Quebec government ends negotiations with students

In Canada, the government in Quebec called off negotiations with student unions aimed at resolving the crisis over tuition fee hikes. In response, thousands of people again took to the streets. FSRN’s Stefan Christoff reports.

Up to 10 000 people took to the streets last night in Montreal to protest the Quebec government’s refusal to back-down on proposed hikes to university tuition fees. The failure of negotiations between student unions and the government comes after after 16 weeks of an open ended student strike. In what is becoming a nightly event, demonstrators banged pots and pans as they marched through downtown Montreal. Government officials are attempting to push hikes to tuition fees that will see tuition rates rise over 80%. On the streets many student associations are demanding not only an end to tuition hikes but for an end to tuition fees all together. Protests on the streets are taking place in open defiance of Law 78, a controversial piece of legislation which places tough restrictions on protests. Amnesty International describe the law as granting police quote “unprecedented powers,”. With the failure of negotiations, further demonstrations are being planned. In Montreal students are planning to hold a major rally this weekend backed by community groups and trade unions. Stefan Christoff, FSRN, Montreal.

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listen to reports produced for Free Speech Radio News between 2002 - 2012, the flagship Pacifica radio daily news program, these reports were produced in Montreal, but also in Beirut, Lebanon.

putting these reports up for archiving purposes, they address numerous grassroots struggles for justice and against oppression, particularly looking at struggles surrounding migrant justice, also indigenous movements for land and rights, while also struggles against colonialist wars today & the persisting impacts of wars past.

thank you for listening !

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Canada: Hearings Over Immigration Spark Debate(3:26)

In Canada, a series of government-sponsored hearings on the cultural rights and religious practices of new immigrants, particularly Muslims, has ignited fierce debate. FSRN’s Stefan Christoff reports from Montreal.

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listen to reports produced for Free Speech Radio News between 2002 - 2012, the flagship Pacifica radio daily news program, these reports were produced in Montreal, but also in Beirut, Lebanon.

putting these reports up for archiving purposes, they address numerous grassroots struggles for justice and against oppression, particularly looking at struggles surrounding migrant justice, also indigenous movements for land and rights, while also struggles against colonialist wars today & the persisting impacts of wars past.

thank you for listening !

stefan @spirodon

UN Approves Legal Inquiry into Burkina Faso Presidential Assassination (3:35)

This month marks the twentieth anniversary of the death of Thomas Sankara, the revolutionary and former President of Burkina Faso who was assassinated in 1987.

Sankara was known as the Che of Africa. He gave Burkina Faso its name – changing it from Upper Volta – and personally wrote the country’s national anthem. He was popular for not living extravagantly; he traded in the government’s fleet of Mercedes for Renaults and rode his bike to work. He also stood up to Western Imperialism, countering the World Bank and IMF.

Circumstances surrounding Sankara’s death remain a mystery, however recently the UN Human Rights Commission ruled in favor of an international legal inquiry into the assassination, as presented by an internal legal team coordinated in Canada. FSRN’s Stefan Christoff reports from Montreal.

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listen to reports produced for Free Speech Radio News between 2002 - 2012, the flagship Pacifica radio daily news program, these reports were produced in Montreal, but also in Beirut, Lebanon.

putting these reports up for archiving purposes, they address numerous grassroots struggles for justice and against oppression, particularly looking at struggles surrounding migrant justice, also indigenous movements for land and rights, while also struggles against colonialist wars today & the persisting impacts of wars past.

thank you for listening !

stefan @spirodon

CANADA TO TAKEOVER AFGHAN POLICE PAYROLL

Canadian military forces in Afghanistan have started paying the salaries of Afghan police directly in cash; completely bypassing the Afghan government. Stefan Christoff reports from Montreal.

