Original thread title (June 14, 2012): The attacks against Québec solidaire and Amir Khadir
Decided to use it as a more general thread about Québec solidaire (April 3, 2018).
Québec solidaire - the thread
Thu, 2012-06-14 19:20
#1
Québec solidaire - the thread
Thu, 2012-06-14 19:29
#2
Unfortunately this onslaught is taking on worrying proportions.
There was the detention and fining of Amir Khadir for "obstructing traffic" while participating in an "unlawful" demonstration. Then, the hours-long search of the family home and the televised arrest of his daughter, Yalda. Then this week, the scandalous Québécor media front page headline of "Khadir armed; Charest dead", based on a 2-year-old album cover which Khadir's older daughter Daria had bought. Then today, Charest himself called in the media when he learned that "Mise en Demeure" (the musical group which issued that album) would be performing in the official festivities on June 24 - within an hour, Québec mayor Lebeaume had threatened the organizers of the festival that funding would be withdrawn unless the band was dumped - which they were. And then this, from Amir's Twitter feed:
Les filles de monsieur Khadir ont trouvé une enveloppe suspecte lors de la réception du courrier ce matin. La texture de l'enveloppe était granuleuse.Elles ont immédiatement contacté les autorités qui sont arrivées très rapidement à la maison.
La procédure de sécurité habituelle est présentement en cours.
Nous vous informerons des développements.
I'm opening this thread so that we can report on events and try to understand what the political forces at play are. I would also hope that all people of democratic sentiment will defend Amir and QS against these gratuitous and sinister attacks.
Fri, 2012-06-15 09:19
#3
Jean Charest would never have heard of this band if the police hadn't kindly raided Amir Khadir's home last week:
[url=http://www.cjad.com/CJADLocalNews/entry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10394986]Contro... band barred from event[/url]
A controversial Quebec rock band whose album art features MNA Amir Khadir held a press conference late Thursday afternoon after being booted from a Fête nationale concert.
Mise En Demeure, the music group whose album cover depicted Jean Charest dead in front of a gun wielding characature of Amir Khadir, says the premier pressured Quebec City mayor Régis Labeaume to force the cancellation of their performance at a music festival.
Lyrics in one their songs call for Education Minister Michelle Courchesne to be clubbed on the head.
Band member Jean-François Néron says it's been blown out of proportion.
"We will kill nobody; don't stress about that," says Néron. [...]
"It's really stupid that a mayor and a Prime Minister ["Premier"] decided to involve themselves... it's censorship," says lead singer Bananarchiste.
Although they won't play on the Plains of Abraham, Mise En Demeure will be holding a counter-performance nearby.
Fri, 2012-06-15 09:31
#4
alan smithee
This is what happens when the media is not but a mouth piece of the government and the political elite unite in collusion.
Fri, 2012-06-15 09:55
#5
Lyrics in one their songs call for Education Minister Michelle Courchesne to be clubbed on the head.
Not a big fan of violence against women in music. I don't really care what the political views of the targetted woman are, it is not cool. There are million things they could have said against her without resorting to incitement of violence.
Fri, 2012-06-15 10:06
#6
I suspect the PQ will say nothing about this, because they are fixated with getting QS out of the game. The PQ probably thinks it is ENTITLED to the votes QS receives, and hates the fact that QS has provided an alternative to left-sovereigntists(just as the Scottish Socialist Party once presented a possible threat to the left flank of the Scottish National Party when that party was moving further and further to the right on economic issues).
Fri, 2012-06-15 10:10
#7
I suspect the PQ will say nothing about this, because they are fixated with getting QS out of the game.
That's actually an interesting issue to watch. There are conflicting trends in the politicosphere right now. Some call for an alliance of "progressive independentists", others condemn QS for "splitting the sovereignty vote", some would like to give lip-service to independence while focusing on uniting the "left", etc. All that comes into play when Charest plays divide and rule. I'm not an expert watcher on these matters - I'm hoping other babblers will weigh in here with their views and experience.
Fri, 2012-06-15 10:13
#8
Lyrics in one their songs call for Education Minister Michelle Courchesne to be clubbed on the head.
Not a big fan of violence against women in music. I don't really care what the political views of the targetted woman are, it is not cool. There are million things they could have said against her without resorting to incitement of violence.
Even if that is the case, Khadir shouldn't be punished just because his daughter owned a copy of a DIFFERENT album by the same group.
