about what should replace the event that was designed to mark the 250 year anniversary. While the National Battlefield Commission is blaming “separatist threats of violence” for the cancellation, it is becoming increasingly clear that there was very little appetite in the first place for the pro-war event, as reported earlier . Ill-conceived from Day One and bound to stir up linguistic tensions and anger in Quebec,  the proposed re-enactment could only be described as difficult to stomach.

In an effort to steer the debate away from the Eurocentric “French versus English” hegemonic discourse, members of Quebec’s anglophone minority called for its cancellation and wrote letters to newspapers across the country, such this one (by yours truly) that appeared in the Toronto Star:

“As a member of Quebec’s anglophone minority, I was relieved to hear that the federal government is seriously considering cancelling the Plains of Abraham re-enactment. While many pundits are declaring this to be an English versus French conflict, I can assure you that many anglophones living in Quebec do not support re-enacting the Plains of Abraham battle.

Clearly, re-enacting military dominance over a historically oppressed group is both morally reprehensible and likely to cause anger, division, resentment and possibly violence. Why would Canada support, let alone fund and organize, such an offensive (and pro-war) activity? It is time for Prime Minister Stephen Harper to listen to all Quebecers, including anglophones, and cancel the re-enactment without further delay.

Donovan King, Montreal”

Other prominent Quebec anglos have also joined the debate, such as McGill university  military historian Desmond Morton, who described the attempted re-enactment as “folly“.

While the dust is only now starting to settle, skirmishes are still taking place over whether the federally-owned Plains of Abraham should be transferred to Quebec  and what should be done to replace the cancelled re-enactment.

The first replacement proposal came on February 18 from the Huron-Wendat First Nation near Quebec City, whose grand chief Konrad Sioui proposed a healing ceremony on the Plains of Abraham that would mark a “treaty of peace and friendship” among all participating nations who would “bury the hatchets” of past grievances. The hatchets would be buried on the Plains and a white pine would be planted over them in a spot where an underground river flows that would nurture the tree. “All nations wishing to join the alliance could benefit from the healing shadow of this protective pine,” according to grand chief Sioui, who modelled the ceremony on the 1701 Grande Paix de Montréal.

Sioui wishes to preside over the ceremony, smoke the peace pipe, and formalize an alliance “among all the parties wishing to join: First Nations, French, English, Scottish, Irish, new immigrants, sovereignists, federalists and so on…It’s our contribution, our way of doing things.” Sioui said the ceremony would be a “beautiful way” to put a stop to “European people who bring European wars to our territory.”

It appears that Grand Chief Sioui’s proposal may have fallen on deaf ears in Quebec, because several days later the predominantly-francophone Parti Québécois announced that it might hold its own commemoration, and later decided that a debate about the meaning of the Plains would be the best replacement for the cancelled battle re-enactment. Party leader Pauline Marois said other pro-sovereignty groups could also participate in the PQ debate, such as the Mouvement national des Québécoises et Québécois, the Société St-Jean-Baptiste and the Bloc Québécois. One dissenting voice at the weekend meeting was John Sewell, an anglophone delegate who disagreed with the motion and suggested that the PQ should take up the proposed Huron-Wendat ceremony. Sewell claimed a PQ-organized commemoration sends the following message: “We’re going to take control of the event and we’re going to make a political statement out of it.”

Which proposed commemoration is more appropriate? Should both be done? What issues are at play here?

Firstly, the cancellation of the Plains re-enactment signifies a cultural evolution. Instead of blindly following prescribed Eurocentric colonial commemorations and re-enactments, society has turned the lens onto the very nature of these massive public spectacles. Many of these “celebrations” actually discriminate against historically oppressed groups such as the First Nations and francophones, and postcolonial resistance to them is becoming more and more prevalent. One need only look as far back as 2006 when the “400th anniversary of theatre in Canada” was cancelled due to the fact the first European play written in Canada, Marc Lescarbot’s Theatre of Neptune in New France, is a redface show. Going further back to 1992, the 500 year anniversary of Columbus witnessed postcolonial cultural resistance. Likewise, resistance is mounting to the Vancouver Olympics in 2010, which are situated on stolen land.  All of these controversies speak to a cultural evolution whereby the society demands the end of “historical” Eurocentric performances, celebrations, commemorations, and re-enactments that degrade others.

Secondly, the battle cancellation signifies an exciting opportunity for re-evaluation. What should replace the offensive original?  Ideally, from a cultural theory point of view, the new creation emerging from the tatters of the cancelled Eurocentric project should critique the oppressive past while striving for a better, more just future. The cancelled Theatre of Neptune in New France was replaced with Sinking Neptune, a project that boldly deconstructed the original play and challenged audiences to look at the historical roots of racism in Canada and to re-evaluate Eurocentricity in the arts and media.

From these perspectives, it seems clear that the Huron-Wendat proposal is by far superior to that of the PQ. Firstly, it is inclusive, and invites all nations to participate, whereas the PQ’s debate is only open to francophone groups. Secondly it focuses on peace and healing through solemn ceremony, whereas the PQ debate, because it engages only francophones, is unlikely to lead to true resolution or healing. Thirdly, the First Nations proposal critiques Eurocentricity and colonization in present-day Quebec, whereas the PQ proposal concerns only francophone interests. Finally, if successful, the outcome of the Huron-Wendat ceremony will include buried grievances, the promotion of social harmony, and the showing of respect by listening to and learning from the First Nations.

Hopefully both the ceremony and the debate can go ahead, but it would be nice if the PQ opened up a bit of space for non-francophones to express their views as well.