Good Bye 2007

international | anarchist movement | news report Monday January 14, 2008 14:35 by bh - NEFAC bh at nefac dot net

Collectif anarchist La Nuit Year in Review

Collectif anarchist La Nuit Year in Review

Once again it’s time for the ‘Year in Review.’ It is an occasion to review our activities and to answer the question concretely, what does Collectif anarchist La Nuit do?

Assessment of activities

In February we began the distribution of Common Cause #12 throughout Quebec City. This is the 6th edition of Common Cause this year. Our collective distributes approximately one thousand copies per edition, at political events and in the downtown area. We would be happy to provide assistance to others who wish to distribute our paper.

When Jean Charest launched the election campaign earlier than expected it caught everyone off guard. While our potential partners in Quebec City were otherwise engaged, the Montreal local union, along with the Anarchist Student Network was in negotiations to conduct a common campaign. The result was the “We Don’t Vote” coalition. For the first time in a long time a truly abstentionist campaign will flower in Quebec in March 2007. In the capital, comrades of La Nuit posted hundreds of red & black posters and stickers throughout the downtown area. Issue #13 of Common Cause reprinted most of the material from the “We Don’t Vote” campaign.

The Libertarian Socialists of Quebec City organized a local event last May, a “cabaret” under the banner of La Page Noire (Quebec City libertarian bookshop & library) in l’AgitéE (Quebec City libertarian co-op pub). This event was a success, which demonstrated the importance of mixing social, political, and cultural events. As some would say, “Struggle, yes! But fun too!” May also saw the release of Common Cause #14, which provided an analysis of the recent elation results.

On May 3rd the members of La Nuit went to Trois-Rivières to give a lecture on anarchism. This event, organized at the request of a NEFAC supporter provided the spark to found a NEFAc collective in the city (La réponse).

On May 29th La Nuit organized a public event featuring comrades from the French anarchist group No Pasaran. This panel examined the rise of the populist right on both sides of the Atlantic, and our respective strategies for resistance. This evet was also an occasion to launch the 7th edition of our magazine Ruptures.

In June activity in Quebec City built around the departure of Canadian soldiers for Afghanistan. Libertarian activists in the Coalition Guerre à la guerre organized for an anti-war demonstration on June 22nd. Members of NEFAC came from across Quebec to participate in the largest Red & Black bloc in the capital since the Summit of the Americas. Due to our size we were able to march en masse and distribute Common cause #15 which featured an open letter from anti-militarists to the soldiers. The circulation of Common Cause has grown to 4,000 reflecting the growth of our organization, especially in Trois-Rivières.

June ended on a tragic note. On the night of June 30, a young gay was severely beaten by boneheads downtown. In the aftermath, the militants of the GLBT gathered a broad rainbow coalition to denounce this barbarian act. We took part in the press conference and a Brunch denouncing homophobia during the Pride Festival. On this occasion anarchists shared the platform with politicians (whatever it takes!)

In August, the libertarian movement mobilized around the Summit of Montebello. It is necessary to acknowledge that, outside of disseminating information, we do not take part this time. We improved our propaganda and started a blog, with a radio show to follow. This ambitious project is a modest but real success. Updated almost daily, sometimes several times per day, Voix de fait was visited by about one hundred people per day this autumn.

In September, the traditional Reclaim the street gathering was held during Labour Day. We brought critical support to this event. We were there in number and we mobilized for it while we distributed a critical text in issue #16 of Common Cause.

On October 7, La Nuit called for a pro-choice counter-demonstration in coalition with the libertarian feminist comrades of the Ainsi squattent-elles radio program. It was to protest the integrists “chain for life" that was taking place in front of one of the main Quebec City hospitals. The result was beyond all our expectations, indeed, the pro-choicers were 5 times more numerous that the pro-lifers. This mobilization was the occasion for us to work again on an often-neglected section of our political project: the anti-patriarchy fight.

At the beginning of November, issue #17 of Common Cause was printed with a text on patriarchy. At about the same time, the streets of Quebec saw a new red and black poster, announcing Voix de faits. It is our first strictly "local" poster that got the offset press treatment (hence the colour).

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Our various social and political involvements (and there are many!) could be added but, concerning the collective, that is about it. We could undoubtedly do more, but, for that, it would be necessary to be more numerous...