Fri, 2012-06-15 10:15
#9
I've corrected my post on that. It is a diversion, though, and I won't post on that particular side issue any longer.
If it isn't too much trouble, would you mind correcting your quote of my post to reflect my editing change?
Fri, 2012-06-15 10:18
#10
*
Fri, 2012-06-15 10:18
#11
*
Fri, 2012-06-15 10:20
#12
I've corrected my post on that. It is a diversion, though, and I won't post on that particular side issue any longer.
If it isn't too much trouble, would you mind correcting your quote of my post to reflect my editing change?
I've gone one better, and deleted my response to the diversion. Nature abhors a vacuum, and I keep getting sucked in...
Fri, 2012-06-15 10:27
#13
alan smithee
The media has single-handedly knocked QS back a generation....Could Khadir be re-elected?...I think so but the party itsself is in big trouble.
Funny thing is that the album in question that was confiscated from his residence was reported to be a poster and at no time was reported to be an album cover---from a band that hasn't anything to do with him to boot.
The media is out to kill the party and so far they are meeting their objective masterfully.
But will this unprecedented war on QS help Charest in the next election?...Don't celebrate too soon,Johnny.
If the by-elections meant anything,the PQ will probably win a minority government.
Fri, 2012-06-15 10:31
#14
On June 5, Pierre Curzi (who left the PQ last year to sit as an independent) called for an alliance to beat Charest. [url=http://www.ledevoir.com/politique/quebec/352379/le-declencheur]Yesterday's Le Devoir[/url] published a reply by Françoise David and Amir Khadir - basically saying that ABC (anyone but Charest) isn't going to do the trick - the PQ has to get over its entitlement (as mentioned by Ken above) - that the national project can only come about by means of a social project - that any alliance has to take full account of the burgeoning social and student movement of recent months - that the youth of Québec deserve better than the same old stale platforms and slogans.
Not sure where I stand on all this. But I do know that the state is targeting QS and especially Khadir, and they need to be supported and defended.
Fri, 2012-06-15 12:11
#15
alan smithee
Pierre Curzi...I can't say I trust him...I don't remember him as a progressive (unless some people believe in sovereignty as being progressist)
What we don't need is another CAQ masquerading as some sort of uniting alternative.
A problem with the student protests is that if this uprising is only about tuition hikes,the movement will never gain any kind of momentum or any growth in support.
I've made the mistake of assuming that the protests had Harper in their sights as well which,apparently, it doesn't.
I can't see how a political movement can grow if it's fixated on one issue...It would be nice to see this as a social movement but from everyone I've discussed this with,it seems exclusively a student movement.
If that is the case,how could anyone expect anything more than the same old stale platforms,slogans and policies in the future?
Fri, 2012-06-15 14:24
#16
alan smithee
This Barry Wilson guy has been on a mission.
http://montreal.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20120615/mtl_postscript_...
Fri, 2012-06-15 15:25
#17
Of course Khadir and his family are being harrassed by the authorities. I salute Amir Khadir as a champion ally and am grateful for the continued updates.
I think any group (even if it is a band) that is promoting images of politicians shooting each other dead should be called out on it. That is on the level of some of the more ugly Tea Party factions. I don't feel this should reflect poorly on Khadir in any way but I sneer at the idea that this band is being censored.
I hope Khadir's and QS's support of the protests continue to bring them more political support. The arrests and harrassment show how close we could be to a totalitarian state. Once you can raid anyone's house it is pretty straightforward to find something to smear them with.
Fri, 2012-06-15 15:31
#18
Thank you, Brother U. Have a nice day today.I've corrected my post on that. It is a diversion, though, and I won't post on that particular side issue any longer.
If it isn't too much trouble, would you mind correcting your quote of my post to reflect my editing change?
I've gone one better, and deleted my response to the diversion. Nature abhors a vacuum, and I keep getting sucked in...
Fri, 2012-06-15 15:34
#19
This Barry Wilson guy has been on a mission.
http://montreal.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20120615/mtl_postscript_...
Christ...he sounds like the last "Westmount Rhodesian" in captivity.
Tue, 2012-06-19 21:56
#20
Quebec Solidaire Open to an Electoral Alliance with PQ - by Richard Dufour
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2012/jun2012/queb-j19.shtml
"Whatever the fate of the prospects for a QS-PQ 'common front', Quebec Solidaire, by signalling that it accepts in principle a political alliance with the PQ, has demonstrated that it will participate in a political operation aimed at harnessing the opposition of students and workers to the election of a big business 'pro-sovereignty' government - a government which would then carry out further attacks on the working class."
