A Night of Poetry and Music for The Montreal Uprising

(march route sent by students to Montreal police)

7pm sharp! Friday June 8 @ Rhizome Café 317 E. Broadway, Vancouver,
Unceded territories of the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh people

As a writer’s collective that was formed in 1984 in response to the closure of
accessible public education, KSW presents an evening of poetry and music hosted
by Rhizome Café, responding to the request for solidarity and support for the Legal
Committee of the CLASSE, whom the Montreal Gazette have dubbed “Quebec’s most
militant student group”.

Featuring

The Vancouver Complaints Choir, Wayde Compton, Kim Minkus, Jamie Reid, Daphne
Marlatt,, William Owen, Donato Mancini, Larissa Lai, Steve Collis, Dorothy Lusk,
Ryan Fitzpatrick, Jordan Scott, Jen Currin, Cassandra van Dyck, Christine Leclerc,
Janey Lew, Kim Duff, Rita Wong, Michael Barnholden, Ted Byrne, Maxine Gadd,
Danielle LaFrance, Patrick Morrison, Chris Ewart, Ray Hsu, and more!

Urgent Appeal From Classe

Request for solidarity and support for the Legal Committee of the CLASSE

Sisters, brothers,

We write you during a dark time for democratic, human and associative rights in Quebec with the following appeal for your help and solidarity. As you have no doubt heard, the government recently enacted legislation that amounts to the single biggest attack on the right to organize and freedom of expression in North America since the McCarthy period and the biggest attack on civil and democratic rights since the enactment of the War Measures Act in 1970. Arguably, this recent law will unduly criminalize more law-abiding citizens than even McCarthy’s hearings and the War Measures Act ever could.

Among other draconian elements brought forward by this law, any gathering of 50 or more people must submit their plans to the police eight hours ahead of time and must agree to any changes to the gathering’s trajectory, starttime, etc. Any failure to comply with this stifling of freedom of assembly and association will be met with a fine of up to $5,000 for every participant, $35,000 for someone representing a ‘leadership’ position, or $125,000 if a union – labour or student – is deemed to be in charge.  The participation of any university staff (either support staff or professors) in any student demonstration (even one that follows the police’s trajectory and instructions) is equally punishable by these fines. Promoting the violation of any of these prohibitions is considered, legally, equivalent to having violated them and is equally punishable by these crippling fines.