The decision to pay Afghan police salaries directly has raised criticism in that it could undercut the already limited authority the Afghan government has in the context of the ongoing NATO operation. Canadian military officials argue that the move is not to compromise the legitimacy of the Afghan authorities, but to bypass corruption within local governments. Canada currently plays a major role in training the Afghan national police. Anti-war activists calling for a full troop withdrawal say that putting Canadian troops in charge of police payroll only further entrenches the 6 year-long occupation. For Free Speech Radio News, this is Stefan Christoff in Montreal.

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listen to reports produced for Free Speech Radio News between 2002 - 2012, the flagship Pacifica radio daily news program, these reports were produced in Montreal, but also in Beirut, Lebanon.

putting these reports up for archiving purposes, they address numerous grassroots struggles for justice and against oppression, particularly looking at struggles surrounding migrant justice, also indigenous movements for land and rights, while also struggles against colonialist wars today & the persisting impacts of wars past.

thank you for listening !

stefan @spirodon

Indigenous Protestors Sentenced in Canada for Opposing Mining Operation on Their Land

In Canada, seven indigenous activists have been sentenced to six months in prison for their role in the struggle against platinum mining activities on their traditional land. Stefan Christoff reports from Montreal.

A remote indigenous community located in northwestern Ontario, known as Big Trout Lake, has been engaged in a months-long struggle against Platinex Inc., an exploratory drilling company, which holds more than 220 mining claims in the area. Mining laws in Ontario allow corporations to stake out territory for potential mines without direct consultation with local indigenous communities, which has been a major source of conflict between native residents and the provincial government over the past year. On Monday, a Canadian judge sentenced Chief Donny Morris and six council members to six months in jail each. The judge found the indigenous activists guilty of violating a court order to stay away from the area of their territory where Platinex had set up operations without community consultation. Chief Morris says that a lawsuit filed by the mining company has depleted the tribal coffers as legal bills have soared into the hundreds of thousands of dollars. Despite the legal and financial pressures the first nation’s community, Big Trout Lake, has vowed to continue their protests against corporate mining on traditional territories. For Free Speech Radio News this is Stefan Christoff reporting in Montreal.

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listen to reports produced for Free Speech Radio News between 2002 - 2012, the flagship Pacifica radio daily news program, these reports were produced in Montreal, but also in Beirut, Lebanon.

putting these reports up for archiving purposes, they address numerous grassroots struggles for justice and against oppression, particularly looking at struggles surrounding migrant justice, also indigenous movements for land and rights, while also struggles against colonialist wars today & the persisting impacts of wars past.

thank you for listening !

stefan @spirodon

Environmentalists Vs. Canadian Government

Since December 2002 the Ojibway community of Grassy Narrows in North Western Ontario has maintained a major road Blockade to cut access to their traditional indigenous territory from Abtibi Consolidated Inc. Abtibi, a Montreal based corporation with the go-ahead of the Provincial Government of Ontario has been clear cutting the traditional lands of the Grassy Narrows Ojibway people. Within the last week, numerous road blockades were struck by the community of Grassy Narrows, almost completely blocking Abtibi Consolidated access to the indigenous lands, which they have been clear- cutting. The Provincial government of Ontario and regional police departments has made it clear that they are prepared to take action against the Grassy Narrows community if the Blockades’ intensity is increased in the coming days. Stefan Cristoff reports from Montreal.

listen to reports produced for Free Speech Radio News between 2002 - 2012, the flagship Pacifica radio daily news program, these reports were produced in Montreal, but also in Beirut, Lebanon.

putting these reports up for archiving purposes, they address numerous grassroots struggles for justice and against oppression, particularly looking at struggles surrounding migrant justice, also indigenous movements for land and rights, while also struggles against colonialist wars today & the persisting impacts of wars past.

thank you for listening !

stefan @spirodon

Palestinians Deported (3:38)

Yesterday, 55 years ago a UN mandate created the state of Israel, wherein some 750,000 indigenous Palestinians were forcibly expelled or fled from the militias. A condition of Israel’s admission to the United Nations is repatriation and compensation for the Palestinian refugees, yet to this day nothing has been done nor do the Palestinians have a state. And as Israelis began its so called “Independence Day” celebrations yesterday, an 18 month old Palestinian was shot by the IDF in southern Gaza. The ongoing crisis of the over 4.5 million Palestinian refugees throughout the world who have been illegally denied the right of return to Palestine by Israel has come into focus in Montreal Canada where there are currently over 100 Palestinian refugees facing deportation in the coming days, weeks and months. The refugees are predominantly from the Occupied Territories and the many Palestinian refugee camps in southern Lebanon. Stefan Christoff reports.