Tue, 2012-06-19 22:17
#21
Quebec Solidaire Open to an Electoral Alliance with PQ - by Richard Dufour
I find it very sad, NDPP, that you continue to post, without comment, these bullshit and ignorant articles from the U.S. about the Québec movement. We know that everyone here is a bourgeois traitor to the glorious cause of the working class (that would include the workers themselves, I guess), but I'd really prefer if it were rubbed in our noses by Quebecers rather than by these foreign ignoramuses.
I find it particularly offensive that they would publish their hateful article against Québec Solidaire and Amir Khadir at a time when the real bourgeoisie - you know, the ones who own and run everything including the media? - are out to destroy QS and Khadir personally. It really makes one wonder which side these World Socialists are on.
Tue, 2012-06-19 22:28
#22
I post coverage - your comments complete the package. Still it's a big site with lots of traffic. Why not write them? I do think the writer is in Quebec, not that this matters much. On the Trots' side probably..
Tue, 2012-06-19 23:33
#23
Boom Boom
I post coverage - your comments complete the package.
When you post stuff you know is bullshit, and expect someone here to clean up your mess, that's worse than trolling.
Wed, 2012-06-20 02:25
#24
I think any group (even if it is a band) that is promoting images of politicians shooting each other dead should be called out on it. That is on the level of some of the more ugly Tea Party factions.
The poster is a spoof of Eugène Delacroix's "Liberty guiding the people", a painting that now resides in the Louvre after the French government bought it with the intention of putting it in the royal palace as a warning to King Louis-Philippe.* By those standards, I suppose any spoof of the famous painting of Washington crossing the Delaware is an incitement to anti-Empire terrorism. In the 19th century the average political cartoon was harder-hitting than this. Get over yourself, Charest; nobody's hanging nooses outside your office.
* (Louis-Philippe was Charles X's immediate successor, so in context that's rather like putting the Zapruder film on display in the Johnson White House.)
Thu, 2012-06-21 15:09
#25
alan smithee
Quelle surprise...
http://actualites.sympatico.ca/nouvelles/grands_titres/contentposting_gr...
Thu, 2012-06-21 17:17
#26
Is this picture really the album cover that is causing such a fuss? If this is over the top violence in the media I am certainly missing something. How many thousands of worse images are on album covers in people homes all across the country.I think unfortunately it would be the rare teenager of either gender whose music collection did not contain some songs that were both misogynist and violent. This is about silencing a progressive voice using a species of the Duty to Protect doctrine.
Tue, 2018-04-03 17:15
#27
*BUMP* - with a brand new title.
Tue, 2018-04-03 17:22
#28
It's official now - and exciting!
Journalist Vincent Marissal to run for QS in Rosemont in battle for Lisee's seat
The leader of the Parti Quebecois is in for a fight in his own riding in the upcoming provincial election.
Prominent journalist Vincent Marissal announced Tuesday he'll be running for Quebec Solidaire in the Rosemont riding.
Tue, 2018-04-03 18:14
#29
Interesting. Looks like it might help the Liberals but it's not like the PQ would be better.
- Party votes % trend
- PQ 12.712 34.27 -9.40
- Liberals 11.114 29.96 +9.57
- QS 6,930 18.68 +4.20
- CAQ 5,252 14.16 -3.17
Taking just a bit from the PQ could result in a Liberal win but taking a lot could lead to another seat for QS and with such a candidate it is possible.
Tue, 2018-04-03 18:48
#30
Québec solidaire - the thread
Not to be spoilt, but I'm holding out for "Québec solidaire - the musical!"
Thu, 2018-04-05 10:38
#31
In short, Québec solidaire is what the PQ once was before the ravages of cynicism and old age took hold. Like the PQ of yore, it is big on workers’ rights, environmental protection and nationalization of certain industries.
https://ipolitics.ca/2018/04/04/quebec-solidaire-underscores-the-sorry-state-of-the-parti-quebecois/
Thu, 2018-04-05 13:22
#32
Québec solidaire - the threadNot to be spoilt, but I'm holding out for "Québec solidaire - the musical!"
OK. Call Lin-Manuel Miranda and make it so.
