XRQC Blog

19-11-2020 - #1492LandBackLane

Zoyanne Côté

Two weeks ago, I returned to Montreal after spending a few days on #1492LandBackLane. If you don’t know what that is, that’s probably because the media doesn’t give it much coverage… which isn’t very surprising, coming from them. Essentially, it’s the Six Nations of the Grand River community, as well as their allies from all over so-called Canada. Together, they’re demanding that the Mackenzie Meadows company immediately stop real estate development on the Haudenosaunee people’s ancestral territory.

05-10-2020 - An interview with Chantal Poulin and Yann Robitaille "A year after climbing the bridge"

XRQC

XRQC: A year ago, you climbed the Jacques-Cartier Bridge to denounce inaction in response to the climate emergency. How do you feel one year later?

Chantal: It all happened so fast! I’m generally happy with the way things turned out. I feel good and in better company than ever. However, the struggle has not progressed as I would have liked it to. We had great momentum but COVID required a collective effort that demobilized activists. On that level, I am concerned. The climate crisis is closely linked to the pandemic and we need to address its causes, because trying to defeat the symptoms alone will not work.

Yann: I have many different feelings. On one hand, a certain disappointment at our governments’ paralysis as well as dismay at the enormous obstacles to collectively undertaking a post-pandemic green recovery. It’s hard to accept the indifference we still find ourselves wading through after all the actions that took place both here and abroad over the past year, such as the action on the bridge and the historic climate march. Paradoxically, seeing the environmental movement grow gives me hope, despite the fact that the pandemic has put the brakes on our budding mobilization of progressive energy. I have and probably always will have incredibly fond memories from this crazy adventure.

30-08-2020 - Solidarity and the Roots of the Climate Crisis

Thomas

We are at a crossroads. Over the last year, climate marches and the XR Weeks of Rebellion have brought the climate crisis into a momentary spotlight. However, much of this mobilization has struggled to adapt to the context brought by COVID. In the last few months, our movement has found itself far away from the energy of the Fall of 2019 and we must now decide whether we will continue with “business as usual” or if we will demonstrate the boldness and adaptability that our governments lack.

31-07-2020 - List of Resources for Survivors of Sexual and Psychological Abuse

XRQC

The wave of denunciations of sexual and psychological violence that has been taking place on social media for several weeks has shed light on one of the most prevalent problems in our society. This problem must be fought wherever it is found, particularly in activist circles.
Despite our attempts to keep Extinction Rebellion (XR) non-hierarchical and horizontal, we admit that toxic power dynamics have sometimes been created within the movement.

15-07-2020 - Tell The Truth

krzys

A year ago, I left the corporate world. I was happy to leave it, for a number of reasons. I did not believe in capitalism. I perceived my bosses as ill-intentioned, or at best amoral. I perceived my colleagues as amoral, or at best nihilist. The office environment was oppressive in a thousand ways. But perhaps more than anything, I hated the bullshit.

29-06-2020 - Open Letter

anonymous

A little over a year ago, back in April 2019, I joined one of Extinction Rébellion Québec (XRQC)’s working groups in Montréal. The movement was quite small then, but I already saw its potential. I was inspired by the huge mobilization in the United Kingdom, France and Belgium. The human encounters and the feeling of finally having a common cause to defend were enough for me. Just three months later, I was involved in a civil disobedience action, sacrificing some of my individual freedoms to send a strong message: the climate crisis is on our doorstep, yet we keep heading towards disaster at an increasing pace.