Alessandro Delfanti on Wed, 2 Feb 2022 19:32:31 +0100 (CET)


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Re: <nettime> The fascist occupation of downtown Ottawa

Hello from Toronto and thanks for starting this conversation. My two cents below.
This movement has given international visibility to the Canadian far right, but Canada has long been brewing a violent, racist, white nationalist movement, especially in the West and in Quebec. To be honest, it is impossible to disentangle the history of a white settler colonial country like this one from white supremacy and violence. No white supremacy would mean no Canada, so... Yet recently, a specific contemporary flavour of white nationalism has become more organized and more violent, with a number of mass shootings and other targeted attacks against feminists, indigenous people, women, and muslims. For instance, the INCEL van attack in Toronto and the mass shooting at a mosque in Quebec City in the last few years. Most neo-fascist groups/militias have cross-border affiliations with the American right, e.g. the Proud Boys, Soldiers of Odin, or the Three Percenters. Some are homebrew, like Quebec Identitaire (not sure they are still active).
The facts in Ottawa are also pointing out that Canada may soon stop being the only Western country without a far right party represented in the national institutions. The People's Party of Canada (PPC) was started only a few years back on a Trumpian nationalist agenda. It got less than 5% of the vote in the federal elections last September, but is now polling above 10%. It is 100% invested in the fight against public health regulations and vaccines. Because of the hyper-majoritarian electoral system, this may spell doom for the Conservatives and (on the short term) may be a godsend for Trudeau, the last man standing of Western liberalism.
Speaking of which, the liberal media misrepresent this movement as a fringe (actually militants re-appropriated this word and now proudly define themselves "fringe") and while the numbers on the ground in Ottawa may be small, we have seen polls (for what they are worth) showing 30% of the population are in support of the "truckers". It was scary to see hundreds lined up on highway overpasses to salute the truckers' convoy as it drove through Toronto last week. But of course the city has seen huge weekly anti-lockdown demonstrations in the past year and a half. The "truckers" are tapping into and organizing some long standing discontent.
So yes, the embers of fascist reaction are quickly becoming flames in Canada. 

Ciao
Alessandro
The federal conservative leader was just ousted in what some are calling the "night of dull knives". Up to this point, a far right party called the 
PPC or People's Party of Canada had been the primary beneficiary of the
uprising. However the removal of the federal conservative leader was done rapidly out of hopes that the Tories can earn the support of the far right. 

On Wed, Feb 2, 2022 at 11:06 AM openflows <openflows@gmail.com> wrote:


Comrades!
It has been many years since I have written to you all, via the Nettime network, however I've been lurking and reading your analysis of the ongoing 
resurgence of fascism. Unfortunately I'm writing today to bring your
attention to the current situation in downtown Ottawa, Canada.
A group of fascists, literal white supremacists, have occupied the
downtown core, a mixed commercial residential neighbourhood adjacent to 
Parliament Hill, the location of Canada's federal government.
They've done so under the guise of a convoy of truckers protesting
pandemic policies, however their use of trucks as weapons, staging, and symbolism does not make them representatives of the labour in the logistics 
industry.
Rather these extremists are well funded, organized, and part of the larger 
international authoritarian movement that is exploiting the pandemic
induced social and public health crisis.
Their occupation began last weekend, and while their numbers have
diminished, reinforcements are expected on the weekend, as other
occupations are expected to spread across the country, including one that 
is currently blockading a border crossing in Coutts Alberta.
One of the more disturbing responses to these coordinated fascist actions, are the passive if not open support coming from law enforcement. In Ottawa, much to the horror of residents suffering under the occupation, the police 
have done nothing to prevent harassment and attacks on residents.
Felix, I'm reminded of an event you and I experienced together in the late 90s in Toronto that I recall you writing about. It was an occupation of a bank in Toronto at Bay and King by student radicals. They were holding a 
sit in on the ground floor for several hours. The bank issued a press
release saying they supported the students struggle against the government, 
and the government issued a press release saying they supported the
students struggle against the bank.
You noted that there was no longer any capital in the physical bank, so therefore no threat. All were content to leave the students be until they 
got tired and hungry. The occupation was useless, because power was no
longer in the bank headquarters, but instead in the bank's computers.
A similarly dynamic is at play in this occupation. The government
continues to function, now largely working remotely. The occupiers can
terrorize local residents, but the government is not directly threatened. Hence the police and state do nothing to stop these fascists. Even worse, 
the police brass and municipal officials openly say they are afraid of
violent confrontation with these fascists who all perceive as being armed. Without irony, a primary demand of the occupiers is control of government. 
This would all be hilarious if it weren't also too real.
And it is a symbolic victory for the international fascist movement.
Hence why I am writing today.
Please look at what is happening in Ottawa.
Do a quick search on Twitter or your preferred social media to see what is 
being said. By the occupiers. By their supporters. By the people being
occupied. And those of us who are placing this in a larger global context. 
Shit is fucked up and bullshit.






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