Thu, 2018-04-05 13:26
#33
Quebec Solidaire Open to an Electoral Alliance with PQ - by Richard Dufour
I find it very sad, NDPP, that you continue to post, without comment, these bullshit and ignorant articles from the U.S. about the Québec movement. We know that everyone here is a bourgeois traitor to the glorious cause of the working class (that would include the workers themselves, I guess), but I'd really prefer if it were rubbed in our noses by Quebecers rather than by these foreign ignoramuses.
I find it particularly offensive that they would publish their hateful article against Québec Solidaire and Amir Khadir at a time when the real bourgeoisie - you know, the ones who own and run everything including the media? - are out to destroy QS and Khadir personally. It really makes one wonder which side these World Socialists are on.
And do both of them AGREE which side they're on?
WSWS seems to exist for the sole purpose of arguing that anything anybody ELSE on the Left ever does is bullshit.
Thu, 2018-04-05 13:29
#34
Interesting. Looks like it might help the Liberals but it's not like the PQ would be better.
- Party votes % trend
- PQ 12.712 34.27 -9.40
- Liberals 11.114 29.96 +9.57
- QS 6,930 18.68 +4.20
- CAQ 5,252 14.16 -3.17
Taking just a bit from the PQ could result in a Liberal win but taking a lot could lead to another seat for QS and with such a candidate it is possible.
Unless they get some sort of a star candidate, you can expect the Liberals to go down in that riding (losing some votes to CAQ).
Fri, 2018-04-06 10:26
#35
Marissal is very much a star candidate. Of course both he and Lisée come from journalism, and must have known each other - at least professionally- for years. Lisée is doing what he can to diss Marissal, but I expect Marissal to stick to the issues.
By the way WSWS is an extremely sectarian outfit that does nothing but hang on to and "denounce" other left organisations and groups (from social-democratic for far left, but more open-minded ones). In 2012 they did nothing but attend meetings of the students and their labour and community group allies, speaking out against the "petit-bourgeois" nature of the demands. They get a lot of hits because they have oddly apt film reviews and coverage of news events far and wide.
Fri, 2018-04-06 11:21
#36
Interesting. Looks like it might help the Liberals but it's not like the PQ would be better.
- Party votes % trend
- PQ 12.712 34.27 -9.40
- Liberals 11.114 29.96 +9.57
- QS 6,930 18.68 +4.20
- CAQ 5,252 14.16 -3.17
Taking just a bit from the PQ could result in a Liberal win but taking a lot could lead to another seat for QS and with such a candidate it is possible.
Unless they get some sort of a star candidate, you can expect the Liberals to go down in that riding (losing some votes to CAQ).
Right now CAQ is predicted to win, maybe a majority, but the election hasn't yet begun. A lot of the CAQ support is anti-Liberal not pro-CAQ. That is, it is not all a reflection of support for CAQ political positions.
In this riding the CAQ came in last, the Liberals in second place, QS in third place. QS would have to double their support, and cut the PQs by half. Sure it's possible but it is by no means a shoe-in.
- Party votes % trend
- PQ 12.712 34.27 -9.40 trending down...1500 votes ahead of the Liberals
- Liberals 11.114 29.96 +9.57 Trending up ...... needs 1500 to win
- QS 6,930 18.68 +4.20 Trending up......needs 6000 to win
- CAQ 5,252 14.16 -3.17 Trending down....
If QS gains between 1500 and 5000 votes mainly taken from the PQ the Liberals could easily take the seat. The QS needs 6000 votes to take the seat. The QS could do it but it will be very difficult.
This is good news for the Liberals. Bad news for the PQ and CAQ.
Fri, 2018-04-06 13:02
#37
Marissal is very much a star candidate. Of course both he and Lisée come from journalism, and must have known each other - at least professionally- for years. Lisée is doing what he can to diss Marissal, but I expect Marissal to stick to the issues.
By the way WSWS is an extremely sectarian outfit that does nothing but hang on to and "denounce" other left organisations and groups (from social-democratic for far left, but more open-minded ones). In 2012 they did nothing but attend meetings of the students and their labour and community group allies, speaking out against the "petit-bourgeois" nature of the demands. They get a lot of hits because they have oddly apt film reviews and coverage of news events far and wide.
In other words, we could call them "The People's Front of Judea with a Web page".
They remind me of a group I used to run into in Oregon...the Revolutionary Communist Youth Brigade. We'd be organizing a rally at the state capitol for the nuclear freeze or on Central American solidarity(this was the Eighties), they'd never turn up at any of the meetings, never do anything to help, and then they'd show up at the rallies and set their table, with a huge red flag, as close to the podium as possible. It would not surprise me if the RCYB/WSWS turned out to have been set up as false flags by the CIA and CSIS.
