Keeping up with Current Events

Another Niagara morning, sitting on my back deck with a cup of coffee… and I’m not sure what to write about. I wanted to write about activism, socialist theory and how direct action works, but once again I’m being overwhelmed by current events in Hamilton.

It’s been a rough week, truth be told — I woke up yesterday to find my Twitter feed showing two different accounts of homo- and transphobic harassment (later in the day a third incident was added to that total), an extended thread on neo-nazi postering and stickering across the lower city, another friend talking about the best self-defence knife to carry for when (not if, but when) they get jumped by neo-Nazis, and another friend sending me direct messages looking for emotional support because the thought of leaving their house and walking down a Hamilton street triggered a severe anxiety attack.

As I tweeted yesterday… this is what a crisis looks like.

More fun stuff this morning: YVCE released a bunch of screenshots showing that neo-Nazi leader and Hamilton resident Paul Fromm is active in the Yellow Vests Canada movement under the name “Frederick Fromm”, and is actively promoting Nazi race theory and “great replacement” conspiracy theories.

Independent journalist Joey Coleman reported that Hamilton’s IT division is hiring two new supervisor positions… and neither position is to replace Marc Lemire, the neo-Nazi leader who’s been on the city’s payroll for more than a decade, and who apparently still is on payroll despite being suspended while the city investigates whether he used his access to sensitive information to do Nazi bullshit. No word on whether anyone is investigating why the city tried to cover up Lemire’s employment.

Ricochet media is likewise reporting that the city of Markham, which bills itself as “Canada’s Most Diverse City” (because “Canada’s Worst Commute” probably didn’t pass the focus group) employs white supremacist Emil Sosnin. Sosnin is also an executive in Maxime Bernier’s new “People’s Party of Canada”. Given that Bernier is known for posing with white supremacist and neo-Nazi groups — including a recent photo-op with Paul Fromm, by the way — it’s perhaps unsurprising that someone like Sosnin feels welcome in the PPC.

And speaking of the PPC — their Candidate for Esquimalt-Saanich-Sooke, Lily Bowman, went right off the rails on Twitter this week. Turns out that the PPC isn’t just comfortable rubbing elbows with neo-Nazis, they’re also okay with virulent homophobia and transphobia, especially when it’s couched in “Christian” religious terms. As a quick aside, I find her theology to be somewhat sloppy… and it might not be the best electoral strategy to compare voters to prostitutes. (Some people might be offended by the comparison, but I’d like to think the best of us are offended by the anti-sex-worker tone.)

On the plus side, Cameron Kroetsch published an excellent opinion piece in the Hamilton Spectator, once again calling out Mayor Fred Eisenberger and Hamilton’s city council for their silence and complicity in the face of continued hate-group organizing. The last two Saturdays of Yellow Vest demonstrations at City Hall have been accompanied by virulent homophobia and violence on the part of the Yellow Vesters… two weeks ago a Yellow Vester harassed and spat on kids at the counter-protest, and last week a Yellow Vester assaulted a counter-protester. Both times this happened in full view of the Hamilton Police, who escorted the Yellow Vest types away but who haven’t yet laid charges. To be fair, they are “investigating the incidents.”

To be less fair, I have very little confidence they’ll do a goddamn thing based on their track record this summer.

So yeah, there’s a lot of stuff going on again. Or still, really. Tomorrow’s going to be an interesting day. I’ll be going to a tattoo fundraiser hosted by anarchist social space The Tower; it’s intended to raise money to help with the legal defence of the various anti-fascist activists who have been arrested in the wake of the Hamilton Pride attacks (it’s still a 5:1 ratio of defenders to attackers arrested, FYI.) The tattoo event has three talented artists, but it’s a first-come-first-served gig starting at ten in the morning. I may be getting some more ink, depending on how long the lineup is and whether the artist can accommodate my request in the available time (if not, I’ve resolved to make an appointment with them at their own studio at a later date; the various artists are donating their time for community support, they deserve to be supported in turn.)

Small problem for me, though: the fundraiser starts almost at the same time as the weekly counter-protest to the Yellow Vests, and in the wake of the increased aggression and violence by some of the Yellow Vesters, as well as the general increase in homophobic harrassment across the city, LGBTQ+ community leaders are pushing hard for a large turnout this Saturday. We need to be out in big numbers. I’m planning on trying to make it down, depending on how the tattoo fundraiser timing works out (it may be a case of signing up, figuring how long the wait is, then scooting over to City Hall for an hour or two.)

Complicating the timing issues are my duties of being the favourite uncle of a young lady whose fourth birthday party is that afternoon. (It’s a tough gig, but a rewarding one.)

One thing about Saturday’s counter-protest that caught my attention — and hurt my heart, more than a little — was a discussion on Twitter. Local media personality and LGBTQ+ community member Graham Crawford was promoting it, and an older woman commented that she’d like to attend but feared the potential for violence, as she feels “extra vulnerable” due to her age and physical fragility. Many people in the discussion tried to reassure her that there would be plenty of support, including young and fit anti-fascists who are committed to physically placing themselves between counter-protesters and any violent Yellow Vesters.

And of course, they will. Masked anti-fascists have made the commitment to defend and protect the community from violent fascists, by placing their own bodies in harm’s way as a shield. They did it at Hamilton Pride. They do it every weekend at Hamilton City Hall. That’s what they do, and that’s why I’m proud to call myself anti-fascist.

But what hurt was that the fear is there. That’s how far things have sunk. LGBTQ+ people are being harassed and threatened and physically attacked on the streets of Hamilton. People of colour are being harassed and threatened. And elderly ladies are afraid to go out to speak against the hate groups who are doing the threatening… and the mayor and city council aren’t doing much to help. People shouldn’t be afraid like this. And they are. They are. And I can’t say they’re wrong for being so.

And, perhaps most damning of all, not one person in the discussion — not one — tried to reassure her that the police would be there for our protection… because let’s face it, in Hamilton Ontario, during the summer of 2019, it’s pretty damned clear that they’re not. That’s why the masked-up anti-fascist kids; the young, the strong and the brave have to go out in the streets and risk their safety — not to mention their freedom — to protect the community.

I’ve argued before on this blog that the cops and the city need to act before things get out of hand… which isn’t exactly the argument an anarchist is supposed to make, but there it is. After this week, I’m starting to wonder if that moment hasn’t already passed, because every day that Hamilton’s elected leaders remain silent, every rally where the cops stand next to the fascists and crack jokes, every incident of street harassment and violence, have added to a culture where LGBTQ+ and racialized people are made ever more vulnerable to hate and violence.

I’ve certainly had cause over the past few days to reflect on that old anarchist axiom: They do not protect us, only we protect us.