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listen to reports produced for Free Speech Radio News between 2002 - 2012, the flagship Pacifica radio daily news program, these reports were produced in Montreal, but also in Beirut, Lebanon.

putting these reports up for archiving purposes, they address numerous grassroots struggles for justice and against oppression, particularly looking at struggles surrounding migrant justice, also indigenous movements for land and rights, while also struggles against colonialist wars today & the persisting impacts of wars past.

thank you for listening !

stefan @spirodon

Mohawk Activists Blockade Major Canadian Highway

A tense stand off at a Mohawk community in southeastern Ontario has lead to the blockade of one of Canada’s busiest highways. Stefan Christoff reports from Montreal.

The blockade on Highway 6 is the latest action in the fight over a contested tract of land in Southern Ontario. Residents from the Mohawk community of Tyendinaga have maintained a year-long presence at the site known as the Culbertson land tract, a 928 acre piece of territory, which Canadian authorities took from the Mohawks in 1832. Canadian government documents illustrate the Mohawk’s legal ownership over the land. A protest Mohawk activists had called for this past weekend later escalated to an ongoing tense stand-off, a major road blockade, and the arrest of Shawn Brant a well-known Mohawk activist in Canada. Brant spoke to reporters as he was arrested by Ontario Provincial Police. (clip) “This is it; justice for First Nations communities, ‘lock us up’. Anyone who speaks up, lock them up. Lock them up. Don’t fix the problems just lock us up.” The land reclamation began after a private corporation opened a gravel pit on the disputed Mohawk territory without community consultation. For Free Speech Radio News in Montreal, this is Stefan Christoff.

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listen to reports produced for Free Speech Radio News between 2002 - 2012, the flagship Pacifica radio daily news program, these reports were produced in Montreal, but also in Beirut, Lebanon.

putting these reports up for archiving purposes, they address numerous grassroots struggles for justice and against oppression, particularly looking at struggles surrounding migrant justice, also indigenous movements for land and rights, while also struggles against colonialist wars today & the persisting impacts of wars past.

thank you for listening !

stefan @spirodon

Protestors in Montreal are objecting to the pending deportation of up to 100 Algerians refugees from Canada. Stefan Christoff reports from Montreal.

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listen to reports produced for Free Speech Radio News between 2002 - 2012, the flagship Pacifica radio daily news program, these reports were produced in Montreal, but also in Beirut, Lebanon.

putting these reports up for archiving purposes, they address numerous grassroots struggles for justice and against oppression, particularly looking at struggles surrounding migrant justice, also indigenous movements for land and rights, while also struggles against colonialist wars today & the persisting impacts of wars past.

thank you for listening !

stefan @spirodon

a report on the first annual Solidarity Across Borders protest in Montreal.

Protests over Refugee Policies in Canada – (2:49)

"This past weekend, refugees from Algeria, Palestine and Pakistan who are facing mass deportation from Canada, marched through the streets of downtown Montreal protesting the policies of the Canadian government. Stefan Christoff reports from Montreal."

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listen to reports produced for Free Speech Radio News between 2002 - 2012, the flagship Pacifica radio daily news program, these reports were produced in Montreal, but also in Beirut, Lebanon.

putting these reports up for archiving purposes, they address numerous grassroots struggles for justice and against oppression, particularly looking at struggles surrounding migrant justice, also indigenous movements for land and rights, while also struggles against colonialist wars today & the persisting impacts of wars past.

thank you for listening !

stefan @spirodon