Fri, 2018-04-06 13:33
#38
alan smithee
Reading the daily rags today,I came across this gem. MacPherson twists himself into a pretzel trying to give a back handed endosrement to the PQ at the expense of QS.
You have to hand it to the Gazoo when your chief editorialist dooesn't discuss policy but Manon Masson's moustache.
http://montrealgazette.com/opinion/columnists/don-macpherson-the-battle-...
Wed, 2018-05-02 00:05
#39
This is unfortunate but regardless I think QS could make a big jump this election
Wed, 2018-05-02 13:11
#40
I certainly hope we can take Laurier-Dorion! But the most important leap would be off the island - it might be possible in Laval, but above all to get onto the north or south shores. I believe we've grown quite a bit in Laval - remember that the arrival of the métro has changed Laval - the areas around the stations have densified considerably. Three of the four Laval candidates are "racialized" and or allophones. https://www.courrierlaval.com/actualites/politique/2018/4/15/quebec-soli...
Alain Joseph, of Haitian origin (but born here) is a youth worker but also a talented performing artist: http://www.journaldequebec.com/2018/04/18/videos-ce-candidat-de-quebec-s... The riding he targets is eastern Laval, just across the river from Montréal-Nord. I don't know as much about the other candidates except what is said in the local paper's article.
Wed, 2018-05-02 18:18
#41
Amir Khadir is retiring at the end of the session.
http://www.lapresse.ca/actualites/politique/politique-quebecoise/201805/...
That could possibly put the riding in play, depends on who runs.
Wed, 2018-05-02 18:26
#42
Amir Khadir is retiring at the end of the session.
http://www.lapresse.ca/actualites/politique/politique-quebecoise/201805/...
That could possibly put the riding in play, depends on who runs.
I'm not blaming you, pietro, but it's extremely disrespectful for the media to announce that Amir is retiring when he has said nothing and when GDN has said that if and when the time comes, Amir will make that announcement himself.
Wed, 2018-05-02 21:17
#43
Pogo
I don't know a more common story than a news source publishing a scoop that a politician is going to retire, often wrecking their personal timeline for releasing the news.
Wed, 2018-05-02 21:19
#44
Pogo
dp
Wed, 2018-05-02 21:19
#45
Pogo
dp
Wed, 2018-05-02 21:19
#46
Pogo
dp
Thu, 2018-05-03 12:48
#47
I think we'll win Mercier in any event - no shortage of talent there, and you will note that other levels of government in the area are also held by parties on the left.
Perhaps Pietro wants the PQ to win.
Thu, 2018-05-03 14:15
#48
Yesterday - in the National Assembly - Amir Khadir called for replacing the capitalist system with a better one.
Wish this article were in English! Too busy to do it translation justice right now. But Google Translate might do the job for those who need it.
If he really is leaving, I will not be happy. It's not just a seat.
Thu, 2018-05-03 14:38
#49
I think we'll win Mercier in any event - no shortage of talent there, and you will note that other levels of government in the area are also held by parties on the left.
Perhaps Pietro wants the PQ to win.
Could be that he thinks QS losing all its seats to the PQ would force QS supporters to "know their place" and vote for NPD-Q, and for NPD-Q to therefore feel free to be as Anglo-supremacist as he'd like them to be(and to speak as much French as Dave Barrett).
Thu, 2018-05-03 23:01
#50
Could be that he thinks QS losing all its seats to the PQ would force QS supporters to "know their place" and vote for NPD-Q, and for NPD-Q to therefore feel free to be as Anglo-supremacist as he'd like them to be(and to speak as much French as Dave Barrett).
I think we'll win Mercier in any event - no shortage of talent there, and you will note that other levels of government in the area are also held by parties on the left.
Perhaps Pietro wants the PQ to win.
Or perhaps I saw a story that I thought would be of interest to readers of this forum and decided to post it. Your desperate need to find ulterior motives to everything I post is kind of sad. Grow up.
Fri, 2018-05-04 05:01
#51
I'm not desperate about anything you write. Don't you realise how sexist it is to tell a woman, probably considerably older than you are, to grow up? You were wishing ill to the only real left party in Québec.
Unionist, of course Amir leaving, if he does, would be a great loss. He is the only one who can really skewer the docs in power who are more interested in the state of their investments than the public's health.